LED headlights on 1967 Karmann Ghia

[lgyurka]

Hello guys with electrical knowledge,

Recently I purchased a set of LED headlights for my 1967 Ghia(18 W on low beam/ 24 W on high beam) from Octane Lighting. Supposedly plug and play, but it required a slight modification for it to fit in the headlight bucket, but this DID NOT include mixing up the wiring in any way. Yet, when I turned the headlights on, they flashed for a fraction of a second, then turned dimmer than a firefly on low beam and the high beam was not working at all, both sides are affected for both problems. The vendor was telling me to try to install resistors. Can anyone of you offer an educated idea? How did you install LED headlights successfully? I am sure there must a good number of them out there... Thanks for any insight.

[sputnick60]

A 67 Ghia should be running 12 volt electrics. Did your supplier think because it’s an old VW (which are all the same) and send you 6 volt lights? The suggestion of a resistor only makes sense if you have 6 volt load running in a 12 volt system. If so then send them back for a refund.
Nicholas
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'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
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[lgyurka]

I know I should have include in the basic info that this was a 12 V system, with 12 V LED lights. If no other ideas come forward, I might just have to return them, but that is not my objective...

[KGCoupe]

This may or may not help, but very often many eletrical problems in these vintage Volkswagens are due to weak corroded Ground connections.

With even the youngest Karmann Ghias now being some 46 years old, it's not surprising that many (or even all) of the electrical connections have developed oxidation and/or corrosion.
It's even possible that some of the connections may no longer have proper mechanical contact due to loose fasteners or female spade connectors that need to be tightened up a bit.

Also, don't forget to check and clean the connections on those quirky little odd-ball fuses, as they often have corrosion that causes problems that can be difficult to trace down.

If you do a Forum Search, you should find many tips on how to clean up electrical connections.


The Good News is that you may now have plenty of time to spend painstakingly going through and cleaning up your Ghia's electrical system.
Even if it doesn't solve your "current" problem, it would be time well spent and may very well prevent you from struggling with other electrical gremlins in the future.

[xzener]

I bought a set from carid.com., there was no resistor needed for the headlights to work. The running light halos were so bright, I added a resistor to dim them down. The headlights are very bright, and with high beams, even brighter. I would wire them directly to the battery as a test before sending them back. I will say you get what you pay for with these. Mine were close to $300. Here is a picture before I put resistors on the running lights (the headlights are not on, this was just the halos)...

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My 70 beetle was totaled Now to build the Ghia I always wanted. Rest in peace Ruby, I will miss you. Hello <insert Ghia name here>!

[lgyurka]

The one set I ordered was only a $100. Actually I solved this mysterious problem this morning. I wired the LEDs directly to the battery and they worked fine. The previous owner wired the headlight harness with reversed polarity. Which was not a problem for the old sealed beam headlight, but the LEDs did not work. Now all is well. Thanks for your input.

[xzener]

Glad you got it sorted out.
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My 70 beetle was totaled Now to build the Ghia I always wanted. Rest in peace Ruby, I will miss you. Hello <insert Ghia name here>!

[Salmanilla1234]

Dod you need to modify the Headlight Bucket to accommodate the LEDs?

[19VDuB68]

I was wondering the same. Having issues getting mine to fit. Hopefully with boosting this someone will respond.