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Team13chad
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2015
Posts: 143
Location: Mandeville, LA
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 Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2020 1:34 pm Post subject: LED running light bulbs? |
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I'm kind of a dummy with this....
What kind of plug and play LED bulb would I need for the running lights/turn signals for a 74 beetle? |
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ashman40
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2007
Posts: 16559
Location: North Florida, USA
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| Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:14 pm Post subject: Re: LED running light bulbs? |
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According to the '74 Owner's Manual page...
The numbers above have been superseded. The more modern numbers are in parenthesis below...
Front parking light + turn signal lamp (5W/21W) = #1034 (aka #1157)
Side marker lamp (5W) (smaller bulb in front turn signal assemblies) = #57 (aka #1895)
Rear turn signal lamp (21W) = #1073 (aka #1156)
Rear parking light lamp (5W) = #67 (aka #89)
Stop lamp (21W) = #1073 (aka #1156)
Reverse lamp (21W) = #1073 (aka #1156)
License plate lamp (5W) = #89
If you are replacing the bulbs with LEDs you will want to find the LED versions of the replacement numbers above. Ideally, you should match the LED color to the lens of the light assembly (amber/red/white). But considering you will need multiple #1156 and #1157 bulbs you could buy hyper bright white LEDs for these and use them inside amber and red lenses. They may not be as bright as you expect because LED lamps usually have a narrow light spectrum range. White lamps may not output lots of amber/red light so would appear less bright when used behind colored lenses.
WARNING: The VW turn signal / E-Flasher system does not play well with LEDs. To get it to work properly you will likely need to add 50W LED load resistors into the L and R turn signal circuits (one on each side) to simulate the load of 21W incandescent bulbs. These are an extra cost in addition to the LED replacement bulbs.
_________________
AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road  }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!} |
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troubledmind76
Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2012
Posts: 169
Location: pa
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| Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2020 2:48 pm Post subject: Re: LED running light bulbs? |
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| Are you asking about headlights or taillights or both?ashman is very knowledgeable and a great help. |
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cmyoch
Samba Member
Joined: June 16, 2017
Posts: 61
Location: Smithton, IL
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| Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:00 pm Post subject: Re: LED running light bulbs? |
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I'm printing this and putting it in my service manual.
_________________
1974 Super Beetle (First ever VW owned)
Jack of all trades. Master of none! |
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Team13chad
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2015
Posts: 143
Location: Mandeville, LA
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| Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:46 pm Post subject: Re: LED running light bulbs? |
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| troubledmind76 wrote: |
| Are you asking about headlights or taillights or both?ashman is very knowledgeable and a great help. |
Id like to convert everything to LED.
I already have some LED headlights on the way.
Im asking about the lights on top of the fenders. |
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Rome
Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004
Posts: 10529
Location: Pearl River, NY
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| Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2020 8:42 pm Post subject: Re: LED running light bulbs? |
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3 years ago I installed LED bulbs for my rear turn signals on my '77, which has '72 taillamp assemblies. I kept the front turn signal bulbs incandescent, because for me, I wanted the extra brightness for the rear turn signals for cars behind me. As ashman mentioned, with only 2 of the 4 turn signals being LEDs, the lights flash at about twice the previous frequency. I'm OK with that.
I also installed LED headlight bulbs (for H4 housings) from aircooled.net. They are bright, but I try to avoid driving at night. I turn my headlights on for every drive, also during daylight, for traffic to better see my car. |
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cajun_sun_bug
Samba Member
Joined: October 20, 2019
Posts: 170
Location: Ms Gulfcoast
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| Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2020 8:55 pm Post subject: Re: LED running light bulbs? |
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We run Sylvania Zevo led bulbs in every socket except headlights, others on this forum has posted good things using that brand and we have not had any issues other than you will need to switch to a flasher made for LEDs too.
We run LED headlight bulbs too but that's another conversation.
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Regards,
Todd
1974 Super Beetle Sun Bug
#cajunhotrodder on insta |
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ashman40
Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2007
Posts: 16559
Location: North Florida, USA
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| Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2020 8:32 am Post subject: Re: LED running light bulbs? |
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| Rome wrote: |
| 3 years ago I installed LED bulbs for my rear turn signals on my '77, which has '72 taillamp assemblies. I kept the front turn signal bulbs incandescent, because for me, I wanted the extra brightness for the rear turn signals for cars behind me. As ashman mentioned, with only 2 of the 4 turn signals being LEDs, the lights flash at about twice the previous frequency. I'm OK with that. |
| cajun_sun_bug wrote: |
| We run Sylvania Zevo led bulbs in every socket except headlights, others on this forum has posted good things using that brand and we have not had any issues other than you will need to switch to a flasher made for LEDs too. |
I've been experimenting with LEDs and maybe using good quality Zevo bulbs will make the system work (that is my next test). But I have had less than ideal results when using generic 1157/3157, 1156/3156 LED bulbs in place of the corner turn signal lamps.
As Rome mentions above, if you keep 21W incandescent bulbs at either the front or the rear, the system will still work. His hyperflash is likely because he is using the stock non-LED compatible flasher relay. The low load from the LED bulbs makes the stock flasher relay think a bulb has blown out. Replacing the flasher relay with a LED-compatible EP35 flasher relay should result in normal operation as long as 2 of the bulbs remain incandescent bulbs... or 50W load resistors are installed to simulate incandescent bulbs.
When I ran LED bulbs in the front and the back with an LED compatible flasher relay, instead of the corner lamps flashing bright/off they would flash bright/dim and the 2W speedometer bulb would be ON dimly all the time while the turn signals were ON. The corners would flash bright so they were functional, but this was not normal or ideal. Adding load resistors fixes this.
If you want LEDs in all four corners and don't want to run load resistors (they get hot)... the only option that I have come up with is to reverse the polarity of the speedometer indicator lamp. You will also need to add two diodes into the circuit to prevent the lights on one side of the car from powering the other side. This is not that easy as it requires a special speedometer bulb holder with 2-prongs, a pair of diodes and some wire. If you don't want to source the special bulb holder, a simple SPST relay could be used in the indicator lamp ground path. But all of this is much more complicated than the stock indicator lamp.
_________________
AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!} |
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