Hi all,

Been having a bit of a nightmare with sourcing some LED brake/tail lights for my 2009 Accord Euro CU2.

I purchased some generic leds of ebay when I first got the car, but I am keen to replace them. The leds were 7443, but on them they have 7443a written on them. They work fine, but I do not like the colour.

I then purchased these to replace them (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/140586867...#ht_2567wt_821). I was shattered to find out they did not work properly. When I plug them in they turn on with the parkers and low beams. However when I press the brake pedal they do nothing. I cannot remember what happens when I install them in, in the opposite direction.

I then did some reading and asked around and was told that I need CK bulbs. Because of what I was told, I confidentaly bought these (http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED-B...48888-1-2.html). Still dramas.
When I plug them in one way, they turn on with the parkers and low beams, but turn off when the brake pedal is pressed. If I install them in the opposite direction, they do not turn on with the parkers or low beams but turn on when the brake is pressed.

I think I have been enough of a guinea pig, just wondering if anyone out there has actually got any V-led or other leds to work with their TSX?

 

Hi Dilan,
I experimented with replacing the third brake bulb with a Superlumination 7440 LED bulb. I used a red one in order to minimize the filtering of light output. It worked Ok, was only slightly dimmer than the original incandescent bulb in the factory housing.

My main motivation was the "instant-on" of the LEDs compared to the incandescent bulbs, and these few milliseconds would help prevent being rear-ended by a bit more advance warning of me braking lol.

Issues I encountered:
1) FM interference. weak FM radios would get interference from the LED. Some of these LEDs use electronic circuitry which is apparently causing the FM interferences.
2) Not so "instant on" when compared to other factory LEDs. While a bit faster than incandescent, it was not as fast as OEM LEDs.

My solution was to retrofit a Civic hybrid 3rd LED lamp into the TSX, which involved the removal of the rear shelf... Lots of work though, but now I have "instant-on" and no FM interference, not to mention a cool looking white lens behind the rear windshield...

 

We were supposed to get custom LED taillights, like the full housing and everything, but they guy who said he would do it disappeared and never finished it. Parts for our car have a notorious reputation for not getting finished.

 

I Have LED reverse lights and I bought the same set for my rear brake lights, for Reverse they are plenty bright looking but it doesn't go as far as the OEM bulbs. because of this I didn't install the LED set into the brake lights for the obvious safety reasons lol

 

I remember that, i wanted to buy them so bad! hahaha i was all in too

 

The only PnP LED bulbs that are worth a damn are the ones sold by Elef. They use a 3 or 5W power LED with the driver circuitry and heatsink built in.

http://www.elef-usa.com/apps/webstore/

It's really either those, or take your tail lights apart and build your own custom boards. It's not that hard and they'll outshine and outlast anything else on the market. I just finished mine a few months ago.

 

why not make us a DIY ?

 

please?? what design of the led's did you do? circles?

 

lol

 

Unfortunately, I don't have a TSX. However, if someone wants to take on the challenge of a LED retrofit, I'll certainly help see it through to completion. I've spent countless hours researching this stuff and have prototyped the various dual brightness circuits for the brake light function (including PWM). Better yet, if someone local to Charlotte is looking to do one, I can build it for them and post a DIY.

The TSX would make for a really cool retrofit since it has some style to it and the lens is mostly clear. The hardest part is taking the housing apart. I broke 2 of mine trying to get it right. Tail light lenses are much thinner than a headlight, so prying usually results in chipping or cracking if not careful.

Let me know what you guys want to do. I enjoy this stuff and am willing to participate.

 

Damn, if i was in charlotte, id totally take you up on this offer. In the meantime, any resources you can point us to that would help anyone interested?

 

If you're like me and had no prior experience with soldering, you'll find that youtube has a lot of really great tutorials. I'd practice first rather than jumping in like I did.

For info on retrofits, check out the LED subforum on HID Planet. There's tons of info on there with several active members who are very knowledgeable. Be sure to look over the stickies at the top. Especially the "LED Basic Tech Info" thread.
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/foru...y.php?13-LED-s

The most widely used LED is the Lumileds Superflux. It's made by Philips and is very robust and easy to work with, and is what many OEM's used prior to the release of the Snap-LED. Most guys use red/orange rather than red since it appears brighter to the human eye. Again, it's the color that the OEM's have used and still use today.

Future Electronics is probably the best place to purchase them from. You can also find them on ebay at a good price, but pay special attention the bin. You don't want to get stuck with some wide angle, low output version.
http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/...255-4294900736

For purchasing components like voltage regulators, transistors, diodes, capacitors, heat sinks, etc... The following sites are very popular.
Digikey.com
Mouser.com
Newark.com

Then there's Radio Shack. You can buy everything you need to complete a retrofit with parts from RS, but their prices are usually more than triple what you'd pay from the sites above.

Finally, one more link worth mentioning is for the Opti-Drive circuit created by HID planet moderator "azdave". A lot of people use this PWM rather than making their own. It's a very efficient way to dim your LED's. The other method is to use a simple resistor, but most purists don't like wasting energy. Especially when working with LED's since efficiency is one of the major advantages to this form of lighting.
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...Opti-Drive-PWM

Hopefully that's enough to get you started. If your looking for something in particular, let me know. I can probably track it down.

 

phenomenal. Thank You. I dont have my car atm but i think i may take this on as my next pet project once im home again

 

So i was walking back to my car from the mall, and i saw this pimped out pwp cu2.
Spoiler, HUGE exhaust, Blacked out rims, Limo Tints.
and all i could say was...
............
DAUM! LOOK AT THOSE TAIL-LIGHTS!

 

thats actually a really nice LED design for the rear...

 

Screw the lights...check out those mufflers...

 

i took it from the m5 concept.
there is one driving around in diamond bar and i always see it.
it looks really nice

bauss

 

the tails look stolen right from a BMW 7 series....

I dont get it why people put halo/leds on an Acura....if your so obsessed, go get an audi/bmw....

 

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery...?

 

^^^ I bet Audi/BMW will respectfully disagree and rephrase that as "buying our cars is the greatest form of flattery"

 

^^^ hahah I bet they do think that way

 

^^^

I just visited this site, and I haven't in a long time, and somebody PS / chopped my TSX.. thanks guys.

 

looking for a full LED conversion gen 2, is there anything out there??? I've seen the sick looking circles for the 1st gen wondering if there's anything like em for gen 2

 

Nope...got to ask someone to do it for you...no one has a kit