xB:My easy clear tail light mod.
08-03-2006, 03:55 AM
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Northeast USA
Posts: 427
xB:My easy clear tail light mod.
I decided to modify my tail lights. Originally I wanted to tint them so they contrast with my white car, but I decided to try to keep the mod legal. I didn't want any excuses for cops to pull me over. So, I ended up with a subtle but legal modification. Here's how I did it:
I decided to make the tail lights as colorless as possible. But to stay legal I needed to keep the red reflectors. I noticed that only about half of those red reflectors were actually reflective (in horizontal strips). Rest was just plain transparent (non reflective) red plastic. So I figured that if I covered up the non-reflective areas with silver tape that would keep me legal, yet reduce the visible red areas and it would also make them look much nicer.
Also, I planned on using LED bulb replacements. Those are clear/silver when they are off. I got the LED bulbs on eBay from led_warehouse on eBay. While the seller's business practice and the product over-hype are questionable, the product itself seems to be well made. The seller seems to engage in the practice of cheating eBay out of the listing fees by charging low price by the bulbs and very high shipping cost. But I went with him anyway. That seller also sells directly via his website http://www.autodirectsave.com , but those prices are bit higher than comparable items sold by him on eBay. Bulbs work quite well but I don't think they are brighter than the original incadescent bulbs.
Here are the LED bulbs compared to original bulbs.
Since the LED bulbs are longer than the original and since I wanted clear lenses, I needed to remove the clear red dome over the brake light.
So, to disassemble the tail lights, I followed instructions from the factory service manual
I reused old gaskets when I reassembled them. Even following those instructions, this process was a bit tricky. Here are some examples of how I pry them open:
Start by slightly prying the top tab in with the screwdriver and try to push the tab out just to unlatch it (the red/yellow screwdriver). While doing that, use another screwdriver to try to pry the side of the light open slightly (just enough to unlatch the tabs). This is the red/clear screwdriver. Be gentle because the clear lens lip can be easily cracked.
Once the end tab is unlatched, push the (red/clear) screwdriver further in while pressing the 2nd tab. That will unlatch the 2nd tab. Continue doing that to all the side tabs. Then unlatch the tabs on the bottom of tail light.
Once all the tabs are unlatched, carefully pull the tail light lens up as shown here (sort of as it was hinged on the ouside latches). Eventually it will separate from the reflector.
If you're not careful, you'll chip the lens lip (like I did). I ended up gluing it back on once I finished the mod. Also be careful not to touch the silver reflectors as the paint is very fragile and it will stain easily. I ended up with some fingerprints which were difficult to clean off.
There is another interesting way to open up the taillights. See post https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...328246#2328246
Once the lens is off, pull off the red brake light dome. It is locked at 2 places. One is just snapped in, but the 2nd (hidden) tab is heat welded. But if you pull hard enough, it will snap off.
For silver tape I used a metal duct tape from Home Depot. It is not a standard cheap duct tape. It is actually a thick aluminum foil with a really strong adhesive. I cut it into strips 0.2" wide. Little wider for the end stripes to cover the edges better. To cut the tape I used a piece of wood for a cutting surface, a metal ruler and a X-Acto hobby knife with a #11 blade. That's how I was able to cut even strrips. When cutting, go gently. If you cut too hard, the tape might rip. I then applied those tape strips to all the non-reflective stripes on the red reflector. I burnished them with my fingernail. Then I wiped the entire reflector with a paper towel moistened with Windex (to clean off any fingerprints).
Here's the tape applied but not yet trimmed. Next, I trimmed the tape at the edge of red reflector using a hobby knife.
Another overall shot.
This picture shows the lens and the reflector (untrimmed tape) and the removed clear red dome.
This shows the bulbs installed. They are colorless when in the "off" state. I encountered some issues when installing the LED bulbs. Amber bulb's base needs its tabs trimmed a bit to fit into the socket. You'll see where to trim it when you try to install it. The red brake/tail LED bulb will only work when plugged in one way. If it doesn't work properly, flip it around.
A closeup of the LED bulbs.
An overall shot of the finished modification. The tail light looks clear and quite elegant with the striped reflector.
As you can see, this mod looks good (IMO) on a white car.
Closeup of the installed tail light
Here is the tail light with the brake and directional on.
This picture shows the difference between modified and unmodified tail light. The unmodified one still has the standard bulbs while the modified one has LED bulbs. As this was edited from a single photo of the car's rear end, this gives a good indication of brightness of the LEDs vs. incadescent lights.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is one more step to complete this project. The flasher unit will not work correctly because the LED bulbs do not draw enough current. So while the hazard mode will flash them correctly, left or right turn indication will flash fast (as if a bulb was burned out). One way to take care of the problem is to put a ballast resistor with right and left side (in parallel with a bulb). I calculated the ideal value as 4.3 Ohms. But it is difficult to find such a resistor. So, a 5 ohm, 50W resistor should work fine. Such resistors are available from http://www.digikey.com . One such resistor is: Part # 850F5R0-ND, 5 ohm 50W resistor ( $5.38 ). Two are needed (one for left and another for right side). This will make the resistor waste energy as heat, simulating the full incadescent light bulb load. Best is to bolt the resistor to some metal part as it will get hot and it needs a heat sink. Basically, the heat which was generated by the standard bulbs is now generated by the load resistor.
But I have a better way to take care of this issue. Scion Xb uses an electronic flasher. It has a built-in current sensor which makes it flash fast if it detects less than expected current draw. It will also shut down if it senses overcurrent. Because it is electronic, it can be modified to work with the lower current drawing LED bulbs. That is the best solution because there will be no wasted energy to be dissipated as heat. I'll show here how to modify the flasher so it works directly with LED bulbs.
Flasher unit is a module located on the instrument panel Junction Box (fuse panel) under the lower left hand side of the dashboard. It is a gray colored unit plugged into the center of the Junction Box. Above all the fuses. It first has to be unplugged. Safest way is to disconnect the negative side of the battery, wait at least 3 minutes for the airbag circuits to discharge, then unplug the Flasher. It is quite difficult to unplug as it has latches on both sides. And there is no easy way to unlatch them. I ended up finally pulling it out after some pulling and twisting it. But be careful not to break anything. Before we plug it back I'll show how to modify the latches so that they are easier to unlatch.
Here is a picture of the flasher circuit with the cover removed. Cover is held on by 3 latches. They are released by placing a sharp object between the base and cover near the latch locations. The current sensing resistor (wire loop) is shown in the picture. That is the component that needs to be replaced in order to make the flasher work correctly with LED bulbs. It needs to be unsoldered.
Resistance of that wire loop is about 0.0175 ohms. Each (left or right) side's original lightbulbs consume about 3.92 Amps of current. That creates about 0.0686 Volts across the current sensing resistor.
When using LED bulbs, the total current draw per side will be 0.9 Amps. This is made up of 2 LED bulbs @ 0.24A each plus the side marker incadescent bulb @ 0.42A. If the side marker was also replaced by an LED, the current draw would be even lower and the current sensing resistor would be different than the one I use. But I decided to keep the side marker as an incadescent bulb. In my circuit, the new current sensing resistor will have value of 0.076 ohms. That will produce same voltage drop as the original resistor did with incadescent bulbs. So, the flasher will function as designed.
This picture shows the circuit board with my modified current sensing resistor installed. It is made from a plastic and steel wire tie which is used to tie up plastic bags. I just happened to have it handy and it had the required resistance. It is made from 0.025" dia. steel wire and it is 6" long. Those dimensions give the wire 0.079 ohms. It is within tolerance range to make the flasher work correctly. Other pieces of wire can be used as long as resistance is close to 0.076 ohms.
So now the flasher will work correctly with 2 LED bulbs plus a standard side marker bulb per side. Because of the changed current balance of the LED bulbs and the side marker bulb it will not flash fast even when one of the LED bulbs is out. But LED bulbs should last the lifetime of the car anyway. Also as the flasher has a protection built in, when even one standard front or rear bulb is installed, it will sense overcurrent and it will not flash at all. It will reset and work correctly once the standard bulb is removed.
I have attached a warning label which indicates that the flasher has been modified.
Here is a picture which shows the connector side of the flasher and where to bevel (both) latches in order to make the flasher easier to unplug in the future. This picture should also help in initial removal of the flasher as it shows where the latches are.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
There now are flashers available for the LED converted cars. One is available at http://autolumination.com/equalizers.htm
Look for the one "For new Toyotas" (currently no part number). Photo of it shows 81980-50030 066500-4650.
See post https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...349739#2349739 for wiring diagram and for another eBay source for the flashers.
This is it. I hope that you find this information useful. Don't forget to reconnect the negative battery cable once the conversion is complete.
Looking at other similar posts, event though it's common sense, I feel that I should add a disclaimer here. The writeup you've just read is posted for informational purposes only. I'm not responsible for any damages (direct or indirect) arising from using this procedure to modify your vehicle.
Edited By: Kaeon Aug - 1st - 2006
- Images moved to Scionlife Database, added to tech.
I decided to make the tail lights as colorless as possible. But to stay legal I needed to keep the red reflectors. I noticed that only about half of those red reflectors were actually reflective (in horizontal strips). Rest was just plain transparent (non reflective) red plastic. So I figured that if I covered up the non-reflective areas with silver tape that would keep me legal, yet reduce the visible red areas and it would also make them look much nicer.
Also, I planned on using LED bulb replacements. Those are clear/silver when they are off. I got the LED bulbs on eBay from led_warehouse on eBay. While the seller's business practice and the product over-hype are questionable, the product itself seems to be well made. The seller seems to engage in the practice of cheating eBay out of the listing fees by charging low price by the bulbs and very high shipping cost. But I went with him anyway. That seller also sells directly via his website http://www.autodirectsave.com , but those prices are bit higher than comparable items sold by him on eBay. Bulbs work quite well but I don't think they are brighter than the original incadescent bulbs.
Here are the LED bulbs compared to original bulbs.
Since the LED bulbs are longer than the original and since I wanted clear lenses, I needed to remove the clear red dome over the brake light.
So, to disassemble the tail lights, I followed instructions from the factory service manual
I reused old gaskets when I reassembled them. Even following those instructions, this process was a bit tricky. Here are some examples of how I pry them open:
Start by slightly prying the top tab in with the screwdriver and try to push the tab out just to unlatch it (the red/yellow screwdriver). While doing that, use another screwdriver to try to pry the side of the light open slightly (just enough to unlatch the tabs). This is the red/clear screwdriver. Be gentle because the clear lens lip can be easily cracked.
Once the end tab is unlatched, push the (red/clear) screwdriver further in while pressing the 2nd tab. That will unlatch the 2nd tab. Continue doing that to all the side tabs. Then unlatch the tabs on the bottom of tail light.
Once all the tabs are unlatched, carefully pull the tail light lens up as shown here (sort of as it was hinged on the ouside latches). Eventually it will separate from the reflector.
If you're not careful, you'll chip the lens lip (like I did). I ended up gluing it back on once I finished the mod. Also be careful not to touch the silver reflectors as the paint is very fragile and it will stain easily. I ended up with some fingerprints which were difficult to clean off.
There is another interesting way to open up the taillights. See post https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...328246#2328246
Once the lens is off, pull off the red brake light dome. It is locked at 2 places. One is just snapped in, but the 2nd (hidden) tab is heat welded. But if you pull hard enough, it will snap off.
For silver tape I used a metal duct tape from Home Depot. It is not a standard cheap duct tape. It is actually a thick aluminum foil with a really strong adhesive. I cut it into strips 0.2" wide. Little wider for the end stripes to cover the edges better. To cut the tape I used a piece of wood for a cutting surface, a metal ruler and a X-Acto hobby knife with a #11 blade. That's how I was able to cut even strrips. When cutting, go gently. If you cut too hard, the tape might rip. I then applied those tape strips to all the non-reflective stripes on the red reflector. I burnished them with my fingernail. Then I wiped the entire reflector with a paper towel moistened with Windex (to clean off any fingerprints).
Here's the tape applied but not yet trimmed. Next, I trimmed the tape at the edge of red reflector using a hobby knife.
Another overall shot.
This picture shows the lens and the reflector (untrimmed tape) and the removed clear red dome.
This shows the bulbs installed. They are colorless when in the "off" state. I encountered some issues when installing the LED bulbs. Amber bulb's base needs its tabs trimmed a bit to fit into the socket. You'll see where to trim it when you try to install it. The red brake/tail LED bulb will only work when plugged in one way. If it doesn't work properly, flip it around.
A closeup of the LED bulbs.
An overall shot of the finished modification. The tail light looks clear and quite elegant with the striped reflector.
As you can see, this mod looks good (IMO) on a white car.
Closeup of the installed tail light
Here is the tail light with the brake and directional on.
This picture shows the difference between modified and unmodified tail light. The unmodified one still has the standard bulbs while the modified one has LED bulbs. As this was edited from a single photo of the car's rear end, this gives a good indication of brightness of the LEDs vs. incadescent lights.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is one more step to complete this project. The flasher unit will not work correctly because the LED bulbs do not draw enough current. So while the hazard mode will flash them correctly, left or right turn indication will flash fast (as if a bulb was burned out). One way to take care of the problem is to put a ballast resistor with right and left side (in parallel with a bulb). I calculated the ideal value as 4.3 Ohms. But it is difficult to find such a resistor. So, a 5 ohm, 50W resistor should work fine. Such resistors are available from http://www.digikey.com . One such resistor is: Part # 850F5R0-ND, 5 ohm 50W resistor ( $5.38 ). Two are needed (one for left and another for right side). This will make the resistor waste energy as heat, simulating the full incadescent light bulb load. Best is to bolt the resistor to some metal part as it will get hot and it needs a heat sink. Basically, the heat which was generated by the standard bulbs is now generated by the load resistor.
But I have a better way to take care of this issue. Scion Xb uses an electronic flasher. It has a built-in current sensor which makes it flash fast if it detects less than expected current draw. It will also shut down if it senses overcurrent. Because it is electronic, it can be modified to work with the lower current drawing LED bulbs. That is the best solution because there will be no wasted energy to be dissipated as heat. I'll show here how to modify the flasher so it works directly with LED bulbs.
Flasher unit is a module located on the instrument panel Junction Box (fuse panel) under the lower left hand side of the dashboard. It is a gray colored unit plugged into the center of the Junction Box. Above all the fuses. It first has to be unplugged. Safest way is to disconnect the negative side of the battery, wait at least 3 minutes for the airbag circuits to discharge, then unplug the Flasher. It is quite difficult to unplug as it has latches on both sides. And there is no easy way to unlatch them. I ended up finally pulling it out after some pulling and twisting it. But be careful not to break anything. Before we plug it back I'll show how to modify the latches so that they are easier to unlatch.
Here is a picture of the flasher circuit with the cover removed. Cover is held on by 3 latches. They are released by placing a sharp object between the base and cover near the latch locations. The current sensing resistor (wire loop) is shown in the picture. That is the component that needs to be replaced in order to make the flasher work correctly with LED bulbs. It needs to be unsoldered.
Resistance of that wire loop is about 0.0175 ohms. Each (left or right) side's original lightbulbs consume about 3.92 Amps of current. That creates about 0.0686 Volts across the current sensing resistor.
When using LED bulbs, the total current draw per side will be 0.9 Amps. This is made up of 2 LED bulbs @ 0.24A each plus the side marker incadescent bulb @ 0.42A. If the side marker was also replaced by an LED, the current draw would be even lower and the current sensing resistor would be different than the one I use. But I decided to keep the side marker as an incadescent bulb. In my circuit, the new current sensing resistor will have value of 0.076 ohms. That will produce same voltage drop as the original resistor did with incadescent bulbs. So, the flasher will function as designed.
This picture shows the circuit board with my modified current sensing resistor installed. It is made from a plastic and steel wire tie which is used to tie up plastic bags. I just happened to have it handy and it had the required resistance. It is made from 0.025" dia. steel wire and it is 6" long. Those dimensions give the wire 0.079 ohms. It is within tolerance range to make the flasher work correctly. Other pieces of wire can be used as long as resistance is close to 0.076 ohms.
So now the flasher will work correctly with 2 LED bulbs plus a standard side marker bulb per side. Because of the changed current balance of the LED bulbs and the side marker bulb it will not flash fast even when one of the LED bulbs is out. But LED bulbs should last the lifetime of the car anyway. Also as the flasher has a protection built in, when even one standard front or rear bulb is installed, it will sense overcurrent and it will not flash at all. It will reset and work correctly once the standard bulb is removed.
I have attached a warning label which indicates that the flasher has been modified.
Here is a picture which shows the connector side of the flasher and where to bevel (both) latches in order to make the flasher easier to unplug in the future. This picture should also help in initial removal of the flasher as it shows where the latches are.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
There now are flashers available for the LED converted cars. One is available at http://autolumination.com/equalizers.htm
Look for the one "For new Toyotas" (currently no part number). Photo of it shows 81980-50030 066500-4650.
See post https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...349739#2349739 for wiring diagram and for another eBay source for the flashers.
This is it. I hope that you find this information useful. Don't forget to reconnect the negative battery cable once the conversion is complete.
Looking at other similar posts, event though it's common sense, I feel that I should add a disclaimer here. The writeup you've just read is posted for informational purposes only. I'm not responsible for any damages (direct or indirect) arising from using this procedure to modify your vehicle.
Edited By: Kaeon Aug - 1st - 2006
- Images moved to Scionlife Database, added to tech.
.... wow..... awesome! just awesome!
08-06-2006, 05:50 AM
#12
Member
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 21
God this is so cool! I have L.E.D's in the side markers, Front and Rear. Will my resistance be the same? Also can I alternatively use a resistor of equivalent ohms instead of the wire loop? btw I love those stickers. I'm looking to clear out the trd tailights but I may have to stick them in the oven.
08-07-2006, 01:32 AM
#15
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Northeast USA
Posts: 427
Originally Posted by deeznutz529
God this is so cool! I have L.E.D's in the side markers, Front and Rear. Will my resistance be the same? Also can I alternatively use a resistor of equivalent ohms instead of the wire loop? btw I love those stickers. I'm looking to clear out the trd tailights but I may have to stick them in the oven.
I can't say for sure. It all depends on the LED lights you use. Different brands use different amount of current. I measured all mine with a multimeter.
If you've used same lights as me and you also have an LED in the side marker (instead of the original bulb) then your setup will use even less current than mine.
So, your resistor wire would have to have a slightly higher resistance than mine. That's something you would have to calculate. The flasher circuit does have some tolerance built-in but if you fall out of that tolerance, you'll see it flash fast.
For a higher resistance you would have to use a longer piece of wire or a smaller diameter wire.
08-23-2006, 03:17 PM
#20
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SL Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: West Michigan
Posts: 364
Originally Posted by THE_DON
To get around the turn signal LED problem, you could always use "chrome" or Silverstar bulbs.
Very, VERY nice write up.
Looks damn good on a white box too!
-THE DON
Very, VERY nice write up.
Looks damn good on a white box too!-THE DON