02-23-2006, 11:04 AM
Ok, so the first thing I do when I buy a car and check all the light bulbs around the car. None of my 3rd brake light bulbs worked. I pulled the light fixture and checked each bulb with an ohmmeter to make sure the bulbs were bad and it wasn't a wiring problem since the wire leading to them looks like it could kink and break where it enters the trunk lid. The bulbs are "capsule" type. Porsche wants $13.70 each for them little suckers! I searched the internet and found this: Capsule Bulbs
It should be easy to match our bulbs up to these if someone knows the wattage of the stock units.
But I didn't go this route! I found the article at 968Engineering.com. I have a bunch of LED's at home but only had 1/4 watt resistors. So I headed to the local RadioShack in search of the correct resistor. While there, I checked through their selection of LED's and found these: Jumbo Red LED The larger size is perfect for the tail light. On the cabbie at least, the bulbs are held in by the wires. I trimmed the wire leads down on the LED's and pushed them into the holder that held the original bulb. Then I cut the positive wire inside the light fixture and soldered in my new resistor. These large LED's are really bright. Back on the car, you cannot tell they are LED's from the outside. I didn't have to take the bulb holders off the board. I didn't have to remove the original reflectors. I didn't have to drill the board to add 3 more LED's. Total cost was around $10 and took less than 5 minutes to assemble once the fixture was off the car and the soldering iron was hot.
I'm not trying to take anything away from the 968Engineer, it's a brilliant idea. Maybe he hasn't seen the larger, brighter LED's yet? Either way, it's an alternative. Or, someone could match up the stock bulb on the bulbs.com site and then you can get them really cheap (about what I paid for each LED at the Shack).
--Tony
It should be easy to match our bulbs up to these if someone knows the wattage of the stock units.
But I didn't go this route! I found the article at 968Engineering.com. I have a bunch of LED's at home but only had 1/4 watt resistors. So I headed to the local RadioShack in search of the correct resistor. While there, I checked through their selection of LED's and found these: Jumbo Red LED The larger size is perfect for the tail light. On the cabbie at least, the bulbs are held in by the wires. I trimmed the wire leads down on the LED's and pushed them into the holder that held the original bulb. Then I cut the positive wire inside the light fixture and soldered in my new resistor. These large LED's are really bright. Back on the car, you cannot tell they are LED's from the outside. I didn't have to take the bulb holders off the board. I didn't have to remove the original reflectors. I didn't have to drill the board to add 3 more LED's. Total cost was around $10 and took less than 5 minutes to assemble once the fixture was off the car and the soldering iron was hot.
I'm not trying to take anything away from the 968Engineer, it's a brilliant idea. Maybe he hasn't seen the larger, brighter LED's yet? Either way, it's an alternative. Or, someone could match up the stock bulb on the bulbs.com site and then you can get them really cheap (about what I paid for each LED at the Shack).
--Tony
