If anyone has replaced the rear lamps in a 74 Eldo with LEDs I'd appreciate guidance on the viability of doing this & a suggested source of the LEDs.
Thanks'
Bob
I heard some bad stories about replacing turn signal bulbs with LED's. Often, the LED's don't draw enough current to cause the flasher to work.
1974 lights were bright enough to be seen. I can't think of any reason to change them.
If you feel you must, Bill Hirsch sells them.
The draw on an LED is minimal so you may need to change your flasher to an electronic flasher that plugs in exactly like the existing one. You may have two flashers, one for the hazzard lights and one for your turn signals. I don't know if the replacement LED bulbs have some circuitry in there to compensate.
Your flasher is just a rapidly resetting circuit breaker. Lights create a load, breaker pops, resets, pops etc and you have blinkers...
Brian
LED's do not draw enough current to trigger flash mechanism.
Frankly if you change to LED and get flasher to work your options will be limited. Modifications to Cadillacs are often performed for budget reasons. If you ever need to sell the car, it will be more difficult. When I see a Cadillac with different wheels/tires/lights, I cut the value in half and start negotiating from that perspective. If you can document that the mod was a genuine nice non-budget improvement you may be OK.
Scott, Brian & Alan
Many thanks for your responses. My brake & turn lights are dim but thanks to your sage advice I'm going to replace the bulbs with factory recommended bulbs.
Thank You
Bob
Bulbs and a flasher are certainly easy reversible "modifications".
If you feel your lights are dim you may have a problem with your charging system.
If you have a volt meter you should check your battery voltage to see what it is when running.
Should be about 13.5 with no load like AC or lights but over 12.5 with a full load.
If that checks out check the grounds at the back of the car.
If your lights are dimmer than they used to be there must be a reason.
Brian
A faulty ground will cause dim lights. Since the light housing is bolted to the body, I would suggest removing the bolts and clean the metal surfaces of rust.
Tim
Compared to today's cars those early 70's cars have pretty small tail lights so anything you can do to improve visibility can't hurt. In most cases its just plug in so why not?
I can't find it at the moment but I found a company that makes led replacements that don't require any changes to the rest of the system. I found them when ordering fancy sequencing lights for the wife's 66 mustang. I got em from a Mustang place but looked up the manufacturer and found they had a fairly large catalog of LED stuff. They noted in their catalog that they were built to emulate standard bulbs so you don't have all the issues you do with typical replacements. For many applications they had both a standard brightness look option and then a super bright as well as fancy stuff where it was possible like the mustang app. I'm thinking they were in the southwest USA like AZ or NM, that general area.
Another possible reason for dim tail lights is corrosion or dirt on the (pot metal) reflector. Wouldn't hurt to polish the insides up when you replace the bulbs.
-mB
Changing out stock bulbs for LEDs can be a very easy and yes a reversible process. Certainly the LEDs created now have made great strides in their brightness and reliability. They can greatly increase your visibility to others creating a safer driving experience so why not? You can find an LED replacement for almost any bulb from the past at most auto part stores. You will need to add a device which will increase the current draw on the LEDs to make them function as stock lights would. These can also be found at the same auto parts stores, and you will not have to make any other changes in your electrical circuits like flashers etc. Ask a knowledgeable counter person in that store to help you find the items. Most of these stores have younger employees very familiar with more modern electronics and are all to eager to educate us older generation about these things. Good luck, David Symonds