Ok, in every forum I've participated in, there were always multiple threads on possible LED upgrades for their cars. Most "radical " for me was a complete LED job on a 1995 Caddy Seville SLS. I even changed the entire cluster and panels on a F-150 from green to ice blue by using hyper white LEDs.

So, who's swapped out their old incandescent bulbs on their ST's?

 

heh heh heh, crickets...........

 

Is there something I should know....(like: Don't Bother!, or "That dog won't hunt", or We don't need no stinkin' LEDs....)?

 

Car is ground-switched with light-fail detectors so LEDs are a pain and really not worth the hassle.

 

On other forums, there are usually a ton of LED threads, since it DOES update the look on older vehicles. That'll make this thread rather short! So, even those upscale LEDs that allegedly are CanBus error free? WOW! That's what I get for owning GM and Ford vehicles in my past.

 

You can fit LEDs but it's work.

 

Work that's better directed elsewhere. I've done plenty of mods on LED assemblies, but adding load resistors defeats the purpose of lowing power requirements with the use of LEDs.

 

I think there was one member years ago that replaced a couple courtesy lights with LEDs.

Also may be one guy thought about it too. It was some years ago AIR.

 

I switched over all my interior lights, except for the visor lights, as well as the trunk and license plate lights.
Didn't have any issues as far needing special lights, I bought the leds off ebay for around 10 bucks for 20 of them.
So far they work fine, they even dim like the incandescent. The only thing I notice is a very faint glow when the lights go off. They shut off completely after the key is off and the system shuts down.
I'd be happy to post a few pictures and more details if anyone is interested. The car is a 2004 S Type R.
Mike

 

I'd LOVE to see that work. I have quite a few LEDs left over from previous vehicles - and the results get better every time. Just a way to give a more modern look and feel out of a 13 year-old ST. When I did that in a '95 Caddy, people were amazed (EVERY interior light was LED - and BRIGHT!).

 

Bright is bad as it reduces your night vision....

 

I'd love to see the pics and details please!

 

Here's a few pictures of my car with the led lights. I'll do a write up this weekend in detail. Generally it went pretty smooth.

The first thing I checked into was to make sure the car wasn't can bus, as it would have required special leds to prevent the computer from thinking there were bulbs burnt out. According to this site:
CAN Bus Equipped Vehicles - Complete Vehicle Make, Model and Year List , pre 2006 Jags are not can bus.

The license plate lights can't be longer than the incandescent bulb, so I found a deal on ebay for 20 that would do the job. Here's the link to those: 20 x Car White T10 LED 8SMD Side Wedge Light Bulb W5W 194 168 2825 501 192 158 | eBay

These also worked for all the interior lights except the visors.

The 2 lights in the back use 4 of these. The front foot wells and glove box use these, although 2 will have to be modified a bit to look the best. The front door puddle lights use 2 modified. And the front headliner console uses 2 as they are and 1 modified.

I wanted to keep the same color so I decided to modify them to work. Basically the front headliner console and the front door puddle lights are festoon lights. To make the leds work with these I broke the filiment inside and soldered the leads from the led to each end. I'll post pictures of this as well as the other modified leds this weekend.

The biggest pain was the front headliner console lights. The console is a bear to remove, and the only way the lights work is with the console in place.

The leds have to be installed with the positive on the correct side or they will not light. Additionally on occasion the wires on the leds need to be adjusted to make contact.

The trunk light can be done a few different ways. You could solder a led to the festoon bulb or run a wire from the light to under the rear window, which is what I did. For the trunk I used a different led, also from ebay. Here's the link to those:2X Super White Car LED COB Light DRL Fog Driving Lamp Bulb Waterproof DC 12V | eBay

I'll have to take better pictures of the interior lights but these should give you an idea of what they look like.

The only odd thing is the leds have a slight glow when they dim out. It's very faint as can be seen in the picture next to the amber mood light.

Any T10 led should work, I just posted links to the ones that I went with. The only exception as I said above is for the license plate lights. If they are too long they will hit the plastic lenses.

 

For some reason the first three pictures of the interior are sideways, not sure how to fix this.

 

That was the exact effect I got on that old Caddy. Good Show! I have plenty of 194s and festoon LEDs left over. The cheaper ones off EBay last about a year or thereabouts. The ones I got from Superbrightleds.com were of better quality, which I reserved for a gauge cluster, because, who wants to rip apart the entire dash every time one LED blows out?

 

Here's more details on the led swap.

License plate lights:
qty 2 t10, cannot exceed .9 inches total length

Trunk:
qty 1 25mm festoon w/angled ends, or 1 bar type led.

Rear interior lights:
qty 4 t10

Front door puddle lights:
qty 2 25mm festoon w/angled ends

Step wells:
qty 2 t10

Glove box:
qty 1 t10

Front overhead console:
qty 2 t10
qty 1 38mm festoon w/square ends

For the festoons I took the old bulbs and gently twisted one of the ends off with a pair of pliers. I then took a small drill bit and broke the filament inside. Next I used silicone to glue the end back on. I covered the glass with electrical tape and soldered the led to the ends.

License Plate Lights:
Pretty straight forward, just push the tab and remove the lens.

Back Seat Interior Lights:
Use a small screwdriver to lift the tabs, and a t20 driver to remove the screws. Twist the bulb holders to remove and swap out the bulbs. Double check to make sure the lights work and reverse the bulbs if necessary.

Trunk:
Use a small screwdriver to remove the light, swap the bulb.
Another option is to run wires from the light to underneath the rear window and install a bar led.
I used spade connectors to connect to the factory plug.
Remove the trim from the right side hinge by pulling the fasteners out. Make sure you give enough wire to allow the trunk to open without pulling the wire out if the led.

Glove Box:
It may be easier to remove the glove box than trying to replace the bulb from below.

Front door puddle lights:
Grab the bottom of the light and pull it out. Release the connector and remove the lense by lifting the tabs on the sides. Swap bulb and reinstall lense, reconnect and reinstall the light.


Front overhead console:
Start by grabbing the front edge and pulling down to release the clips. This can be pretty difficult and the edges are sharp so you nay want to wear gloves. I found it easiest to remove the screw in the sunglass compartment first and pop the front down and slude the whole console out. its then simple to use a screwdriver to release the rear clips. Reinstall the upper portion and once the bulbs are swapped reinstall the console.
The 2 t10 bulbs go in positive to the back of the car, the festoon positive to the pass side (lhd)

I'll attach some pictures. Let me know if anyone needs more info.

 

Quality job and a quality write up!

 

Agreed. Thanks!

 

Nice write up