Doing research on some LED upgrades I found many posts about the Light Out indicator.

Some have gone great lengths to keep the light off. From adding resistors or buying more expensive LEDs with the resistors built in to going old school and covering it with black tape or removing the light behind the indicator itself.

No matter which direction, however, you are bypassing that system. Even the more expensive LEDs that say "Can Bus Error Free" are still bypassing it so if that LED ever does blow, you won’t know it unless you see it out.

(Essentially, the bulb out system sees the resistor, not the LED, so if the LED goes, the resistor remains active, not allowing the detection of the burnt LED. Now if the resistor blows, it will turn the light out indicator on, but the resistor can fry and the bulb still be lit. Basically you now have a Load resistor out instead of a light out indicator)

ANYWAY, LEDs should last 10X longer than the bulbs they replace so most are fine with this but before moving on I wanted it to be clear that regardless of using the resistor method or the black tape method, the result is still the same. You are bypassing that system.

Wish I could tell you how to make the system work properly with LEDs, but I cannot.

Instead I am doing the next best thing, showing you how to disable the system in a way MUCH cheaper than buying resistors or spending more for the ones with the resistors built in (and safer due to heat of the bypass load resistors), plus just a bit classier / less noticeable than the black tape method...

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First take the Driver Side lower trim panel off…. I believe in not re-inventing the wheel so rather than me provide those instructions, just follow the "sticky key instructions" up through Step 8….

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...key-fix_v2.pdf

You will now have full access to the light switch / Illumination control module on the left side of the panel. On this module you should have 4 connectors.

To the far left (closest to the driver door) you will see the first connector has 3 wires in it, two of which are fairly large wires.

The NEXT wire bundle directly to the RIGHT of that set is the bundle you will want to unwrap the tape from.

SO to recap, if counting from left to right, it is the second wire bundle, if counting from right (passenger door) to the left, it is the 3rd bundle connected to the light switch / module.

Unwrap that wire set back until you have access to identify wire colors.

Look for the wire that is Brown w/ Black Stripe. Cut it, tape it off. DONE




Yep, it’s that easy! Find the Brown with Black stripe wire coming from the second cable set from the light switch, cut it, tape it off and put everything back together. NO MORE LIGHT OUT INDICATOR!


That wire supplies a grounded output to the instrument cluster when it detects a light is out. No connection and your instrument cluster never knows any lights are out.

 

OK. Everyone? We have to keep this guy happy.

Forever!

 

Nice work Daniel, I have been staring at that light for a long time

 

2 things to add...

#1. Unfortunately this will not correct the "fast Blink" issue if using LEDs for the blinkers, you will still need the ones with the LEDs built in for those. Next time I have the instrument cluster out, however, I may have a fix for those as well but I will need to dig deeper and do some testing first.

So again, YOU WILL STILL NEED RESISTOR / "Can Bus Error Free" LED sets for the blinkers or you will get a "Fast Blink".

#2. I again apologize for not getting a picture of the wire bundle or the wire to be cut. I am really bad about taking pictures when I am exploring /working and dont realize how muich help it may be to others until it is all taped and put back together.

So, if anyone needing this is willing to come to North Alabama, I will be happy to do the mod and take pictures to add clarity for others attempting it.

(Not only do I work free but I usually have a few adult beverages in the cooler available while you wait)

 

Hmmm.the next time I take a speed run up State 49-I might just warn you and stop in.

No work involved-my lights work. But an alcoholic beverage? Can't resist. I'll bring a couple too. I don't freeload. Ever!

 

Welcome just about any time. Weekends are better of course.

 

Well, we'll just see! Football weekends are really full for me-I have a boy playing at UWA (Livingston, AL) and we go to all the near games. < 300 miles is "near"!

Can I bring a friend? He lives on the way (Linesville).

 

The easiest, and possibly most ironic way to eliminate the "Bulb Out" light, is to remove the light bulb that warns you.

Then again, I had my cluster out soooooooooooo

 

Friends are welcome! Got a nice 4 bay shop for working on cars, and a nice man cave with Pool Table, Pinball Machine and fully stocked bar for NOT working on cars....

Yep, that works too, for me getting to this wire was easier, (probably because I had it apart doing the key fix thing).

 

LOL yeah I cheated...

Although, I must take up for the warning light, it saved me a ticket because it told me my rear brake light was out before a cop did.

 

you could just buy the correct led's for the application. but that would be to easy right? maybe cost a few beers worth more?

 

My problem with the "correct LEDs" is not only that they cost mnore but they run extremely hot. The ones that we could get with the resistors built in for our tail lights even say, not recomended for tail lights / runing lights due to the heat of the built in resistor, so then you have to add a secondary resistor, which also gets extremely hot. Not only that but you are waisting battery power on heating up that resistor. SO essentially, you negate one of the main purposes of going with an LED which is less pull on the electrical system as you are using electricity, to heat a resistor and the circuit is bypassed and useless for those particular lights anyway....

For the blinkers, yes, you still need the ones with resistors in them, but the others, you would not.

But thats just my opinion on the matter, great thing about life, everyone has one and usually options to how you handle that opinion exist so I simply submit this as one of those options.

 

I actually prefer my 'idiot light' on the dash to work. I wanted to put LEDs in my clear side markers. After some trials, the LEDs were not what I wanted, and the resistors got extremely hot. I scrapped the idea and went back to colored bulbs.

I think most guys go for the LEDs because of the 'look' more than the power consumption issue.

I think you have offered a great and simple option pertaining to this subject. Easy fix if you decide to correct again.

James

 

James I agree with you, but being able to leave them on for hours on end, either for a show, or to illuminate where I am in a parking spot, is a great byproduct of the swap...

 

Reviving this old thread because after putting LED bulbs into my license plate lights, the light out indicator is on the dash board. Gary can you move this thread to the "how to" category and make this a sticky please??

 

I found this about the flasher location.

Turning Signal Flasher is under the hood in the drivers side fuse box. When you remove the cover from the fuse box you will see the fuses but no relays / flashers. You must then remove a second cover. The snaps are along the side of the box.

Is there a electronic instead of thermal flasher to correct the fast blinkers? I have that in the Buick so the turn signals flash normal.

 

I added LED's to my coupe.. and researched.. The Miata has a control you can add a resistor to (lucky them).. ours look to tie into the lighting control module.. and then it would be best guess as to whether you could do anything with it.


Would love to find out otherwise "there is a flasher unit"..

 

Anyone wanna try and find this flasher? I would literally only have to change my turn signals to LEDs at this point since everything else is LED now.

 

Great guide thanks

 

One post (below) says it all when it comes to my car. When 'The Man' shows up in the rear mirror (and your not local OR you are and the budget is tight in that jurisdiction), then I am glad the lamp out indicator is functioning correctly. MODS don't excuse a fine for public safety. In my active duty days, you can be sure a bulb went out THAT day, because when you signed out a vehicle (and filled out the card after doing the tasks), one safety task was to check the operation of each lamp before driving away for the day. With all these new engineered systems, NOTHING beats a 'walk around', maybe once a month. As also mentioned, if a 'canbuss' LED segment fries but the system still 'see's' the circuit resistance, your still going to have to 'Pay the Man'. I've heard (in our forum) of quite a lot of heat generated from 'amateurs' splicing all sizes of resistors into lamp circuits. I bet THAT sure tasked the electronics some!


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