Big bust trying LEDs

[Kaylee13 0]

I am a newbie here, but I've had my 2013 Spark LT since 2016.  Just thought I would share a story considering I didn't find any information about this when i was doing my research....or I never would have wasted my money and time.

I lost a taillight, so I thought I would replace all rear lights with LEDs.  I have issues with arthritis and muscle pain, so doing it all at once was the easiest for me.  

Well, 3 hours later, after struggling with releasing the housings and then the bulb sockets ( I eventually had to carefully use a pair of pliers, my old hands just don't have the strength) and testing the lights (I was alone at home, so I got a little creative, but it took longer), I discovered a very dangerous thing, in my opinion.

I understand the polarity thing, and the need for a resistor on the turn signals ( I was going to have a mechanic friend do the resistors), so I did not put the housing back together right away, in order to make sure I had the bulbs in the sockets the right way.  I found that the taillight/brake upper semicircle only gave me one choice depending on the way the bulb was put in, either a taillight or a brake light, not both.  For the lower semicircle, the turn signal/taillight/brake, I had only two choices depending on the placement of the bulb in the socket: taillight or turn signal; no brake light at all and not both turn signal/taillight.  So, after putting it all back together with the old bulbs, I went and got a standard bulb for the bad bulb and did it all over again on the one side.  Talk about my hands hurting after this fiasco!

I did replace the back up lights with the LEDs.  The only thing weird about them is a faint glow from them even when the lights are off and car is parked (I noticed that tonight when I went to my garage to leave for work).

I bought the Sylvania LED brand available at Walmart for all lights involved.  The taillights I got were red in color instead of plain white.  I am taking them back this morning for my $45 refund for the 2 red light pairs and the resistor pair.

[Ray Dockrey 97]

Sounds like you bought the wrong LED's. You bought a LED for a single filament socket and you needed a LED for a dual filament socket. At least that would be my best guess. The faint glow from the backup lights sounds like possibly a bad ground. 

[Kaylee13 0]

I wish the Sylvania site or their packaging said as much. They just said which model number bulbs to buy per year, make, and model.   At least I got my money back. 

I'll have to have someone with better electrical/mechanical knowledge check on the bad ground issue.

Thanks!

[Kaylee13 0]

Years later update ....  that bad ground caused a major issue on a 17-hour trip.  Corrosion on the negative terminal made the computer go insane and affected my throttle and transmission signals to the engine.  I have removed the LEDs and the corrosion seems to have slowed down.  But from past experience with an electrical issue in my old Cavalier, I know finding a bad ground is a long and tedious process, so for now, I'll just stay away from LEDs and keep track of the corrosion.