My first piece of maintenance - new tail-light bulb

[sparkydale]

Hi there,

1 month in, and I need to actually do my first piece of Bongo maintenance. My passenger side taillight has failed, although the brake light still works (I wondered why people kept flashing me, I thought it was just friendly bongopeople saying hello).

So has anyone used the led replacement bulbs like these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/24-LED-STOP-BRAKE ... 7504wt_954

The price is not too different, but should look cooler, be brighter and last longer, but has anyone used these bulbs and what are they like? Is there any downsides to this and how easy is it to change bulbs in the back? Oh and is the above link for the correct bulb?

Please and thank you

[francophile1947]

Easy enough to change Just undo the screws to the lamp unit and slide it towards the edge of the car.
Those LED bulbs are brake light bulbs - far too bright (and probably illegal) as rearlights

[dave_aber]

Those are 382 bulbs - otherwise known as BA15S. They are single-filament, so only any good for lamp units where the stop and tail are separate bulbs, or in foglights, reversing lights, etc.


On the Bongo, the stop and tail are in the same bulb, so you need 380 bulbs, also known as BAY15D (5W/21W).

FWIW, I have tried LED stop/tail bulbs, and I found that the tail LEDs were fine, looked modern / cool etc, but the Stop element was nowhere near as bright as proper 21W brake lights. Also, my cruise control stopped working with them fitted (Presumably, it measures bulb resistance and found none, so failed-safe).

Stuck normal bulbs back in and all was well.

I also tried 382 style orange LED indicators. Due to the very high resistance, the flasher unit flashed too fast. I was going to strap a set of resistors across them, but as with the brake bulbs, they were not particularly bright, so I went back to real bulbs.

Reversing LEDs were similarly disappointing.

I have kept high-power W5W sidelights in the front though (and in the interior). Very nice.

[sparkydale]

Thanks for the quick responses. I guess I'll stick with standard bulbs then.

[dave_aber]

My advice would be to buy one or 2 of these LED bulbs if you want to see what they look like, and decide if you feel they are OK or not. I did it the hard way - bought loads (about £60 worth!) and then decided they are no good (for me).

Might be a set on eBay soon then!!

[brorabongo]

I have found my LED reverse lights are brighter than the original lamps, and have used w5w LED's for my numberplate lights. Did have them in the front side lights but was told they had to be removed for the MOT, so I'll use them for the front interior lights, as I have only one working at the moment.

I've posted this a couple of times....

Filiment V LED



Reversing LED's

[dave_aber]

Donald,

I've got the same W5W's as you in the numberplate lamps - definite help. The LED reverse bulbs I bought were nothing like as good as your photo though - do you have a link to the ones you bought?

Interestingly, I have just changed my reversing camera for one with IR LEDs. With the old camera in the dark I could see the 2 different patches of light from the 2 reversing lights (one LED and one Filament). With the new camera in low light when it's looking for IR light, I get only one patch of light visible - from the filament bulb.

I'm still waiting for a pair of P7 drop-ins which I am going to try as auxiliary lights - I know these are really bright, but they will be a challenge to fit.

Anyone know where I can get high-power IR bulbs?

[David Edwards]

The normal reversing light on the bongo is awful,lol, at least mine are, I have fitted twin "beeping" reversing bulbs but they are still too dim, the reversing light on our sons fiesta is like an aircraft landing light,lol, are led reversing bulbs available for the bongo.

[brorabongo]

do you have a link to the ones you bought?

Found the link but it no longer exists, It's from a post in Sep 2007....... When I first posted that picture.

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... D&start=15

[rapiddescent]

does anyone know if it is possible to get CREE style LED's for the front side lights/reversing light? In mountain biking, most lamps have moved to CREE LED technology because they are very bright and draw a low current. They're not in the maplins catalogue.

answering my own post, an ebay seller has them for 11.99 plus postage, item number 270402727067

[dave_aber]

Those are 501 fitment, which looks similar to the W5W bulbs I have in the sidelights and numberplate bulbs. I think mine are CREEs as well, they are pretty bright. Still looking for one in a 382 fitting which will go in the reversing light holders.

[corrour]

I found some cree type stop n tail 380 bulbs and fitted them some time ago as they were bright lamps but £9.80 each
I then noticed after a while the ABS light was staying on intermittently after much head scratching and sensor testing I found out the diode effect was causing problems with ABS circuit> removed them no fault since.
I have Led lamps in front side lights number plate and interior lights with no problems.
By adding resistors you can get the indicators to work as well.

john

[corrour]

Try this link on evilbay

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/warden-jp ... QQ_armrsZ1

or do a search for warden-jp2002 all my super brights come from him

John

[rapiddescent]

I went for the CREE bulbs. They were quite small units, only 1cm across (compared to the 2cm ones commonly used in torches and mountainbike lamps). Pics from my phone, but I think they show that the lower power CREE's are a lot better.

before:


after: