Disco 2 High Level Brake Light

Quick one...

The bulb blew in the high level brake light, and I thought I'd use an LED one I had as a replacement, but it won't work. I tried it back to front, front to back, inside up and backwards, but nothing. So, I just put a normal bulb in and it worked straight away I know the LED bulbs work from connecting them to a 12v supply.

So, do LED bulbs work in this location?

LED works in mine, but I have changed the stop/tail lights to LEDs too.
That did cause me some problems so I ended up fitting diodes inline to prevent current finding its way to where it shouldn't be. The diodes go in the lines to each "filament" on both sides if I remember correctly.
I think I had to reverse the connections in the high level brake light housing too.

brian47 said:

LED works in mine, but I have changed the stop/tail lights to LEDs too.
That did cause me some problems so I ended up fitting diodes inline to prevent current finding its way to where it shouldn't be. The diodes go in the lines to each "filament" on both sides if I remember correctly.
I think I had to reverse the connections in the high level brake light housing too.

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Ta muchly, I'll try that tomorrow.

Shimsteriom said:

Ta muchly, I'll try that tomorrow.

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The wiring in the high level brake light housing has both switched +12 volts and earth, since the housing itself is plastic, so reversing the wiring should present no problem; just use a small two way screw terminal block. There should be no fear of corrosion in there unless the tailgate seals are leaking.
In all honestly, a LED in that place should still work with standard filament bulbs in the stop/tail lights.

brian47 said:

In all honestly, a LED in that place should still work with standard filament bulbs in the stop/tail lights.

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But we're talking Land Rovers so logic doesn't usually apply.

brian47 said:

The wiring in the high level brake light housing has both switched +12 volts and earth

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maybe i misunderstand what you are saying, do you mean swithed earth too? if yes then i'm affraid you are wrong as the earth is direct from earth header 0706

Shimsteriom said:

Quick one...

The bulb blew in the high level brake light, and I thought I'd use an LED one I had as a replacement, but it won't work. I tried it back to front, front to back, inside up and backwards, but nothing. So, I just put a normal bulb in and it worked straight away I know the LED bulbs work from connecting them to a 12v supply.

So, do LED bulbs work in this location?

Click to expand...

Did you try that LED in other location or with direct feed to make sure it's not DOA

sierrafery said:

Did you try that LED in other location or with direct feed to make sure it's not DOA

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It works when connected to a 12v desktop PSU

In all, the lights I've converted to LEDs include:-

• Stop/tail light - type 380 LED colour RED
  
• High level brake light - type 382 LED colour RED
  
• Rear fog lights - type 382 LED colour RED
  
• Reversing lights - type 382 CREE LED colour WHITE
  
• Front side lights - 501 capless wedge colour WHITE
  
• Rear number plate lights - 38mm Festoon LED colour WHITE
  
• Internal courtesy roof lights - 38mm Festoon LED colour WHITE. Larger plate types can be used. You might have to apply insulation tape to the back to prevent shorts.
  
• Glove box light - 38mm Festoon LED colour WHITE
  
• Yellow repeater indicator lights - 501 capless wedge colour YELLOW, the main indicator lights remain as filaments at the moment.

The replacement LEDs have been chosen to be the same colours as their lenses to avoid the risk of unpredictable colour distortions. The light from a white LED can have a bit of a blue hue to it which could make a red light look a bit purple-ish. The light will also remain the correct colour should the plastic lens become damaged.
The headlights will remain as Nightbreakers, as will the fog lights and the additional spot lights due to the design of the reflectors and lenses not being suitable for LEDs. I have the resistors to fit across the main indicators so that they work correctly. I decided to replace those lights not to reduce the current in each circuit, although that is a plus, but LEDs when operated within their normal parameters are far more robust and much less likely to fail due to vibration or mechanical shock.

In reply to @sierrafery , Yes, the earth is a permanent and connected to header 0706 and the switched +12 volts is supllied by the footbrake system. I referred to both wires being present in the brake light housing as opposed to vehicle light fittings which rely on being screwed to the vehicle bodywork and relying on that for the ground, which would of course result in only one wire to the bulb and not two as is the case with the high level brake light housing. I should have further qualified my statement by saying "both a switched +12 volt wire and a permanent earth wire".

Did you go for any particular brand of LED?

No, it was just some cheap ones off the bay.
Just realised that you were asking @brian47

Asking anyone!

Feathers McGraw said:

Did you go for any particular brand of LED?

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Shimsteriom said:

No, it was just some cheap ones off the bay.
Just realised that you were asking @brian47

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Yep, I just bought some cheap-ish ones off the bay too.