ok anyone around charlotte that wants to do this for me? i dont have the cojones

All finished!!

http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...ure29786-a.jpg

But with one problem. :( Big J ya jinxed me dude. I have one friggen Led that isn't working. Oh well, at least I know how to get them apart now.

Plus it'll give me a chance to redo the demon eye. Not real happy with how that came out.

Hey guys, I ran into an issue with my LEDs. A couple days after it was all finished I blew a fuse. It was the 10 amp fuse labeled 'clearance' in the hidden fuse box behind the battery. I replaced it, and it blew again in a couple days. I decided to replace it with a 15 amp fuse but it also blew after a while. I don't know what could be causing this.. Any ideas? Do you guys think it would be safe to try a 20 amp fuse there?

No. What ever you do, do not go with a bigger fuse. How did you wire your LED's?

The LEDs are wired to the driving lights (side markers) inside the headlight. When the fuse blows neither the LEDs nor the side markers work.

How long does it take to blow the fuse? If it happenss fairly quick then I would disconnect one headlight plug and see if it blows. If it doesn't blow then the problem is most likely in the other light.

LED's don't draw much current so I doubt that it is blowing the fuse because of the additional draw. That and the fact that you put a fuse that is 5a more and it still blew makes me think that there is a short somewhere.
If you just keep increasing the size of the fuse and there is a short, you will wind up with much bigger problems.

It takes a couple days to blow the fuse. For instance I replaced it on Friday and noticed the lights were not turning on on Sunday. I'm not sure how to even go about diagnosing the issue since it takes a while for it to blow..

Then I'd recommend that you use a different power source with a dedicated fuse. That way you can at least isolate the LED's from the parking light circuit.

If you use a Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) relay you can get the power directly from the battery and still have them turn on with the parking lights.

You can get the relays at any auto part store for about $5 each.

Let me know if you are going to give that a try and I'll post a schematic if you need one.

This is a great DIY. I plan on doing this with my father (nuclear electrician) and I'm hoping this holds up. The only thing that is scary is the oven. I might look into the heat gun method. Any recommendations though on things that you MUST concentrate on? Oven doesn't scare me so much but the fact if the cardboard or whatever isn't wet enough, **** goes wrong, etc. I just feel like the heat gun is more controllable. Btw, did you clear anything after you painted and how many layers?

I would say that the oven is less scary then a heat gun. The heat gun directs a lot of heat in a small area.

I put some wet cardboard and a wet towel in a pan that was big enough to hold the light. Every oven is different so I would start at about 225 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. If that doesn't get it to come apart then try going up 10 degrees and 2 minutes. I found that mine came apart fairly easily at 240 degrees and 15 minutes.

Make sure that no part of the light touches any part the oven and you are good to go.

As far as paint, I had a local body shop spray my rings for me. I've never been good at painting. They used my paint and only charged me $75.

I tried both heat gun and oven method. I think oven method is better if you ensure no part of the light touches the oven. I think you are more likely to take the lights out early and put it back in a little longer. If that happens, my suggestion would be to keep the temperature same and bake it longer.
I used 2 coats of paint. But no clear. I think that should be enough since it is not being exposed to the elements.

Thanks you guys. Also, the only thing I didn't see Caravan mention (at least at the top) was where and what type of sealant to get? I know it's a special headlight sealant.

No need for new sealant. There is plenty in there. Just make sure that you push the old sealant back in the channel while it is still a bit warm. I have had my lights apart twice and no leaks using the old.

Nice write up! No way I could try this myself. Anyone in Houston doing this for cash?

LEDs
 

Hi. I'm thinking of doing the same to my headlights but my numbers indicate that I should be using 200 OHM resistors at 1 watt. The LEDs are runnung at 26mA not the 20mA that they are designed for so the current draws .762 watts. Therefore you should us at least a 1 watt resistor not 1/4 or 1/2. My numbers are as follows: 12 v devided .060mA (3 leds in series) = 200 ohms. Please let me know what you think. I just do not want to be opening these headlights once a year. The way I see it the current is greater than the resistor can handle and they may burn up.

I have the OPs car and lights. Three if the LEDs started flickering on one light. I have since disconnected the LEDs. Way too much headache. Not sure if this helps but more so a warning that you could be right ....or maybe something got loose.

Personal taste but I like it better without the flashy LEDs. I must be getting old.

Same thing happened to my lights after about a year they all started to blink, I believe the watt on the resistor on the LEDs was to big and shorted out the LEDs, you have to get resistors for a voltage between 14.2, I measured the voltage on my 370z while the car was on, I changed out all the LEDs with a 1/8 watt and 180ohm or 200 ohm and they seem to be fine, it's been probably about 6 months now. I will keep you guys updated if anything goes wrong, also it's bad keeping the LEDs on while the car is turned of the current running to the LEDs is alot less and will cause a shortage

I made a strand of just 3 in series with your numbers and they started to fail within the first two hours of constant lighting. Then I made a strand of lights with my numbers and they have been lit for two days with no issues. All you have to do is replace the resiistors and I'm pretty sure you'll be ok also I plan on using my for night time operation only. Way too much hassle, with having to split headlights more than once. Hope this helps.

Best Regards

what voltage are you testing the lights under? I drive with my lights on morning, day, and night everyday for atleast 2 hours a day for alittle over 6 months sence i replaced all my leds with a resistor of 1/8 watt and 180 or 200 ohm and no problems yet.

Had 2 faulty LEDs, replaced them and now working fine 12 volts with 150 OHM 1/2 WATT resistors and working fine now, like you stated. I still have running the strand I made with the 200 OHM 1WATT resisitor and also working great.I think that the strand with the 200 OHM 1WATT resisitor are going to have a much longer life span cause the are running at the correct current. That is just my opinion base on the numbers I got.

So your testing the LEDs under 12 volt? D/C current or A/C current? Like I stated above the car when running is putting more current to the LEDs 14.2 to 14.4 while the car is off the current running to the LEDs is much lower around 12 volts. The weird thing is the LEDs didn't burn out they shorted out like not getting enough current

This is crazy I like it a lot. Nice JOB !!!!!

I'm having trouble taking off the wires from the headlights

can anyone help??????

Can you be more specific?

Mission failed :owned:

I've put the headlights back. Couldn't bake it because I didn't know how to get the wires from the head lights off, then I bought a heat gun but couldn't do it either

I'll try to get some help from someone that has done it before

If you can be more specific as to what wires you are having trouble with I'm sure I can help. I've had mine apart multiple times.

http://www.the370z.com/members/carav...t-assembly.jpg

I don't know how to take of the wires is there something that doesn't need to b removed I might've been trying to do something wrong!!?

nice job

Sorry I didn't see this the other day.

I removed everything. The rubber grommets are easily popped out then disconnect the harnesses and remove the bulbs.

The temperature that you bake theses at isn't enough to melt the wires but I felt better about removing all of them.

Okay I need some help. I'm painting my lights but I'm stuck. How do you remove this part of the harness from the light?
Thanks

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3...0/IMAG0019.jpg

The two wire plug at the bottom? That's the parking light bulb. Twist 90 degrees and pull. The bulb will come out with it.

Yap that's far as I've been with my headlights

Yeah I figured it out. Just twist and pull. My lights took me about 12 hours.. After I finished one light and got it all assembled I noticed there was crap on the inside of the lens, so I had to take it all apart, put it in the oven, fix it, then put it in the oven again, then assemble it again. I was pissed. Now I have to figure out how to get the scratches out of my lens because they got really scratched sitting on my carpet for some reason.
anyways...heres some crappy cellphone pics.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...s800/photo.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMAG0029.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-G...0/IMAG0030.jpg

Looks great!

It look awesome. good job.

did you use mat black or gloss?

Thanks, I used Satin black.

Nice Work. I'm thinking about painting the inside black. Does this effect the lights at all? Do they still have same output since you are painiting the reflectors? Thanks For the help

Hey caravan what are those little tips that hold the leds into the holes...where can i buy those...they are in between the heatshrink and the led bulb....i live in allen tx and i really need some hellp with this mod can you please txt or shoot me an email bc im having some trouble and im stuck with out a car to drive right now...469-463-3239

Not sure what caravan used but I just used a dot of hot glue on one side of the LED to temporarily hold it in place and a two part epoxy to hold it secure on the other. Not so much that you can't ever get it out. Just enough to hold it.

Is there a way to have these stay on only during the day (DRLs)?