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Mk2.5 Sidelights!!!!

Featured Replies

Hi there everyone.

I recently changed my side lights to led white lights. About two weeks ago. They looked ace BTW. Anyway I woke up this morning and neither side is working. My first thought was a fuse had gone but after a look in the owners manual I found that the sidelights on the front are linked with the rear. And the rear are working fine. Anyone got any suggestions??

Cheers

Dave



I believe you have to buy can bus error free bulbs to eliviate any problems I got some for my reverse and fog and neither worked

Leds are just rubbish get yourself some 501 wedge bulbs in ebay diamond white ones they're cheaper look as good and half the price .

Even error free ones burn out I had a friend complain of burning smell in his car traced it to his led sidelights the chip was burning out and almost everyone I know with led drls from the factory has either only one working or none at all

  • Author

Cheers guys.

These are the bulbs I bought.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/371171258098?&txnId=651406230024

To be honest they are crap. Has anyone got any links to a decent site other than eBay. I don't ever have much luck from eBay. Would canbus bulbs be a better buy. I loved the light these produced when they worked.

Cheers for the reply guys.

Dave

The main problem is that most LED's available are calculated for 12-13 Volt. The Focus has a higher voltage because of the Silver/Calcium Battery which needs a higher voltage. On a Focus the voltage can be between 14 and 15 Volts.

Most cheap Chinese LED bulbs are calculated for a light output which is as high as possible. This makes the lED's burn very bright but also reduces the lifetime of the LED's dramatically. Installing an additional resistor into the wiring or replacing the existing resistor on the LED bulb is an easy solution for this problem. With the correct resistor value calculated for 14 or 15 Volts the LED's will not burn as bright but the lifetime will be a lot longer.

I have a MK2.5 2009 and I get my LED's from this eBay seller warden_jp2002. His stock goes up and down all the time but the LED's that I get are the High Power ones as they last longer than the Ultra Power ones.

Had my current ones in now since Aug '13 and they're still going strong. No need for Canbus error free ones as the MK2.5's doesn't have the Canbus system IMO

The canbus error free just refers to having bulb warning lights on your dash doesnt it?

The only ones that have lasted on mine ares these had the same ones as btmaldon posted started flickering after a few weeks as sidelights but working fine in my number plates?

The canbus error free just refers to having bulb warning lights on your dash doesnt it?

Basically the Canbus systems detects a blown bulb via low voltage in the bulb system and throws up a warning on the dash, thus the Canbus Error Free bulbs have an added resistor which stops this from happening as the LEDs run at low wattage.

Bought some cree sidelights for mine fitted in nicely at first but the left one stopped working after a while, kept coming loose so ended up buying these - http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=281214995706 look good so far and a much better fit than the other ones I bought.

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC mobile app

These were the original ones I bought only lasted about 6 months - http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=310407328240

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC mobile app

Bought some cree sidelights for mine fitted in nicely at first but the left one stopped working after a while, kept coming loose so ended up buying these - http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=281214995706 look good so far and a much better fit than the other ones I bought.

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC mobile app

I've got a set of those fitted in my focus since 2011 still goin strong cost me 15 pounds back then so there well worth that price now,

There metal heatsink housing helps vent the LED's

  • 2 weeks later...

I get the impression that CREE T10's are not best used for sidelights. My right hand side ones don't last long. I'm on my third one now in 4 months.....

My experience is that the CREE LED's can become very hot. These high temperatures reduces the lifetime of the LED bulb dramatically.

Currently I only use cree LED bulbs with an aluminium heat sink. Last week I tested a T15 CREE LED buld with heatsink for my Focus MK3. After a few minutes the temperature of the LED bulb was already over 50 degrees Celsius. Inside the headlight the temperature can be even higher because of the heat of the other light bulbs.

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