How to replace tail LED lights with (convert to) bulbs!

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BEFORE YOU START

LEDs are supposed to last some 50,000 hours that is the lifetime of a vehicle reason why the designers opted for this solution pushing creativity to new limits.

The LEDs are not replaceable and it happened that in real life they did not last more than 3 years. Other incandescent bulbs in the same tail light remained operational!

The LEDs are used for the sidelights only and replacing them requires the replacement of the whole tail light, an absurd and costly solution. So here is the alternative.

These works have been carried out on a Peugeot 208 but the method remains valid for any car due to the similarities between the tail lights electrics.

DISCLAIMER:
Our pictorials are of informative nature and do illustrate works carried out by ourselves at our own premises for our own use and satisfaction.
Readers who envisage to carry out similar works inspired by the below method shall do this at their own risks and liability.

Detailed tail light LED repair pictorial

1- Gently take out the bulb socket assembly You will need to disconnect the LED's wires for removing it completely.

2- The LEDs are found to be built-in the plastics. No further dismantling seems possible.

3- All layers of the tail light are welded together, there is no way to access the LEDs unless the lens and the main body are cut and separated.

4- Cutting the lens requires hours of work and LEDs could be difficult to find in the market so better to use incandescent bulbs, available everywhere for $1.5!

5- A hole of the right diameter will be drilled in a place where the light would spread in the acrylic diffuser to recreate a similar effect to the LEDs.

6- The hole location should allow the bulb to be introduced completely in the body. Try it on the car to make sure it doesn't interfere with the tail light seat.

7- Cut the wires that where used to feed the LEDs.

8- Drill another hole between the lamp socket compartment and the new bulb location.

9- Let the wires pass by this hole.

10- Solder them to the bulb.

11- Make sure the bulb and wires are solidly soldered.

12- Tape one connector and introduce a heat shrinkable sleeve over the bulb base.

13- Shrink it with a heat gun or a hair dryer.

14- Your bulb is now ready to take on its new mission.

15- Temporarily fit it inside the hole without any further fixing.

16- Connect its wires to where the LEDs where connected and fit the bulb sockets assembly in its place.

17- Go to the car and try the effect. It works! In this case, the lion claws appear again in this Peugeot tail light. The light intensity is however weak due to the absence of reflector where the new bulb has been fitted.