Interior LED install....quick question?

[flintknapper]

Going to put the Pfran LED's in the Lexus this evening (maybe).

Do all the lens covers just pop/pry off? No tricks or hidden catches I need to know about?

Sorry for asking what should be obvious to me....but I haven't had the LX for long and just haven't looked at the lighting.

Thank You in advance,

Flint.

 

[Sandroad]

All the light covers in my LC pry off. There is a slight slot in one edge for a small pry tool (as in small screwdriver).

 

[flintknapper]

All the light covers in my LC pry off. There is a slight slot in one edge for a small pry tool (as in small screwdriver).

Thank You Sir!

While awaiting my answer....I went ahead and tested each bulb (9 V battery and leads) and marked the polarity.


All of them work fine. Knowing the polarity isn't essential, if the bulb doesn't light up....just flip it around, but what the hell, I had a red magic marker sitting there, so I just marked the hot lead.

So here we go.

 

[flintknapper]

O.K.

Well LED's won't be happening tonight.

Popped the lights out of the front and rear passenger side doors, removed factory bulbs (good tight fit with those) tried to install the new LED's but the base on the LED's are not as thick as the factory bulb and the contact wires on them are micro thin. Consequently...they don't make good contact with the receptacle in the light housing.

I will need to pull the fuse(s) that supply power to doors and use a THIN pair of needle nose pliers to try and squeeze the clamping portion of the receptacles together more. The LED's do light up, but if you just breathe on them, they lose contact and either go out or flicker. NO WAY they will stay put once the door slams.

Have others run into this?

 

[Hayes]

I did not have this problem in my 2005 LX.

O.K.

Well LED's won't be happening tonight.

Popped the lights out of the front and rear passenger side doors, removed factory bulbs (good tight fit with those) tried to install the new LED's but the base on the LED's are not as thick as the factory bulb and the contact wires on them are micro thin. Consequently...they don't make good contact with the receptacle in the light housing.

I will need to pull the fuse(s) that supply power to doors and use a THIN pair of needle nose pliers to try and squeeze the clamping portion of the receptacles together more. The LED's do light up, but if you just breathe on them, they lose contact and either go out or flicker. NO WAY they will stay put once the door slams.

Have others run into this?

 

[flintknapper]

I did not have this problem in my 2005 LX.

Had to pull the original bulbs with a pair of needle nosed pliers (partly because of the reach, but they were also in there tightly).

Pfran LED's almost fell into place and just wiggled around (not making good contact). NO WAY they were going to work.

I don't yet know if its even possible to squeeze the contacts in the receptacle together to make a tighter fit, but that is whats going to have to happen for these bulbs to work in the doors. Probably the same for the map lights.

 

[sorich]

I'll be interested to hear your solution when you get this straightened out. I'm about to order a bunch of interior LED's for my '98 LX, and was considering pfran as well... Just thought they were overpriced considering how much you can order each bulb for elsewhere. I'd love to hear if you end up liking them and you can get them installed properly.

What light color does it look like? I saw your picture above but I know pictures can be misleading.. It looks very blue in the pic. At night does it seem to have a bluish tint? I'd hope for something closer to the 3500K-4000K range which should have pretty much no noticeable blue hue. I'd rather have a warm white than a cool white.

 

[jerryb]

I'm sure he will send you more, if you ask. I used phillips 194. Wonderful fit. 2 licence plate, four doors, and two in front dome. Rock sells them, instant on, no ghosting that I can tell. PHILIPS 194LED {#127996000K} VisionLED; White Bulb Info 4.29$ each

 

[COGerding]

I'll be interested to hear your solution when you get this straightened out. I'm about to order a bunch of interior LED's for my '98 LX, and was considering pfran as well... Just thought they were overpriced considering how much you can order each bulb for elsewhere. I'd love to hear if you end up liking them and you can get them installed properly.

What light color does it look like? I saw your picture above but I know pictures can be misleading.. It looks very blue in the pic. At night does it seem to have a bluish tint? I'd hope for something closer to the 3500K-4000K range which should have pretty much no noticeable blue hue. I'd rather have a warm white than a cool white.

Here are mine installed. I would say the color representation is pretty close. Not as blue as in the pic above, but not a warm, yellow either. I ran the red in the map lights up front. Back up lights are a HUGE improvement - I had the fit issue with those and just pinched the copper connector - I took a small flathead screwdriver and levered against the connection on both sides (my needlenose wouldn't fit in there) - they work great now.

 

[BRob2756]

I had a similar problem with the sockets. I used a small toothpick to bend without pulling the whole fixture out. Once you have them set, they work great.

 

[sorich]

View attachment 1410575 View attachment 1410576 View attachment 1410577 View attachment 1410578
Here are mine installed. I would say the color representation is pretty close. Not as blue as in the pic above, but not a warm, yellow either. I ran the red in the map lights up front. Back up lights are a HUGE improvement - I had the fit issue with those and just pinched the copper connector - I took a small flathead screwdriver and levered against the connection on both sides (my needlenose wouldn't fit in there) - they work great now.

That's great. Thanks for the info!

 

[flintknapper]

I'll be interested to hear your solution when you get this straightened out. I'm about to order a bunch of interior LED's for my '98 LX, and was considering pfran as well... Just thought they were overpriced considering how much you can order each bulb for elsewhere. I'd love to hear if you end up liking them and you can get them installed properly.

What light color does it look like? I saw your picture above but I know pictures can be misleading.. It looks very blue in the pic. At night does it seem to have a bluish tint? I'd hope for something closer to the 3500K-4000K range which should have pretty much no noticeable blue hue. I'd rather have a warm white than a cool white.

They look to be very good quality. The color in the pic is misleading, they (mine) are not bluish at all, just a very stark white light. No hint of yellow either.

I am not yet certain what the trouble is....but Paul has contacted me and we are working on it. As stated here numerous times, Customer Service is second to none. I suspect the issue will turn out to be with MY vehicle.

I don't mind tweaking the receptacles if necessary, I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced that.

We will get it worked out, I am sure.

 

[flintknapper]

I had a similar problem with the sockets. I used a small toothpick to bend without pulling the whole fixture out. Once you have them set, they work great.

There we go! Wooden Toothpick would be the ideal non-conducting tool to use.

Very good, thank you! Will try that this evening.

 

[flintknapper]

I'm sure he will send you more, if you ask. I used phillips 194. Wonderful fit. 2 licence plate, four doors, and two in front dome. Rock sells them, instant on, no ghosting that I can tell. PHILIPS 194LED {#127996000K} VisionLED; White Bulb Info 4.29$ each

No, I don't want anyone to send me 'more'. The issue might not be with the bulbs at all, in fact....I suspect it is with my sockets/receptacles and NOT the bulbs.

Guys, lets just see what we come up with. Paul is checking his batch of bulbs and I will be looking at the fixtures on my LX470.

I don't want anyone to have 'questions' about his product or be SPOOKED off by this thread, I was just looking for a little direction.

Thanks to all who responded.

Flint.

 

[flintknapper]

I had a similar problem with the sockets. I used a small toothpick to bend without pulling the whole fixture out. Once you have them set, they work great.

OK, got them all working tonight (door bulbs). Whittled down a wooden mixing stick and pried the sockets over a bit. Used a speck of dielectric grease on each receptacle.

They still aren't real tight, but they are working and I'm not expecting any trouble.

The map lights fit good and tight in their sockets, you really have to push on them.

The panel lights are easy to install and are BRIGHT. I recommend you don't install them at night out in the driveway (like I did), they attract bugs like crazy! Mrs. Flintknapper is going to have a fit when she sees all the bugs in her car in the morning.

 

[BJJCruiser]

I'm sure he will send you more, if you ask. I used phillips 194. Wonderful fit. 2 licence plate, four doors, and two in front dome. Rock sells them, instant on, no ghosting that I can tell. PHILIPS 194LED {#127996000K} VisionLED; White Bulb Info 4.29$ each

Are the bulbs in the rear dome the same size? How about the map lights?

 

[jerryb]

I want to say no. I think those are the festoon bulbs in the rear.