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breser
AutoPilot Nostradamus
My September 2014 S85 had them, but I'm trading it for an 85D. I'm betting the new cars still have incandescent plate lights. I bought LEDs for the S85 but put the regular bulbs back in before trading it. So I've got the LEDs waiting to swap out when I get the 85D.
Larry93428
Member
One of my LEDs quit and the other is intermittent. (This after very little night driving.)
I pulled the failed one and it reads open in both directions. Is that a valid test with an Ohmmeter?
The LED is marked: OSRAM 12V 1W 6498 CW 600nk 3Q
Should I buy another pair or am I wasting my money?
The package was labeled 6418 but the ID is 6498 bothers me.
Thanks for your help,
~Larry
aneusomy
Member
I'm wondering if I have the same problem. My P85 is just over 2 months old. I bought LEDs from VLEDS as others have suggested on this forum (6K light). After a few weeks one LED "blew". I exchanged the pair. Now I thought another one has "blown" except I see it working intermittently. I've no background in electric/mechanical/etc, so not sure what to do. Tesla doesn't want to test the wiring or anything to see if it's a problem with the car. It seems randomly to come back on then off; not sure how to reproduce or provoke it. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks all in advance
sickfox
Member
Just installed my license plate LED.
6K from VLED.
Skill Level: 2 (newb) :smile:
Time to finish: ~10 minutes
4SUPER9 - You crack me up. I read that too in this thread so I was pacing myself and bust out the tool box. 10 minutes later, done! :tongue:
Taking it out from package: 1 minute
Removing it from plastic with care = 2 minutes
Unscrew and install the first LED: 5 minutes
Took a picture of first completed LED: 30 seconds
See the difference? warm vs cool
Completed the second set: 1 minute (my skill level went up)
Took a picture of the final mod: 30 seconds
Enjoy, or rather the car behind you will enjoy it! :biggrin:
6K from VLED.
Skill Level: 2 (newb) :smile:
Time to finish: ~10 minutes
4SUPER9 - You crack me up. I read that too in this thread so I was pacing myself and bust out the tool box. 10 minutes later, done! :tongue:
Taking it out from package: 1 minute
Removing it from plastic with care = 2 minutes
Unscrew and install the first LED: 5 minutes
Took a picture of first completed LED: 30 seconds
See the difference? warm vs cool
Completed the second set: 1 minute (my skill level went up)
Took a picture of the final mod: 30 seconds
Enjoy, or rather the car behind you will enjoy it! :biggrin:
Larry93428
Member
I got these from PEP BOYS:
They are working OK so far.
The packaging is interesting as it includes everything you need to see the light in the store.
There is a battery, switch, clips and wires, all unwanted and useless, and will clutter the garage forever.
The rack in the store has red, amber, blue and white LEDs all for you to push the red button to try them out.
Anyway, these are working OK for me.
~Larry
aneusomy
Member
Hi guys,
In case any one else is having issues with intermittent license plates lights (LED -- specifically the VLEDs, see my post above where my right plate light sometimes comes back to life) -- maybe I'm one of a few isolated cases -- I thought I'd write down what I've done that I think fixed it, if it may help anyone else:
I tried using electrical tape along the rim of the LED wall where the (thin) insulator strip is, thinking that the light socket metal pieces may be touching and shorting it (as someone else earlier in the thread also suggested).
Not sure if this specifically fixed things, but upon placing the lights back into the socket they worked fine.
So I then put the screws back into the plastic pieces and tightened them in position, figuring job done, and to my surprise now both lights weren't working. I loosened the screws a bit and both lights came back on.
Not sure why this is an issue, but it appears you can't tighten them all the way or something doesn't fall in place (?) properly and so my lights didn't work.
I'll keep an eye to see if the lights now work properly.
In case any one else is having issues with intermittent license plates lights (LED -- specifically the VLEDs, see my post above where my right plate light sometimes comes back to life) -- maybe I'm one of a few isolated cases -- I thought I'd write down what I've done that I think fixed it, if it may help anyone else:
I tried using electrical tape along the rim of the LED wall where the (thin) insulator strip is, thinking that the light socket metal pieces may be touching and shorting it (as someone else earlier in the thread also suggested).
Not sure if this specifically fixed things, but upon placing the lights back into the socket they worked fine.
So I then put the screws back into the plastic pieces and tightened them in position, figuring job done, and to my surprise now both lights weren't working. I loosened the screws a bit and both lights came back on.
Not sure why this is an issue, but it appears you can't tighten them all the way or something doesn't fall in place (?) properly and so my lights didn't work.
I'll keep an eye to see if the lights now work properly.
Also, I'm not sure of the situation with some other brands of LED lamp replacements, but the ones I got from Amazon felt just a hair loose in the bulb socket... as if the replacement was slightly shorter.
I wound a strip of electrical tape around the edge/side of the socket assembly once the lamp was installed, thus "cinching it down" a bit before screwing the unit back in to the liftgate.
I wound a strip of electrical tape around the edge/side of the socket assembly once the lamp was installed, thus "cinching it down" a bit before screwing the unit back in to the liftgate.
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I was hoping to have my LED bulb set for sale by now, but shipping is so slow at this time of year. I'll post here when they come in (within the next week I think), but they're designed exclusively for the Model S, in terms of size (exact match for the OEM bulb) and color (same temperature as the front fog lights). They're also a higher-quality type of LED bulb (genuine Cree) sourced from a Taiwanese manufacturer that supplies other major automotive brands, and have built-in insulator pads and polarity indicators. They've been tested in a handful of Model S's in most climates with a zero failure rate, but they're covered with an unconditional 2-year guarantee anyway.
aneusomy
Member
I'm still having mine from VLEDs go on/off intermittently. I've either a defective bulb, or perhaps like yours they are a hair loose in the bulb socket.. ugggh
EarlyAdopter
Active Member
Out of curiosity, how do you guys know its gone out? It's not like you can see it while driving.
Usually notice it when I unlock with the back in sight. My VLEDs are on the blink now too. Will try and see if I can try the tape/loosening..Thx for the tips all!
aneusomy
Member
I tried the electrical tape (see pictures) on my VLEDs but one bulb still seems to blink out.
If you compare these bulbs to the standard filament bulb that came with the car, they are bulkier (the LED and walls protude out) so I wondered if this was the cause of it shorting out somewhere. So, I wrapped the sides to prevent the sides of the bulb from touching the socket holders; and also the top portion of the bulbs because I noticed at the deep in the socket there is a metal piece, and wondered if when the plastic bulb holder / bulb was in, it would touch the metal and short.
Regardless, made no difference.
In the end, I wonder about the fit of these bulbs, if it's the bulbs themselves that have issues, or just that the Tesla socket sucks. It may be I give up and just try a different brand.
If you compare these bulbs to the standard filament bulb that came with the car, they are bulkier (the LED and walls protude out) so I wondered if this was the cause of it shorting out somewhere. So, I wrapped the sides to prevent the sides of the bulb from touching the socket holders; and also the top portion of the bulbs because I noticed at the deep in the socket there is a metal piece, and wondered if when the plastic bulb holder / bulb was in, it would touch the metal and short.
Regardless, made no difference.
In the end, I wonder about the fit of these bulbs, if it's the bulbs themselves that have issues, or just that the Tesla socket sucks. It may be I give up and just try a different brand.
Turn on your rear camera while driving at night, it's pretty easy to see the glow cast on the pavement behind.
sickfox
Member
Aneusomy - How long did you have your VLEDS? I bought mine last November and installed it a couple of weeks ago when I got the car. So far, I have no issues. But now i'm wondering if I should pay attention. Initially, when I installed one, it didn't work. But I reversed the led and it worked. Hopefully yours work out. the VLEDS are not cheap so I hope we dont keep on replacing them.
Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
Ive had my vLeds in for a year - no issues - and super bright. I moved the crappy amazon ones (they also got super hot) to my ford fusion hybrid - one is now is intermittently failing.
Gizmotoy
Active Member
I had one of the AGTs posted earlier in the thread crap out. Just ordered a replacement. Maybe I should have checked here first. When the replacements show up I'll try to figure out if it was just loose or actually burnt out.
aneusomy
Member
Hi 
I got the car Sept 30; got the VLEDs about a week later. I've paid attention to the polarity. I think initially I assumed everything was OK, so I wasn't really paying attention. But about a month later I noticed one light (I think the right) was off when I unlocked the car while standing behind the car. I thought that bulb was defective -- even switched it to the other socket, didn't work -- so I exchanged it fairly quickly. I didn't really test it rigorously. But I figured the problem was solved once the bulb was replaced. But then I started having problems again about a week later with the new one -- my left light. But this time I was too busy to rush and exchange it, and oddly the thing randomly turned back on, which is when I started figuring that it's a loose connection or the bulb is flaky.
On the one hand, my delivery specialist said that the Model S seems to have an issue with the LEDs (didn't expand on it); he himself had problems with LEDs for his plate that kept turning on/off. He seemed to try different brands and found something local which seems to have worked for some time now (he said "fingers crossed").
Anyway, when these lights work, they're nice. The interesting thing is that really it's always the same side bulb that's not working this time (the left); and last time (the right), so I wonder about the bulb. The first time I exchanged the bulbs, I exchanged *BOTH* (the "defective" one and the good one)-- wish I kept the good one to see test if it's a bulb issue (maybe they have a quality control issue).
Uggh. Eventually I may just go replace the ? flaky bulb and see if things work; will reply once I do.
I got the car Sept 30; got the VLEDs about a week later. I've paid attention to the polarity. I think initially I assumed everything was OK, so I wasn't really paying attention. But about a month later I noticed one light (I think the right) was off when I unlocked the car while standing behind the car. I thought that bulb was defective -- even switched it to the other socket, didn't work -- so I exchanged it fairly quickly. I didn't really test it rigorously. But I figured the problem was solved once the bulb was replaced. But then I started having problems again about a week later with the new one -- my left light. But this time I was too busy to rush and exchange it, and oddly the thing randomly turned back on, which is when I started figuring that it's a loose connection or the bulb is flaky.
On the one hand, my delivery specialist said that the Model S seems to have an issue with the LEDs (didn't expand on it); he himself had problems with LEDs for his plate that kept turning on/off. He seemed to try different brands and found something local which seems to have worked for some time now (he said "fingers crossed").
Anyway, when these lights work, they're nice. The interesting thing is that really it's always the same side bulb that's not working this time (the left); and last time (the right), so I wonder about the bulb. The first time I exchanged the bulbs, I exchanged *BOTH* (the "defective" one and the good one)-- wish I kept the good one to see test if it's a bulb issue (maybe they have a quality control issue).
Uggh. Eventually I may just go replace the ? flaky bulb and see if things work; will reply once I do.
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