Easiest way to upgrade front turn signals to LEDs - 2017 Genesis g80

[bobdole776]

Hello all,

Been trying for a while to figure out a method to more easily swap out the lame incandescent front turn signal bulbs to a much nicer, brighter LED variant.

I've been wanting to avoid using the resistor retrofit and the turn signal module change methods and just find a bulb with a built in resistor to make the change too.

So far I've tried two different generation LED bulbs from the same company with a built in resistor that should just make them plug and play, but when I connect them up, they don't light up in the least bit.

I did test the bulbs by connecting them up to my power supply and found they'll light up just fine with 12V going into them, but they will pull a massive amount of power of almost 2 amps which was really shocking! Last kit I used was this one.

I contacted the company that made these rather expensive bulbs and they could only offer replacements or refunds. I've almost made it to the point of ripping the bulb apart and playing around with it's internal resistor to see if I could change it out for a more proper one, to which I think this one might be a standard 60 OHM but not sure.

Anyone have any ideas of a product I could use for a simply plug-and-play setup? I'd rather not cut into wires to put an inline resistor, but if it's the only route, any ideas on a good product to go with?

Also, anyone that have undertaken this upgrade, can you give any insight on your process?

I mean, if there's even a OEM option I can look into by contacting hyundai or genesis, I'd gladly go that route as long as it doesn't cost and arm and a leg or just plain unreasonable...


Thank you.

 

[joegr]

I apologize for giving somewhat generic information, but I don't know exactly which bulb this car uses for the turn signal. This disclaimer aside...

It looks like turn signal bulbs are normally about 27 watts (the signal filament, not the parking light filament). At 12 volts that's 2.25 amps of current. LED bulbs, of course, take a lot less current, maybe 100 or 200 mA (0.1 or 0.2 Amps). This is why you get the hyperflash with them. It would seem that you bulbs with load resistor are about right. BTW, the load resistor would be about 6 ohms, not 60.
I would suspect that it is not working for some reason other than the load resistor.

 

[bobdole776]

I think I may have figured out what is going on so might have to test it.

From an older post - 2017 G80 LEd Turn signal swap: Pics

It looks like the polarity going to the bulbs is reversed in the bulb socket itself which is absurd but proves a theory I had before on why they weren't working.

I'm gonna have to test and see if this is true by trying to swap the pins within around and see if they power the bulb. Worst case I blow a fuse or the bulb, hopefully that doesn't happen.

I'll report back if it works though. Such a silly thing holding me back but not a surprise at all as I've seen automakers do this crap before. It could either be a standard within asian countries to do this or a blanket standard automakers do to prevent people from having cheap and easy swaps.

 

[surprisinguy]

It looks like the polarity going to the bulbs is reversed

This has been talked about many times in previous threads - mainly for the 2015 Genesis. You'll need to unplug the socket from the feed wire - about 4-5 inches back from the socket and then swap the pins in the socket or plug. Some people have this polarity problem, some don't. I used a filed down nail to get it small enough to pop the pins out.

 

[bobdole776]

Ok managed to get the bulbs working, and boy it was some work to figure out the installation.

Basically pulled out the whole bulb harness and got lucky enough to just swap the pins in the connect to reverse the polarity which caused the bulbs to work perfectly.

Should note they are hot running and running them for long periods of time does seem to dim them sometimes. From touch alone before installing and testing, I can note they're prolly hitting 50C no problem, so extended usage could kill them eventually.

I do remember reading up that a lot of these LED replacements tend to start hyperflashing by the 3 minutes on mark, so I'll keep an eye out for that.

They are a lot better looking I must admit, and soooo much brighter. I'm one of those people that always uses their signals to indicate everything they're doing, so the brighter the better so people can see me moving even in bright daylight.

Thanks for the assistance everyone.