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Third Brake Light LED Replacement

4K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  kenzo 
#1 ·
I noticed the third brake light on my red MR2 was a little dim compared to my white turbo. It was about half as bright and had multiple burnt out LEDs. I replaced all of the bulbs in the red car with this part from DigiKey, 1125-1197-ND. To replace the LEDs I had to Dremel the backside of the housing in order to get to the bulbs, solder in the new LEDs, and then seal it with silicone. Included are pictures of the white car with original LEDs and the red car with the new ones.

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#3 ·
First, thanks for the heads up. How much, approximately, was it for all of the bulbs? How long did it take?
Anything other than soldering in bulbs that has to be done?

Secondly - Nice flexing on us poors with only 1 MR2 ha
It was about $22 for 100 bulbs including tax and shipping, it was more than required to complete the replacement but was a good discount in lots of 100. About 64 bulbs total to complete. Took about 2 hours to complete excluding the silicone dry time which was overnight. No other work was done, just a straight removal and replace of the bulbs.

I didn't have the before and after to compare so I used my other MR2, no flexing intended. :)
 
#9 ·
Useful thread, but there's one thing that concerns me: the source for those LEDs.

We go through LEDs for our products at work and since the owner is a cheap-ass, we buy similar cheapo Chinese LEDs for similar costs. I can tell you they don't last nearly as long as their Japanese made equivalents (considering the originals are 30 years old). While this swap job doesn't seem too bad, I wouldn't want to do this more than once. I'd buy some quality non-Chinese LEDs if possible.
 
#13 ·
I didn’t take any pictures. However , I dremelled along the seams. I cut along the grayish/yellowish board. I did cut into the red lens material a lil bit. Careful of cracking, so do not try to pry it open. There are 3 screws to separate the circuit from the backing.
 
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