Aftermarket amp or LED bulbs causing ABS light???
07-20-2007, 09:39 PM
#26
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As a furthering investigation, I just happened to notice last night when I was showing my lights to a friend, that even with the all the lights off, the two tail light/brake light LEDs are still glowing faintly red! So obviously there is some weird **** going on... it's probably not enough current to run a filament style bulb even dimly, but plenty to keep these VLEDs 'awake'.... Resistor install to come...
-C
-C
Last edited by Mazurfer; 07-20-2007 at 09:41 PM.
07-20-2007, 09:55 PM
#27
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Surfer, just to clarify, the car was running, but all exterior lights were off... I'd yank th e resistors right now and try the handbrake thing for you, but the car is at the body shop getting a bunch of mods done, so can't test until later next week...
07-21-2007, 09:50 AM
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Awesome!
I will give this to my other RX-8 buddy at work (the electrical engineer at our company lucky for me) and have him put a couple of these "brake light foolers" using the PNP and see how it goes... thanks alot for doing the research! I always like the scientific approach vs. the bigger hammer approach. I guess that's why we have Wankels instead of Yenkos!
-C
p.s. I like the glowing at night!
Also, you only have to fool the circuit of the brakelight filament itself, not the running light circuit, but your drawings shows 3 filaments (bulbs)?
p.p.s. OH, I see you are referring to the third brakelight... I forgot, I have a rear camera in this location, and also the Pontiac GTO rear spoiler with LED light bar that apparently does not cause problems with the center bulb circuit.
I will give this to my other RX-8 buddy at work (the electrical engineer at our company lucky for me) and have him put a couple of these "brake light foolers" using the PNP and see how it goes... thanks alot for doing the research! I always like the scientific approach vs. the bigger hammer approach. I guess that's why we have Wankels instead of Yenkos!
-C
p.s. I like the glowing at night!
Also, you only have to fool the circuit of the brakelight filament itself, not the running light circuit, but your drawings shows 3 filaments (bulbs)?
p.p.s. OH, I see you are referring to the third brakelight... I forgot, I have a rear camera in this location, and also the Pontiac GTO rear spoiler with LED light bar that apparently does not cause problems with the center bulb circuit.
But my circuit is working for more than a year already, so that must not be too bad.
The glowing light has a cool factor, but it fools the ABS, so better get rid of it...
Btw, you can attach the circuit to any lamp socket. It doesn't need to be to the third light.
That's bizzarre. I'll look up the wiring schematic diagrams when time and see what the hell is going on. I'm really surprised that they would be some small current draw off the battery with the car off and if the brake was in no way applied. This is ridiculous but do this again and if you have the hand brake engauged......dis-engauge it and give a look.
The ABS controller, when powered up and you don't brake, applies some low load check voltage through the lamp circuit.
As long as there is a good lamp, the voltage drops to near 0V. But if all the brake lamps are burnt, the check voltage stays at 7V, and the ABS controller deactivates itself, indicating the failure. (Yes, believe me, the ABS no longer works)
Now, LEDs are not resistors like bulbs. They need some threshold voltage to start emitting light. Under that voltage, they do nothing but block current.
So, when the ABS controller applies it's check voltage, it's just over the LED threshold and some light comes out, as LEDs need lot less current than bulbs.
But conversely, the voltage doesn't drop below the LED threshold, so the ABS controller believes all lamps are burnt...
T.
07-21-2007, 11:08 AM
#31
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Yes, please come back with the PNP variant. I'd be interested in the right approach, as I'm no real electronician.
But my circuit is working for more than a year already, so that must not be too bad.
The glowing light has a cool factor, but it fools the ABS, so better get rid of it...
Btw, you can attach the circuit to any lamp socket. It doesn't need to be to the third light.
But my circuit is working for more than a year already, so that must not be too bad.
The glowing light has a cool factor, but it fools the ABS, so better get rid of it...
Btw, you can attach the circuit to any lamp socket. It doesn't need to be to the third light.
It makes sense that you can attach to any of the 3 lights, because one of my resistors broke recently (Not getting hot anymore) and I still do not have any bad codes or loss of ABS. So we only need to make one brake light fooler per car right?
That is pretty handy. Thanks again
-C
06-05-2012, 10:47 AM
#34
The same thing just happened to my 2005 Sport. I installed one red LED into the Left Brake Light to check the color, with no detrimental effects. But when I installed the other two LED Brake Lights (the right one and the center one), I got the odd symptom described above.
The symptom is two yellow dash lights illuminate, the ABS light and the Traction Control light (not the DSC OFF light). The odd part is the computer showed no codes...I was stumped. On a whim after reading this thread, I removed all three LEDs, replacing them with the original incandescents, and walla...the dash lights were gone.
The interesting thing about having the ABS and the traction control light ON, was how connected I felt to the road. It seemed a different feeling than when DSC is disabled via the DSC OFF switch. Also gone was this unexplained brake pedal drop (1/2 inch) on hard braking I have always had, which seemed to go away too. It is not the ABS kicking in, because if anything the ABS system raises the pedal. Now I am going to see how to recreate that condition (likely by pulling fuses) to determine if there really is a difference.
Once again thanks to the treasure trove of knowledge here on RX8Club.com, I was able to solve my problem. Cheers!
The symptom is two yellow dash lights illuminate, the ABS light and the Traction Control light (not the DSC OFF light). The odd part is the computer showed no codes...I was stumped. On a whim after reading this thread, I removed all three LEDs, replacing them with the original incandescents, and walla...the dash lights were gone.
The interesting thing about having the ABS and the traction control light ON, was how connected I felt to the road. It seemed a different feeling than when DSC is disabled via the DSC OFF switch. Also gone was this unexplained brake pedal drop (1/2 inch) on hard braking I have always had, which seemed to go away too. It is not the ABS kicking in, because if anything the ABS system raises the pedal. Now I am going to see how to recreate that condition (likely by pulling fuses) to determine if there really is a difference.
Once again thanks to the treasure trove of knowledge here on RX8Club.com, I was able to solve my problem. Cheers!
06-07-2012, 07:50 PM
#35
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^...................it's only the LED in the third popsition causing your issue and you can eliminate that with a resistor.
Here's the link to my thread and in there is the resistor value and where it needs to be.
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/have-abs-dcs-tcs-issues-lights-staying-202843/
Look at #11 under possibilities and checks.
Here's the link to my thread and in there is the resistor value and where it needs to be.
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/have-abs-dcs-tcs-issues-lights-staying-202843/
Look at #11 under possibilities and checks.
Last edited by Mazurfer; 06-07-2012 at 07:53 PM.
03-19-2019, 03:48 AM
#36
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Just FYI, I had the same ABS problem when I put all LEDs on my brake lights. And it cost me too much in dealer expenses to find out why. 
But instead of putting a bulb in the circuit, or a resistor that would suck Amps for nothing, I came up with a simple electronic trick. (see schema)
The 2 diodes mimick a PNP transistor (which I would have used if I hadn't burnt them all in trial and errors).
The resistors ensure that when we apply 12V, the transistor blocks and all (most) current go through the LEDs. But if the tension drops to 7V (test tension of the ABS controller, max 50mA), the transistor becomes passing and the measure reads less than 1V making the ABS controller believe everything's OK.
At idle, that montage takes less than 1mA, and no more than 15mA when braking. Compare that to your X Amps through the resistor.
Oh, and there is no more glowing either.
T.
But instead of putting a bulb in the circuit, or a resistor that would suck Amps for nothing, I came up with a simple electronic trick. (see schema)
The 2 diodes mimick a PNP transistor (which I would have used if I hadn't burnt them all in trial and errors).
The resistors ensure that when we apply 12V, the transistor blocks and all (most) current go through the LEDs. But if the tension drops to 7V (test tension of the ABS controller, max 50mA), the transistor becomes passing and the measure reads less than 1V making the ABS controller believe everything's OK.
At idle, that montage takes less than 1mA, and no more than 15mA when braking. Compare that to your X Amps through the resistor.
Oh, and there is no more glowing either.
T.
Also please let me know how to wire this up with the brake lamp |(Does it go in Parallel or Serial). I am complete noob in electronics so whatever help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
03-21-2019, 05:18 AM
#37
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I know it is pretty late to reply on this thread. However this is the neatest solution I found for the ABS light going off due to LED Brake lamps. I was wondering if you could post the required part list for making this circuit. I would like to put this in my car. I somehow don't like the idea of putting in a resistor based load due to the inefficiency and the risk of the heat it generates.
Also please let me know how to wire this up with the brake lamp |(Does it go in Parallel or Serial). I am complete noob in electronics so whatever help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Also please let me know how to wire this up with the brake lamp |(Does it go in Parallel or Serial). I am complete noob in electronics so whatever help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
03-21-2019, 10:39 AM
#38
Smoking turbo yay
Hook resistors up in parallel with brake lights. That's the easiest solution.
Make sure you use a good resistor load. Those cheap gold ones get really hot. When I had my Accord, I had resistor loads from VLEDs. Never had an issue.
Make sure you use a good resistor load. Those cheap gold ones get really hot. When I had my Accord, I had resistor loads from VLEDs. Never had an issue.
03-21-2019, 10:48 AM
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Thanks for your reply. I know the Resistors may be an easy solution, but I was looking to avoid them. I would rather go with the solution in this thread as I find it to be an elegant one. Hoping that someone from the original authors reply to my question.
03-24-2019, 05:38 AM
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So l went ahead and built the circuit as per the schema and installed it in my car. The thing works !!
I would like to thank the forum and particularly the members here who thought of this clever circuit.
This is a much better solution than putting load resistors.
BTW: I installed this in a Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 TD vehicle. I guess the ABS self test works the same way in most cars and that's why it worked for my car too.
Thanks once again.
I would like to thank the forum and particularly the members here who thought of this clever circuit.
This is a much better solution than putting load resistors.
BTW: I installed this in a Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 TD vehicle. I guess the ABS self test works the same way in most cars and that's why it worked for my car too.
Thanks once again.
06-24-2019, 01:39 PM
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So l went ahead and built the circuit as per the schema and installed it in my car. The thing works !!
I would like to thank the forum and particularly the members here who thought of this clever circuit.
This is a much better solution than putting load resistors.
BTW: I installed this in a Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 TD vehicle. I guess the ABS self test works the same way in most cars and that's why it worked
Thanks once again.
I would like to thank the forum and particularly the members here who thought of this clever circuit.
This is a much better solution than putting load resistors.
BTW: I installed this in a Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 TD vehicle. I guess the ABS self test works the same way in most cars and that's why it worked
Thanks once again.
ps. I am a follow Indian and a sfx owner.
06-24-2019, 10:17 PM
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@traveller please guide me how to connect that circuit. I am following your Pajero thread on TBHP for long and there is no way i can post my comments on that forum.
ps. I am a follow Indian and a sfx owner.
ps. I am a follow Indian and a sfx owner.
There are load capacitors available for this purpose and I purchased them also. However I never used them and they are lying unused with me.
I think it's best to use normal bulbs for the brakes because of the ABS issues at least in the Pajero.
Rest of the lights can be changed to LED's and the indicator lights need a new electronic flasher unit otherwise the indicator hyper flash.
Where are you located. PM me your contact details and I can invite you to our WhatsApp group.
06-25-2019, 03:19 AM
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Hi, The circuit did not work as expected. It stopped working after a day. I had to remove it and now use normal bulbs for the brakes.
There are load capacitors available for this purpose and I purchased them also. However I never used them and they are lying unused with me.
I think it's best to use normal bulbs for the brakes because of the ABS issues at least in the Pajero.
Rest of the lights can be changed to LED's and the indicator lights need a new electronic flasher unit otherwise the indicator hyper flash.
Where are you located. PM me your contact details and I can invite you to our WhatsApp group.
There are load capacitors available for this purpose and I purchased them also. However I never used them and they are lying unused with me.
I think it's best to use normal bulbs for the brakes because of the ABS issues at least in the Pajero.
Rest of the lights can be changed to LED's and the indicator lights need a new electronic flasher unit otherwise the indicator hyper flash.
Where are you located. PM me your contact details and I can invite you to our WhatsApp group.
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