LED Bulbs, have you done it?

[Scratch]

Question, have any of you replaced the 194 bulbs on your Pilot with LED bulbs?

I'm in the middle of getting a low profile ballast HID kit from Volt, and some Xenomatch halogens for the high beams and fog lights.... I was thinking about adding some new bulbs for the parking lights, which on the 2006 is listed as 194NA's.

Has anyone done anything similar?

[rocky]

There is a seriously wonderful thread on LED lights including installs.

Please test drive the Forum's search feature.

[humanoid]

FYI if you don't know this already, you'll get some ricer hyper blinking from your signals because the LEDs draw less power than regular bulbs and the computer thinks one of your lights is blown, thus for the hyper blinking. Also, I don't think consumer LEDs are quite bright enough for rear facing brake and signal lights, but I could be wrong.... it's been known to happen.

[krazykarguy]

^ He's talking about the round parking lamp above the low beam in the '06-'07 Pilot. This uses a standard 194 wedge bulb. The turn signals do not use 194 bulbs.

I have done these in my '07, and while not quite as bright as the 194 bulb, it certainly looks cool. I also plan on doing an HID kit once one of the H11's burns out - the LED's should match those much better than the 194 bulbs do.

While I was at it, I also replaced the license plate illumination 194 bulbs with LED's. That was a really cool looking upgrade.

[tangotango99]

Where are you buying the LEDS?

[krazykarguy]

I got mine on eBay - 10 194 wedge LED's for $10 shipped.

[tangotango99]

Originally Posted by krazykarguy

I got mine on eBay - 10 194 wedge LED's for $10 shipped.

Thank you

[Guido_my_ride]

i get all my leds from a website called superbrightleds.com they have a big selection of different kind of leds. while i wouldnt recommend uses them for your turning signals or brake lights, the idle lights, licence plate lights, step and map lights are the best imo. but make sure you get polverized white (there much brighter). oh btw if you guys are looking for hids of any kind just go to ebay and search for the zentex dealer, ive bought all my hids from that company and yet to have a problem of burning ballast etc.

[Scratch]

Originally Posted by krazykarguy

^ He's talking about the round parking lamp above the low beam in the '06-'07 Pilot. This uses a standard 194 wedge bulb. The turn signals do not use 194 bulbs.

That... To the mods, I did do some searching and I love the historical data on here, a lot of good info on LEDs and the Pilot, but I guess for the 06-07 we have these 194's in the parking lamp areas which are not on other years?

They seem like moderately pointless lights, so I wanted to see how to improve them. I need to pull the lights and check if they are 194NA or just clear bulbs, then look at LED options.

Overall though, folks have found that filament bulbs are just brighter, and LEDs look nice but don't throw light as well? Since these are just parking lamps, I guess it won't make a huge difference, as long as other drivers can see me.

[krazykarguy]

The OEM bulbs are straight 194's, they are not 194NA's.

LEDs don't throw a lot of lumens (actual light output), but what little light they produce can be "manipulated" to look very bright. This, and the fact that the reflector in the parking lamp is optimized for a filament lamp (which casts light in all directions).

The keychain style LED "flashlights" are a good example of why the output is diminished using LEDs - all of the light output is concentrated forward (like a beam). The 194/168 LEDs that I am using have a conical reflector that directs the LED light output more out, and much less forward. This way, the light is directed more towards the reflector housing of the lamp assembly and less straight ahead.

[Scratch]

thanks for the info, i've been browsing some sites based on what you said regarding optimal light output and i've come across the choices at superbrightleds. they range from 5 to 18 leds per bulb arranged in a 360° pattern...just have to figure out the size difference vs led numbers.

[samc]

I was thinking you could just go with something like this.

I had something like this in my old car and ofcourse the light output is reduced due to the blue tint but it produces a white light.

[hkellogg]

Originally Posted by krazykarguy

The OEM bulbs are straight 194's, they are not 194NA's.

LEDs don't throw a lot of lumens (actual light output), but what little light they produce can be "manipulated" to look very bright. This, and the fact that the reflector in the parking lamp is optimized for a filament lamp (which casts light in all directions).

The keychain style LED "flashlights" are a good example of why the output is diminished using LEDs - all of the light output is concentrated forward (like a beam). The 194/168 LEDs that I am using have a conical reflector that directs the LED light output more out, and much less forward. This way, the light is directed more towards the reflector housing of the lamp assembly and less straight ahead.

what bulbs did you buy, and who on ebay did you buy them from ?

[krazykarguy]

The single LED bulbs I bought are no longer offered by that seller, he only has multi-LED 194/168 bulbs.

A search on eBay for "white 194 LED" produces thousands of hits, sort by price, and buy something on the 6th or 7th page. That's all I did. just look for a style of LED bulb that has some feature to "spread" the light output rather than "shoot" it. Most sellers have a picture of an illuminated bulb as a reference for color and light spread.

[cech]

I just ordered a few LEDs, a pair 25 SMD LED 194 and a pair of high power LED bulbs. I Plan on trying them out in the parking and license bulb locations of the Piot and my Acura CSX.

I have the "Polarg" blue bulbs pictured above currently in the Acura, they glow white and match the OEM HIDs well, but they are not bright at all.

Here are the links to the bulbs I just ordered:

T10 25 SMD LED 194 168 W5W XENON WHITE LIGHT BULB DC12V on eBay.ca (item 150472973523 end time 26-Oct-10 00:43:12 EDT)

2X T10 194 168 W5W White High Power LED Bulb Lamp Light on eBay.ca (item 150496092907 end time 20-Oct-10 0806 EDT)

I'll let you guys know how it looks after the install.

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