[08XC90V8]

Does anybody happen to know what wires are the front turn signal wires? As well as the DRL wires? I'm installing something like this on my XC90 in the front little vents underneath the headlights, but with my own LED strip that's a more "flowy" design rather than the individual visible diodes.

I will also have to tap into ground/make my own, so is it possible for me to find one on the headlamp assembly, or will I have to make my own?

And finally, will something like this tap into the DRLs, or main beams? My XC90 has the Bi-Xenons, with the ABL (Active Bending Lights) feature and self-leveling lamps. I'm confused about what I would connect my LED strip to, the main low-beam or the DRLs? Does my specific XC90 even have DRLs, or are the DRLs just low-beams in my case?

 

[Leto Atreides II]

In our '08s with ABL there is a halogen DRL lamp (the inner set of headlights that don't have projectors in them). The only time they are used is if you turn the lights to the "off" position and it's light outside. If the lights are in the "on" position it will use the xenon projectors, or if thee lights are "off" but it's dark then it will also use the xenon projectors.

 

[08XC90V8]

In our '08s with ABL there is a halogen DRL lamp (the inner set of headlights that don't have projectors in them). The only time they are used is if you turn the lights to the "off" position and it's light outside. If the lights are in the "on" position it will use the xenon projectors, or if thee lights are "off" but it's dark then it will also use the xenon projectors.

That's what I found. So basically, I have to find the xenon light wires... but aren't they controlled by the HCM? Or do they still have a +/- wire that I can tap into for my purposes of the installation?

Or, I just realized, I could tap into those little position lights in the lower center of the xenon and halogen bulbs...

 

[m6cabriolet]

I just ordered cheap LED off amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WYXT2VW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are annoying and do give off a little light when running the car like others have said. I am going to look for some that don't do that, but for now they are worth the swap. I absolutely hate incandescent light.

To those who said headlight swap to led is to make the car look new...no definitely not. The OEM headlights in this XC90 sucked horribly....you could barely see in the rain.

The headlights I got are: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XP24CN7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XP1GG13/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are insanely bright and I love it! I am sure everyone else hates me though. I had to use a small rubber band to hold them secure onto the oem clips inside the high beam headlight but they work well.

 

[Capndirk]

I just ordered cheap LED off amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WYXT2VW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are annoying and do give off a little light when running the car like others have said. I am going to look for some that don't do that, but for now they are worth the swap. I absolutely hate incandescent light.

To those who said headlight swap to led is to make the car look new...no definitely not. The OEM headlights in this XC90 sucked horribly....you could barely see in the rain.

The headlights I got are: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XP24CN7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XP1GG13/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are insanely bright and I love it! I am sure everyone else hates me though. I had to use a small rubber band to hold them secure onto the oem clips inside the high beam headlight but they work well.

So, no CANbus messages for the headlights?
I bought the 20-pack of LED festoons to play with, since delivered they're roughly the same price as one of the CANbus compliant ones. I'm having the afterglow, too, and it doesn't bother me, but I'm a little leery about 10 of these things glowing having an effect on battery charge. I saw the discussion about paralleling resistors, so I'm going to clip in a potentiometer to dial in the minimum resistance before buying resistors. Fun to play "Sparky" instead of "Wrencher", for a change.I'll try to get an ammeter reading on the afterglow, while I'm at it, but I'm not hopeful that I'll get it as I suspect the resistance of the multimeter may cancel the glow. Don't know, yet.

 

[m6cabriolet]

So, no CANbus messages for the headlights?
I bought the 20-pack of LED festoons to play with, since delivered they're roughly the same price as one of the CANbus compliant ones. I'm having the afterglow, too, and it doesn't bother me, but I'm a little leery about 10 of these things glowing having an effect on battery charge. I saw the discussion about paralleling resistors, so I'm going to clip in a potentiometer to dial in the minimum resistance before buying resistors. Fun to play "Sparky" instead of "Wrencher", for a change.I'll try to get an ammeter reading on the afterglow, while I'm at it, but I'm not hopeful that I'll get it as I suspect the resistance of the multimeter may cancel the glow. Don't know, yet.

90% of the time there is no message for the headlight. Occasionally I get a "low beam error" message. I am not sure why it does it sometimes and other times it doesn't. But I just hit the reset button and it goes away...it doesn't stay on.

 

[Leto Atreides II]

I just ordered cheap LED off amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WYXT2VW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are annoying and do give off a little light when running the car like others have said. I am going to look for some that don't do that, but for now they are worth the swap. I absolutely hate incandescent light.

To those who said headlight swap to led is to make the car look new...no definitely not. The OEM headlights in this XC90 sucked horribly....you could barely see in the rain.

The headlights I got are: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XP24CN7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XP1GG13/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are insanely bright and I love it! I am sure everyone else hates me though. I had to use a small rubber band to hold them secure onto the oem clips inside the high beam headlight but they work well.

Are those images showing high beam output or low beam output?

 

[m6cabriolet]

Are those images showing high beam output or low beam output?

high beams

 

[08XC90V8]

@m6cabriolet: Thanks so much for the pics and links. I have the Xenon headlights with the ABL and self-leveling function, so can anyone confirm that the links you gave me are OK for high-beam application?

@Capndirk: I still haven't been able to re-insert the third-row seating dome light housing back into the headliner, despite the image you provided (which was a big help, BTW). I've just been driving around with that part of the headliner taken out, and the wiring harness for that light housing dangling, visible in my rear view mirror . I'll have to figure out how to get it back in soon... How did you remove the housings, as you said you've been playing around with some non-CANbus compliant bulbs as well? Would be interested to figure out how to do it RIGHT next time, so that I don't end up in the same situation as I am with the third-row light housing...

Thanks, all and happy holidays!

 

[Capndirk]

@Capndirk: I still haven't been able to re-insert the third-row seating dome light housing back into the headliner, despite the image you provided (which was a big help, BTW). I've just been driving around with that part of the headliner taken out, and the wiring harness for that light housing dangling, visible in my rear view mirror . I'll have to figure out how to get it back in soon... How did you remove the housings, as you said you've been playing around with some non-CANbus compliant bulbs as well? Would be interested to figure out how to do it RIGHT next time, so that I don't end up in the same situation as I am with the third-row light housing...

Thanks, all and happy holidays!

I've actually only messed with the forward dome and spots. I'll have another look at the rear light, but I was wondering about something you said earlier, and that was about the clip not being down.

So, looking at where the clip mounts in the light, I see that the tang locks into the housing. Is that what you meant, that the clip wasn't seated? The next thing to notice is the little cross-hatched square bit on the housing. I think that is a stop for the long part of the clip, which allows for the springy arced part of the clip to actually bear against the panel as shown. I don't have a picture of the front, but should be similar? Anyway, I can imagine that the clips could have gotten bent, over the years, especially as the clip on the left in the picture had sprung out to where the tip was on the panel,. As opposed to below, as shown.. Hooked on the plastic like that could have caused the clip to bend out of the proper shape if I had tried to pop the light out before dropping the panel. Anyway, mine is a nice snuggish fit, so maybe be sure your spring clips have a similar profile.

 

[Scycotic]

So, no CANbus messages for the headlights?

I have LED low and high beams installed as well. High-beam (Aukee) doesn't cause any error, but low-beam (Hikari Ultra) always has an error. I specifically chose this more expensive low-beam LED because the beam pattern is known to be very similar to halogen and focuses the light well as to not cause glare in opposing drivers. Still need to aim them after installation. I verified that a resistor will fix the error, and Hikari refunded me the cost of the resistor, but I do not have it installed for everyday use. I'd rather use less power and not cause unnecessary heat in the headlamp assembly even if there's a warning on the dash.

For high-beams, I just purchased a cheap LED light since opposing car glare doesn't matter.

 

[SwissXC90]

I saw the discussion about paralleling resistors, so I'm going to clip in a potentiometer to dial in the minimum resistance before buying resistors. Fun to play "Sparky" instead of "Wrencher", for a change.I'll try to get an ammeter reading on the afterglow, while I'm at it, but I'm not hopeful that I'll get it as I suspect the resistance of the multimeter may cancel the glow. Don't know, yet.

It is much more officiant to go for the maximum resistance.
And unless you use a wire wound pot, you may find the minimum resistance of 0 ohms (or close to it) results in either the potentiometer going up in smoke, or the fuse blowing, or both.

Tip: aim for something between 1k and 20k, you might be surprised how little it takes in terms of mA to suppress the voltage leakage and stop the LED fro glowing when the lamp is supposed to be off.

So for safety, start with a 1k in series with a 20k or a 50k pot to see what you get.


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[Capndirk]

SwissXC90,
Thank you, for the help. I saw that the recommendation for 1K ohms had been made, but I wondered what the reason was for that. Some of the reading I had done indicated that CANbus node termination is supposed to be 120 Ohms, so that confused me a little, largely because much of this exceeds my familiarity with the subject 😊
The purpose of this foray into what to me is the unknown, is not to reinvent the wheel, but to satisfy curiosity and expand what little knowledge I have.What I'm trying to clarify, is what actually happens with current draw. As the LED's remain partially lit when the doors are closed, there must be some current draw. To paraphrase; there's no such thing as free lunch light.
Then, adding resistance would consume more energy, it would seem, in the form of heat, unless, it balances the switching circuits in some way? I actually don't mind the friendly glow from the LED festoons, I'm only concerned about the effect on the battery, and over what period of time.
Every day is a school day.

 

[SwissXC90]

The LEDs are switched by open-collector transistors or Mosfets, and not relays. The semiconductors dong the switching are imperfect and have a leakage current. The leakage current is not enough to illuminate a tungsten bulb, but is enough to illuminate a LED due to the difference in impedance between tungsten bulbs and LEDs.

Yes, fitting a 120 ohm resistor to bring the impedance down to, essentially, 120 ohm and thus consume 0.1 amp is a possible solution, but is totally not necessary in this case. And it will dissipate 1.2 watts of heat, which can be a real problem in a confined space like an interior lamp holder as this can become hot enough to melt plastic.

All you need to do is bring the impedance of the LED down to a value where the “off” voltage across the LED is below the illumination threshold, and thus something between 1kOhm and 20k to 50 kOhm, 1/4 watt, is all that is needed.

Such resistors are small, lightweight, dissipate extremely little heat and cost around 10 cents if that. Often, 10c gets you a pack of 10 resistors.
A 120 ohm resistor that consumes 0.1 amp at nominal 12V dissipates 1.2 watts, and will get hot. You will burn out a 1/4 watt 120 ohm resistor and this you need a larger, wire-wound and often metal-cased 5W resistor, and these are sold in automotive shops for stupidly expensive prices, such as a few dollars of even 10s of dollars. My local DIY hardware store has them at something like $20 each! Crazy, when a 10 cent component does the same job.

A 1200 ohm (1.2k) resistor consumes 10x less current and dissipates 10x less heat. So only 0.01 Amps and 0.12 watts at nominal 12V. While it is only 0.12 watts, a 0.25 (1/4) watt resistor is fine. Take the resistance up to 12k, and the consumption drops to 0.001 amps, and power is 0.012 watts. Thus even cooler, and using less power.

So you see that any resistor higher than about 1k ohm doesn’t need to be bigger than 1/4 watt, and thus doesn’t need to cost more than 10 cents.
And the 1/4 resistors have long enough leads that you can often just fit them into the same bulb holder as the LED lamps, in parallel with the LED lamp. Thus easy to fit (albeit sure a bit fiddly, but needle-nosed pliers will help).

The only place you need a 120 ohm resistor is when you MUST show a 1.2 watt load to the controlling circuit. These cases are where you have bulb monitoring circuits that expect a certain load. This is what is often labelled as “CAN-bus LEDs” or “CAN-bus safe LEDs” or some other stupid marketing name. They are not CAN-bus LEDs. They are simply lamp circuits that are monitored for the expected load. And as you don’t have interior lamp bulb monitoring showing driver error messages, you don’t need to ensure you have a 1.2 watt load.

Sure, you can dig a hole to plant your tomatoes with a bulldozer. But why bother when a simple hand trowel is enough for the job?


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[08XC90V8]

I dig the analogy

on a side note, very informative reading through your explanation. Your knowledge is really extensive! Thank you.

 

[SwissXC90]

I dig the analogy

on a side note, very informative reading through your explanation. Your knowledge is really extensive! Thank you.

Ohms law. Learnt it in my first year as an apprentice, around 30 years ago before can busses were invented. Very simple really.


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[Capndirk]

Thank you again, SwissXC90 for your help and technical knowledge. I'm finding it really helpful in selecting the right size hand trowel, and there's more food for thought besides the tomatoes. Thanks to you, I'm now wondering what kinds of catch-all, inelegant solutions may be used in "CANbus compliant" ready to go LED bulbs? I'll have to take out the one in my license light to see if I can measure the resistance on that one.

 

[08XC90V8]

Does anybody know if the lower taillight housing/assembly is disassemblable? I'm looking to use my LED "continuous" strip to follow the outline (see pic below) of the taillight as I got a new, thinner, red LED strip for the upper taillight reflector housing that actually fits. The blue line below is where I plan to use this "continuous"-style LED strip in the lower taillight assembly: New photo by Shudhant Gautam.

I know how to remove the taillight from the car itself and remove the bulbs and its constituent wiring harnesses from the car itself, but is it possible to take apart the red outer housing from the inner reflector housing of the lower taillight assembly?

 

[Capndirk]

Jobs like that take patience, the right tool, and a spare in case it gets messed up. One tool I like to use for careful disassembly is this saw, It has no Kerf, meaning tooth offset, so the cut is as thin as possible. A saw with kerf will cut a slot wider than the saw material. I work the saw along a glue joint a little at a time and move on to another area without having gone through, and keep going around until it's through. One reason to work around a little at a time is to keep the plastic and tool from warming up too much. When plastic gets near the melting point; it grabs the tool.

 

[08XC90V8]

Jobs like that take patience, the right tool, and a spare in case it gets messed up. One tool I like to use for careful disassembly is this saw, It has no Kerf, meaning tooth offset, so the cut is as thin as possible. A saw with kerf will cut a slot wider than the saw material. I work the saw along a glue joint a little at a time and move on to another area without having gone through, and keep going around until it's through. One reason to work around a little at a time is to keep the plastic and tool from warming up too much. When plastic gets near the melting point; it grabs the tool.

Ah, sounds fun. I will try and see if I can do it. I know that if I mess up and break the housing, only the entire taillight assembly is sold, and it runs into the 3-400$ range.

On a happier note, I got my LED strips in the mail today and have stuck and glued them to the reflector and will wait until tomorrow morning for them to dry. After that, I'll wire them into the stop lamps.

Do you all think that if I am to wire these LED strips into the stop lamp, with the stop lamps having these Sylvania ZEVO LED lamps rather than incandescents, the car will still throw a "CHECK STOP LAMP" error message? Previously, I tried to install the ZEVOs in place of the incandescents and received that "CHECK STOP LAMP" error message, and I realized I needed to install an in-line load resistor like this one. So, I'm wondering if installing these new LED strips alongside the ZEVOs will be enough resistance for the "CHECK STOP LAMP" error message to disappear for good? I know that I can just test it out tomorrow when I wire them into the brake light, but I'm not sure how the resistors will wire into the brake lamp once I tap into the wire for it for the LED strips.

Thanks, everyone.