Help with Stocking Stuffer?
1I have one more stocking stuffer to get. The request was for LED Map Lights (for a 2012 Pathfinder). I’m looking for drop-in replacements for the current bulbs. Do I just go to eBay and buy something from a reputable seller, or are there important considerations other than color? This shouldn’t be too hard, right?
Thanks for any and all answers.
- 4 comments, 10 replies
- Comment
Pretty much. You can ignore the branding - they’re almost always from the same manufacturer in China.
Is it a wedge base (like a T10), bayonet base (usually small like a Ba9) or a festoon bulb? The latter, no worries - buy the right size, and it just needs to emit downwards when installing. If it’s wedge or bayonet, then the socket position will need to be considered, as it’d be useless for a LED to have one bright emitter at the end but the lamp assembly is sideways.
@narfcake Festoon! I never knew that name, thanks! (It does sound like a sneeze.)
My only advice would be avoid rockauto- I’ve ordered from them about 8 times because their prices are great, the first 5 were good then on the 6th they sent me the wrong brake pads (didn’t realize it until I after took everything apart), the 7th they skipped sending one part and it took 2 weeks of arguing to get it, the 8th they sent a generic headlight assembly when I bought a name brand one- gave up on fighting over that and just decided not to buy from them anymore.
oh- check amazon too. They have a pretty good selection with good prices from third party sellers now and they’re easy to deal with if something goes wrong.
@Pantheist Thanks for the advices.
@sligett I’ve ordered several times from Super Bright LED’s and had good luck. Looks like they’re having a holiday sale going on too!
@theredia Thanks for the site link!
I was checking for bulb type to link you a direct recommendation from my go-to source Diode Dynamics but information I’m finding indicates that they may have factory LEDs, are you sure they aren’t already LED? If they’re already LED there’s quite a bit of work involved in replacing them with brighter ones.
@jbartus I see conflicting information (whoa, that’s never happened on the Internet before). Thanks for that site, and for looking. I’ll see if I can get into the vehicle…
@sligett if you want you could try pinging them over on the XV Crosstrek Forum. They usually will respond within a day or two. They also have phone support (gasp!) but it’s not toll free: 314-205-3033
Did a bit more research, Partsgeek is advertising DE3175s for the 2012 Pathfinder and Auto Zone agrees which these are replacement options for: http://www.diodedynamics.com/store/led-bulbs-1/listed-by-size/31mm-festoon.html
It looks like 2012 might be the cusp of a shift from festoon bulbs to LED as a search for a newer pathfinder found no results on AutoZone but I would verify visually before ordering myself if possible!
@jbartus Ayup, this one is the older RWD/4WD model, so I think it’s the festoons. A total of 5 inside. Thanks!
@sligett how did you make out?
@jbartus Well, for no good reason at all, I ended up at vleds.com, and got the LEDs there. It looked like they had good stuff. I went for 5000K ones - I didn’t want it to look too blue. One real bright one for the cargo area, and four bright ones for the dome and map lights. The lamps look good, but I heard today that when the engine is starting, cranking, they “strobe”. <shrug>
I will be looking for an LED for the hatch area of my Honda Fit soon…
Thanks!
@sligett sounds like someone might need a new battery?