How to fit LED bulbs to a Monte Carlos DRL's

[Carl Monte]

I finally got to the bottom of why I couldn't get LED bulbs to work in the DRL's on my wife's Monte Carlo so I thought I'd share the info!

Ever since we had the car I've said it was crying out for some LED bulbs to replace the dull yellow standard P21Y bulbs that were fitted so I bought some of eBay for about £5 and they didn't work so I contacted the seller and he said it needed load resistors which made sense as its an CAN bus system even if there is no bulb failure warning. So I bought some 6ohm 50 watt ones and it still didn't work.

At this point I will add I was an auto electrician for 15 years so as you can imagine this was driving me nuts!!!

I suddenly had a moment of clarity and checked the polarities of the bulb holder and guess what; they're wired so the earth goes to the 'nipple' of the bulb and the live goes to the 'body' of the bulb inside the holder. This is no issue if you're using 'filament' type bulbs as they work either way round but with LED's they must have the live to the 'nipple' and earth to the 'body' so a simple cut and solder job to the wiring between the car and and the bulb holder and hey presto they work and no load resistor is required.

They look excellent, best £5 mod. you can do so I hope this write up will help other Monte owners get a better than VRS look to they're car.

My next mission is to rewire the switch behind the fuse panel cover so they stay on with the headlights on.

[G9LXY]

Which are the correct bulbs for this mod? Are the pins offset or straight in the bayonette? Handbook doesn't tell you any of the replacement bulb types :wonder:

[DIZZY3]

Hi carl monte, are there any laws about driving with d.r.ls and headlights on at the same time , if not how do you wire them.

[G9LXY]

Yes. The law is that when your side lights go on, then the DRLs must switch off or dip. Legally you can't have them both on at the same time with the DRL running at daylight brightness.

[Red rover]

U shouldn't solder into any thing really they don't like it as it increases the resistance the way I did it was remove 2pin plug from bulb holder remove pink clip use pin out tool and push pins out of holder can b a little tight but they go then swop pins round refit pink clip and that's it 5mins per bulb max and no cutting or soldering required if u really wnt to cut ur wires use spade terminals as can be returned to standard no problem ??

[seboni121]

Hi carl monte, are there any laws about driving with d.r.ls and headlights on at the same time , if not how do you wire them.

Just put your fogs on ! Like the rest of the numpties , goes of when you put lights on LEAVE IT ALONE you will look like a coq otherwise

[AdamJMK]

DRLs

"Daylight Running Lights" (a bit of a clue as to when they should be on)

Kind of simple that running around with them on after rewiring them when it's not daylight is pretty pointless........ and illegal too, try explaining to a traffic officer why daylight lights are on when it's dark... lol!

[Carlodiesel]

Carl Monte

Can you give us the eBay link for the bulbs.

Or anyone else..

Ta

CD

[seboni121]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1156-BAU15s-PY21W-CANBUS-SMD-LED-Indicator-bulbs-WHITE-/310335457066?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item48416f472a

They work perfecto

Edited 3 May, 2013 by seboni121

[Red rover]

Just search p21w led white and choose which 1's you prefer loads 2 choose from I got a pair for £5 and they work no problem after changing the pins round lol

[seboni121]

Just search p21w led white and choose which 1's you prefer loads 2 choose from I got a pair for £5 and they work no problem after changing the pins round lol

I didn't need to change the pins ? Just push n twist simples

[Red rover]

Lucky u I did as did a few others I know of may depend on type of led bulbs u get??? either way was only a 5min job so no great shakes lol

[Jay Mitchell]

Have you got any photos?