180SX Position Lights as turn signals, help?

[zooopreme]

So...I've been searching far & wide for the answer to this. I've gotten answers from a couple of people & quite frankly, I STILL don't understand what I did wrong.

Okay, so...I've been trying to wire up my 180 position lights to work as turn signals. I know for a fact that some people have wired their OEM position lights as turn signals and I'm trying to do the same. And with that said, I'd like to stick to that plan.

Excuse my really bad illustration but:


Like the drawing, I wired both colored wires (green & red) on to the new two wire harness and left the black (ground?) wrapped in electrical tape. Unexpectedly, the lights do not work for turn signals but work perfectly for what they were intended for: position lights. They work for hazard lights & do not light up for signals. As a result, the tailights & cluster light blink rapidly.

I followed this exact thread-- http://zilvia.net/f/archive-faqs/169...t-install.html & the results are stated above.

So my questions are...

• Did I wire it incorrectly?
• On the new harness, does it matter which ones I should wire them with?
• Should I ground the black wires? Will that help?

Any (real informational) help is greatly appreciated.

[Matej]

First of all, put 921 bulbs in them, if you have not already. That should fix the rapid blinking.

Second, buy these things from MAX. They work great. You can also splice the side markers into them to turn on and blink simultaneously with the position lights/turn signals.

[zooopreme]

What's the difference between the stock bulb & the 921 bulbs?

And I get why you suggest the MAX product but the lights are completely not functional as turn signals so how would it spontaneously work using it? I would have considered it if the position lights actually blinked as I signaled haha.

If you hadn't noticed, I'm new to the whole electronics thing lol.

[slider2828]

If you googled you would have found.

http://zilvia.net/f/archive-faqs/169...t-install.html

[zooopreme]

Originally Posted by slider2828

If you googled you would have found.

http://zilvia.net/f/archive-faqs/169...t-install.html

If you learned how to read the original before posting a stupid response, you would have seen...

Originally Posted by zooopreme

So...I've been searching far & wide for the answer to this.

Excuse my really bad illustration but:


Like the drawing, I wired both colored wires (green & red) on to the new two wire harness and left the black (ground?) wrapped in electrical tape. Unexpectedly, the lights do not work for turn signals but work perfectly for what they were intended for: position lights. They work for hazard lights & do not light up for signals. As a result, the tailights & cluster light blink rapidly.

I followed this exact thread-- http://zilvia.net/f/archive-faqs/169...t-install.html & the results are stated above.

So uh...if you're not going to help...

[rat240]

if you are still using the provided halogen bulb maybe that's why it doesn't work as a turn signal


you need a 194 led bulb and
load resistors or a led specific turn signal relay
to get rid of the fast flashing of the turn signals

[prowess]

i put 1157's in mine. way brighter than dinky 194's or 921's

[s14boy]

get a new bulb with only 2 leads and let us know what happens. from your diagram you have 3 wires witch leads me to believe their is a high and low for the bulbs(2 filimints in the same bulb) Also is the switch being ran directly to the lights?(with out a relay and fuse) If so you need to run it to your factory relay. if their isnt one you can purchase on online for a couple bucks

[zooopreme]

Originally Posted by prowess

i put 1157's in mine. way brighter than dinky 194's or 921's

1157's aren't wedge base though. How were you able to get them on? Going to try 921's or 194's.

Originally Posted by s14boy

get a new bulb with only 2 leads and let us know what happens. from your diagram you have 3 wires witch leads me to believe their is a high and low for the bulbs(2 filimints in the same bulb) Also is the switch being ran directly to the lights?(with out a relay and fuse) If so you need to run it to your factory relay. if their isnt one you can purchase on online for a couple bucks

The three wires are from the car itself, the USDM wiring for the Chuki turn signals have three wires.

The new harness which is the 180 position lights only has two wires.

So I don't know if the switch is being ran directly to the lights. I would say no, it's not but I'm not too sure.

[zooopreme]

Originally Posted by rat240

if you are still using the provided halogen bulb maybe that's why it doesn't work as a turn signal


you need a 194 led bulb and
load resistors or a led specific turn signal relay
to get rid of the fast flashing of the turn signals

I'm not sure but I think you may have misunderstood which lights are flashing rapidly

The rear taillights and the gauge cluster are the ones that are flashing rapidly. The position lights themselves do not light up/blink unless it is the hazard lights OR if the headlights are on. Do they actually blink when using the turn signals? No.

[Matej]

Originally Posted by zooopreme

What's the difference between the stock bulb & the 921 bulbs?

And I get why you suggest the MAX product but the lights are completely not functional as turn signals so how would it spontaneously work using it? I would have considered it if the position lights actually blinked as I signaled haha.

The 194 bulbs in them do not draw enough power, so the system thinks there is a bulb out somewhere, and the rapid blinking 'warns' you of that.

I think some people have had success with turning the position lights into turn signals doing it the way you are, but I actually tried it before as well and it did not work for me either. Plus it is not the best way to go about it anyway.

If the stock chuki/zenki signals you had prior to the kouki lamps worked normally, then the MAX relays should do the trick.

[prowess]

I wanted the position lights to act as turn signals as well. 1157 are dual-filament (turn signals) and there are alot of different options for LED bulbs.

cut housing:


amputated 1157 bulb holder attached with epoxy:




they are pretty bright, and i'm not even using SMD style LED bulbs, just cheap ones like this:

[Edwin562]

^^ this is exactly how i did mine.

[zooopreme]

^ I would do that if I knew how to wire the new housing/bulb.

So I got a crash course on electricals & I'm going to go with 921 bulbs & see if that works. If not, I'm going to swap the flasher unit to be LED compatible. As recommended by Matej & rat240. And if THAT doesn't work, I'll be buying the actual turn signals & wiring them up the way I know how. Or maybe, putting these up for sale haha.

Wish me luck!

[rat240]

Originally Posted by zooopreme

I'm not sure but I think you may have misunderstood which lights are flashing rapidly

The rear taillights and the gauge cluster are the ones that are flashing rapidly. The position lights themselves do not light up/blink unless it is the hazard lights OR if the headlights are on. Do they actually blink when using the turn signals? No.

yes the reason why the are flashing so fast is cause the normal 1157 bulb uses like 30watts on the turn signal and the 194 draws 5 watts
thats why the rear and cluster blinks so fast


the picture below is the led bulb he used
im sure that if you wired it the same and used a standard bulb you wouldn't be able to get park lights and turn signal

[prowess]

zoopreme, the weird flashing has to do with the amount of resistance the led lights put up in comparison to the stock incandescent bulbs. when you start changing bulbs to leds that use less energy the lights around the whole car will start to bug out.

I have led taillights, marker lights, turn signals, cluster lights, you name it. because i have less resistance on the system in comparison to the regular bulbs, now when my key is turned on in the ignition and the lights are in the off position on the switch, i get a crazy strobe effect from all the exterior lights and just the clock light, i can also hear the relay in the engine bay ticking away. it's pretty funky.

[KiLLeR2001]

Either ghetto rig it together like prowess did or buy this... Circuit Sports Clear Front Bumper Position Lights S13 Kouki 180SX

Either way I would highly suggest using LEDs after doing so because the high heat from 1157 incandescent bulbs will most likely melt the plastic. You will need load resistors if you choose to go the LED route.

[zooopreme]

Update:

good news: 194 LED bulbs do work for turn signals
bad news: rapid blinking & clicking from turn signal

I'm sure that you will either need a resistor or switch the flasher unit to become LED compatible.

Currently waiting for the 921 bulbs to see if it makes a good improvement.

[KiLLeR2001]

superbrightleds.com sells load resistors...

LED Brake Light, Turn Light and Tail Light Bulbs - Super Bright LEDs

[zooopreme]

Another update: Both 194 & 921 bulbs work using this method. However, you will need a load resistor or a new turn signal/flasher unit that is compatible with LED bulbs.

Not sure what route I'm going to take at the moment but will update this thread after I install either a new unit or a load resistor.

[GripTerror]

So any conclusions? i have the dmax position lights.. and i dont want them i only want them to be turn signals.

What's the scoop? The hole with the dmax clear kouki 180sx position lights are weird bulbs im not sure what? .. I see the above someone cut that out and glued on some other bulb's plastic piece (from where did u also get it).

Sorry for sounding ignorant but i will need to get this done soon...

[zooopreme]

Conclusion? As of right now, I haven't done anything in terms of slowing down the turn signals.

OEM position lights are simply NOT supposed to function as turn signals. And if they worked for you, cool story bro, from what I've been gathering a lot of people have tried that install that I posted above and it didn't work as people would have hoped.

However, if you have DMAX position lights with dual bulbs, you should be set & wiring should turn those into turn signals and position lights.

From what I read and from what others were suggesting, a new flasher unit to accommodate LED bulbs OR a load resistor. --which I haven't done at all (yet).

[1990 s13]

cant get the dmax ones anymore? =(
so wait with the 194 bulbs work for position and turn signals at it blinked fast or just turn signals

[Big Zee]

get the DMAX ones at RHDJapan.com

which load resistor do you need ? I have the DMAX ones and I still get the rapid blink, but I'm using the supplied LED from DMAX

[zooopreme]

Originally Posted by 1990 s13

cant get the dmax ones anymore? =(
so wait with the 194 bulbs work for position and turn signals at it blinked fast or just turn signals

DMAX lights are still available. I'd recommend going that route if you want an easy install.

OEM position lights will not perfectly work as turn signals (like OEM). Reason being is because they are not dual filament or in easier terms, "dual function".

However, a load resistor will help alleviate the issue. Problem is mounting the resistor to a spot where it will not burn anything OR get water and or dirt on it.

So all in all, if you want OEM, get yourself the turn signals as well. Until this day, I still haven't fixed my position lights. I plan on getting the turn signals very soon.

Originally Posted by Big Zee

get the DMAX ones at RHDJapan.com

which load resistor do you need ? I have the DMAX ones and I still get the rapid blink, but I'm using the supplied LED from DMAX

Read up on LED vs regular bulbs. You'll get your answer.

[Big Zee]

^ I tried to read, and came up with this for a solution.
Marker Lamp Load Resistor | LED Lights for Cars | 12v | Super Bright LEDs

think this would be an adequate fix ? I couldn't find the factory wattage for a 89 turn signal, nor the wattage of the bulb Dmax uses so without that information to compare and use to find the proper resistor this is what Google found for me.

[1990 s13]

Originally Posted by Big Zee

get the DMAX ones at RHDJapan.com

which load resistor do you need ? I have the DMAX ones and I still get the rapid blink, but I'm using the supplied LED from DMAX

Thanks! I just ordered them! Now let's see how Long it takes to get here..I hate the waiting game. Only thing was that there 100.00 and with shipping and taxes came out to a little over 140.00

[Big Zee]

only was a week and a half for me, so it should be around there

[zooopreme]

Originally Posted by Big Zee

think this would be an adequate fix ? I couldn't find the factory wattage for a 89 turn signal, nor the wattage of the bulb Dmax uses so without that information to compare and use to find the proper resistor this is what Google found for me.

Yes, and that is the very resistor needed. However, you need to find some place to mount it. Resistors get very hot which can ruin paint/melt plastic and since the wiring is near the wheel wells, it can get wet or dirty.

Also, you probably have the DMAX ones that aren't dual filament. There are two models that they put out. One can serve as dual function and the other is just like the OEM position light.

[bladetech8]

Originally Posted by zooopreme

Yes, and that is the very resistor needed. However, you need to find some place to mount it. Resistors get very hot which can ruin paint/melt plastic and since the wiring is near the wheel wells, it can get wet or dirty.

Also, you probably have the DMAX ones that aren't dual filament. There are two models that they put out. One can serve as dual function and the other is just like the OEM position light.

Ding-Ding! You're correct! DMAX sells two models for the 180SX Kouki styled position lights, make sure you're getting the correct one.

And if you have the correct one (two bulb locations per one housing) DON'T use the supplied LED from DMAX if you do not want the rapid/hyper blinking/flashing.. Just stick an appropriately sized automotive incandescent bulb in there and done!