I was a little shocked to see that most of the interior lights are incandescent and not LED(!) so anyone know if they make replacement bulbs that are LED for that application?

Regards,

Gordo

I was a little shocked to see that most of the interior lights are incandescent and not LED(!) so anyone know if they make replacement bulbs that are LED for that application?

Regards,

Gordo

Try this site out. http://www.superbrightleds.com/ I have not checked too see if the Volt's lamps are listed, but I have bought other types of LEDs from them. They are good.

check the base of the bulb. I bought a couple push-in style, one T10 and one T15, from LEDlight.com to replace my rear trunk light, in case this was the parasitic draw that drained my auxiliary battery. they cost about $10 each.

I found a company that may have quite a bit better prices, but not sure if they have as many to select from.

tmart.com

Free shipping, they take Paypal.

Jerry, #536 in Fresno

I was a little shocked to see that most of the interior lights are incandescent and not LED(!) so anyone know if they make replacement bulbs that are LED for that application? Regards, Gordo

This has been discussed a few times before. You have to consider how long some of those lights are on. ie. very little so have little impact to the 12v battery (which the 360v battery keeps charged where as it is charged via regen energy or grid). When I replaced lights in my house with CFLs, I mainly looked for lights we had on regularly.

Great, thanks everyone. I will admit that I want to change them only because incandescent looks ugly and is soooooo yesterday! I would also prefer going 4-5 K on colour. Will any of the ones suggested dim? The dome light fades in and out and some LED's don't support that.

I would definitely like to update the look of the interior bulbs as well as the front turn signals, backup light, and license plate lights. I already pup the Xenon in the headlights, and it looks great.

So, please post your experiences with LED replacement bulbs, including specs and installation tips.

Although there is very little power economy and no long-term cost savings, hi-tech lighting all around would befit the hi-tech-ness of the propulsion system.
Maybe an option on Gen2?

Maybe an option on Gen2?

Number 1 goal for the Volt team at this point (from what I can tell) is cost reduction. Adding $100 in LED lighting costs? Doesn't seem like part of the plan at the moment.

But it's a good after-market customization for tweekers.

I replaced the dome lights in another car with LEDs (six diodes mounted on a small circuit board) because the original incandescents were so dim. Observations:

1. New light was much brighter but also appeared 'bluer'.

2. The slow dimming feature when the lights switch off (theater light effect) worked to a point and then the lights went out abruptly.

3. When listening to a low power (distant) AM radio station, considerable RF "noise" was heard when the LED lights were on.

Ok, got a couple of different LED's for the dome and map lights and they look great! Yes they are a cooler (slightly blue) color but nice and bright. I will be replacing all the incandescent lights and was wondering if there are any suggestions about the headlights? I would like to know if there are good Xenon or LED replacements that someone can recommend. As for the LED's I bought these were for the dome lights (and cargo light) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047RV8WG and this was for the map lights http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001XVEZYC.

Do they dim like the regular bulbs or cut out like metioned by Bill R. in this thread?

For the headlights, I am happy with the ones from this thread, although one of these days, I will properly ground the chassis of the ballast to see if the slight (unnoticeable while driving) flicker goes away.
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?6520-HID-Conversion-Kits



Ok, got a couple of different LED's for the dome and map lights and they look great! Yes they are a cooler (slightly blue) color but nice and bright. I will be replacing all the incandescent lights and was wondering if there are any suggestions about the headlights? I would like to know if there are good Xenon or LED replacements that someone can recommend. As for the LED's I bought these were for the dome lights (and cargo light) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047RV8WG and this was for the map lights http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001XVEZYC.

Do they dim like the regular bulbs or cut out like metioned by Bill R. in this thread?

For the headlights, I am happy with the ones from this thread, although one of these days, I will properly ground the chassis of the ballast to see if the slight (unnoticeable while driving) flicker goes away.
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?6520-HID-Conversion-Kits

They do dim more then I thought they would but not nearly as much or as smoothly as the incandescent. I still like them over the incandescent. My 13 year old son got in the car tonight and immediately said "Cool lights!" He didn't know I changed them. Still, they are MUCH nicer looking than the OEM's.

As for HID's I ordered Kensun's 9006-6000K slim digital ballast kit. They had the best reviews from users than all of the others. They were a little more expensive ($85) but look like a quality setup.

Update: The Kensun HID's are very nice! I bought the digital slim ballast and everything went well on installation. Color, brightness are perfect! If they last then I will be VERY happy with that purchase.

I installed a couple of 30 LED (element) lights for the front turn signals and they are awesome, BUT............the car thinks the bulbs are not working and after three normal blinks they start fast blinking like it has a burned out bulb. I take it the LED's are not drawing enough or not providing proper feedback that makes the system think the bulbs are inoperative. Anyone know of a workaround for that?

Update about the backup LED bulb.....much nicer and brighter than the OEM. At first I didn't think it was much brighter but tonight I was in a very dark area and tried backing up and it worked very well. I had someone hold the brake while I went behind and looked and the light was really intense.

My LED conversion is complete and I really like the results. I would like a turn signal fix but if I can't get that to work then I will live with the three normal to fast blink problem.

How did you get to the front turn signal bulbs to change them?

Do the LED turn signal bulbs have the 2 stage lighting like the original bulbs, or do they just turn on when you put on the turn signal? That could be the source of your problem if they are not 2 stage...


Update: The Kensun HID's are very nice! I bought the digital slim ballast and everything went well on installation. Color, brightness are perfect! If they last then I will be VERY happy with that purchase.

I installed a couple of 30 LED (element) lights for the front turn signals and they are awesome, BUT............the car thinks the bulbs are not working and after three normal blinks they start fast blinking like it has a burned out bulb. I take it the LED's are not drawing enough or not providing proper feedback that makes the system think the bulbs are inoperative. Anyone know of a workaround for that?

Update about the backup LED bulb.....much nicer and brighter than the OEM. At first I didn't think it was much brighter but tonight I was in a very dark area and tried backing up and it worked very well. I had someone hold the brake while I went behind and looked and the light was really intense.

My LED conversion is complete and I really like the results. I would like a turn signal fix but if I can't get that to work then I will live with the three normal to fast blink problem.

How did you get to the front turn signal bulbs to change them?

Do the LED turn signal bulbs have the 2 stage lighting like the original bulbs, or do they just turn on when you put on the turn signal? That could be the source of your problem if they are not 2 stage...

Changing them was not very easy. I jacked up the front and from below loosened much of the lower pan behind the bumper. I then took the longest open end wrench I had (3/4" I think?) and used the open end vertically to rotate the bulb holder the 1/4 turn needed to release the holder. This is for the right side turn signal since you really can't reach it by hand. The left one is easier. For the right side, after installing the new LED, I added electrical tape to shim the end of the wrench so I could slide the bulb holder snugly into the open end of the wrench and actually hold it in place then just reached up and was able to insert the holder and give it a 1/4 twist. Doing this again will be much easier now that I have my custom tool.

The LED bulb is a two stage and has good two stage definition that looks fantastic but it was a little work to get it to seat properly in the socket. I had to dremmel the shoulder of the bulb wedge by about 1/16" so it would seat deeper into the socket and lock in otherwise the over-center friction lock would just pop the bulb back out. I am loving the look but I am still working on a fix for the fast blink issue. I did find this fix for the fast blinking problem http://www.ehow.com/how_5463302_fix-blink-led-turn-signals.html and will work on that maybe tomorrow.

As for the backup LED, I am liking it much more than OEM. It IS much brighter but suffers slightly from the backup lens focusing the light a little too narrowly, I might look into that as well. I have attached a picture.

Changing them was not very easy. I jacked up the front and from below loosened much of the lower pan behind the bumper. I then took the longest open end wrench I had (3/4" I think?) and used the open end vertically to rotate the bulb holder the 1/4 turn needed to release the holder. This is for the right side turn signal since you really can't reach it by hand. The left one is easier. For the right side, after installing the new LED, I added electrical tape to shim the end of the wrench so I could slide the bulb holder snugly into the open end of the wrench and actually hold it in place then just reached up and was able to insert the holder and give it a 1/4 twist. Doing this again will be much easier now that I have my custom tool.

The LED bulb is a two stage and has good two stage definition that looks fantastic but it was a little work to get it to seat properly in the socket. I had to dremmel the shoulder of the bulb wedge by about 1/16" so it would seat deeper into the socket and lock in otherwise the over-center friction lock would just pop the bulb back out. I am loving the look but I am still working on a fix for the fast blink issue. I did find this fix for the fast blinking problem http://www.ehow.com/how_5463302_fix-blink-led-turn-signals.html and will work on that maybe tomorrow.

As for the backup LED, I am liking it much more than OEM. It IS much brighter but suffers slightly from the backup lens focusing the light a little too narrowly, I might look into that as well. I have attached a picture.

Does the fix for the LED directional lights negate any electricity savings by going to LED in the first place? Completely understand there's still the coolness factor, I'm just wondering about the energy savings too if this mod needs to be made.

That would definitely negate the wattage savings because the resistor put in parallel would be sized to make the total power consumption the same as a regular bulb. But when you are talking turn signals, you would never notice an increase in car range by changing this low wattage to begin with bulb anyway. It's all about matching the color of the Xenon headlights once you have made that mod.

The right way to size the resistor is to find out how many watts each stage of the original bulb uses, then subtract the amount of watts used by each stage of the LED light bulb, and then use the old V=I*R to figure out how to get the W=V*I to equal the original amount of watts used.

The instructions on the site say to use 8ohm resistor, but that's a lot of watts so it's probably a lot more than the original bulb. I would size accordingly instead.


Does the fix for the LED directional lights negate any electricity savings by going to LED in the first place? Completely understand there's still the coolness factor, I'm just wondering about the energy savings too if this mod needs to be made.

Does the fix for the LED directional lights negate any electricity savings by going to LED in the first place? Completely understand there's still the coolness factor, I'm just wondering about the energy savings too if this mod needs to be made.

Actually I still think it will be a savings because the resistor is only for the turn signal circuit and not the running/maker light. At least while the bulb is in continuous dim mode when the headlights are on, you get some energy savings. The few seconds of resistance needed while the turn signal is on should be a inconsequential amount of energy being used.

Update: The Kensun HID's are very nice! I bought the digital slim ballast and everything went well on installation. Color, brightness are perfect! If they last then I will be VERY happy with that purchase.

I installed a couple of 30 LED (element) lights for the front turn signals and they are awesome, BUT............the car thinks the bulbs are not working and after three normal blinks they start fast blinking like it has a burned out bulb. I take it the LED's are not drawing enough or not providing proper feedback that makes the system think the bulbs are inoperative. Anyone know of a workaround for that?

Update about the backup LED bulb.....much nicer and brighter than the OEM. At first I didn't think it was much brighter but tonight I was in a very dark area and tried backing up and it worked very well. I had someone hold the brake while I went behind and looked and the light was really intense.

My LED conversion is complete and I really like the results. I would like a turn signal fix but if I can't get that to work then I will live with the three normal to fast blink problem.

You need to add a resistor in series with the new bulbs, this will or should fix the problem. Regular light bulbs offer more electrical resistance and is normally part of the timing and a way to show a bad bulb to the driver if the resistance goes away...

Pat

You need to add a resistor in series with the new bulbs, this will or should fix the problem.
You'd better add a parallel resistor. Try a 82 Ohm / 2W.
If you add a series resistor, it won't draw more current and your led wiil be less bright.

Got my Volt completely changed over (see my sig).
All were purchased from v-leds except the newly acquired 96 led 7443 turns.

I like the 5K's for license and vanity mirrors, inside I like the 6K ice cool look. When I open my doors at night they look quite impressive to say the least. My g/f who doesn't notice much techie stuff saw these right away "wow, this is very cool and futuristic!" ...I laughed :)

So go with the high powered LED's and forget about the eBay ones, I found these to be quite dim compared to v-leds or superbrightleds who get the cream of the crop to sell.

Got my Volt completely changed over (see my sig).
All were purchased from v-leds except the newly acquired 96 led 7443 turns.

I like the 5K's for license and vanity mirrors, inside I like the 6K ice cool look. When I open my doors at night they look quite impressive to say the least. My g/f who doesn't notice much techie stuff saw these right away "wow, this is very cool and futuristic!" ...I laughed :)

So go with the high powered LED's and forget about the eBay ones, I found these to be quite dim compared to v-leds or superbrightleds who get the cream of the crop to sell.

Top_Speed1, do you have any manuals or guides on how to change all of the bulbs that you changed? Is the service manual the only choice? I'd be very interested in upgrading my Volt to get rid of as many traditional bulbs as I can, but I don't even know where to begin.

Hi Mike,
You won't need a manual, piece of cake on all except maybe the front turns. All you do is take a very small flathead screwdriver and pop off the plastic lens covers. You need to be careful so you don't break, crack or scratch the covers. The entire interior along with the cargo/trunk can be done in 10-15mins.

I know most say to change to LED for less power consumption and bulb longevity (true) but I really have to put cuddos in for the look as well!

I've had a few PM's on the "why Red LED's for the map lights?"
Well I got this idea from my 30' boat, the red "navigation" lights were real easy on the eyes when driving the boat so I said let's try it, so I did and love them!. You can flip these on (either side) and still "navigate" the Volt with no distraction :)

Sounds good! Does the backup light cover pop off too or is that something you have to jack up the car for?

TopSpeed

Could you post a link for the bulbs that you purchased and where they go? I am interested in replacing all the bulbs that are "easy" to replace and the bright white light sounds kind of interesting for the interior lights and reverse light. I see what you have in your signature but I am not sure what the significance of the numbers are. This stuff is new to me :-)

Sounds good! Does the backup light cover pop off too or is that something you have to jack up the car for?

NO, you have to take out the 8 bolts from the bottom of the rear bumper. Then once you have them out you can pull the vinyl shroud away enough to expose the socket/bulb. = ~5mins

ualdriver, I will post the links. The bulb types are denoted in my signature in italic

License plate 5K flanks (will light up your plate + ground way beyond oem 194 bulb)
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-HID-5K-WHITE-4-p8825900.html
Front center console in 5K (and maps if you want them white vs. my red maps)
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-HID-5K-WHITE-4-p8761053.html
Same in 6K (ice white w blue hue)
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-6K-WHITE-4-M-SMT-p8187987.html
I put these in the backseat (but you could use above HighPower ones- but 2 together maybe too bright for backseat.
http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED-Bulbs/CornerSide-Marker-LED/White-LED/2-6K-WHITE-25-WATT-HIGH-p9595898.html
Vanity Mirrors (2 ea. mirror = 4 total)
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-5K-WHITE-2W-4-p8761206.html
Backup (pricey)
http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED-Bulbs/Turn-Signal-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-PLATINUM-5K-HID-p9449833.html

You will love the output and color of these!

License plate 5K flanks (will light up your plate + ground way beyond oem 194 bulb)
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-HID-5K-WHITE-4-p8825900.html
Front center console in 5K (and maps if you want them white vs. my red maps)
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-HID-5K-WHITE-4-p8761053.html
Same in 6K (ice white w blue hue)
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-6K-WHITE-4-M-SMT-p8187987.html
I put these in the backseat (but you could use above HighPower ones- but 2 together maybe too bright for backseat.
http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED-Bulbs/CornerSide-Marker-LED/White-LED/2-6K-WHITE-25-WATT-HIGH-p9595898.html
Vanity Mirrors (2 ea. mirror = 4 total)
http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-5K-WHITE-2W-4-p8761206.html
Backup (pricey)
http://www.v-leds.com/Exterior-LED-Bulbs/Turn-Signal-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-PLATINUM-5K-HID-p9449833.html

You will love the output and color of these!

Thanks for those. Looks like that might be a fun, simple DIY project.

That reverse light bulb replacement.....is there any way to really screw it up? I am moderately handy, but I don't do much with cars anymore. My concern would be breaking an otherwise watertight seal, for example.

Reverse sounds harder than it actually is. The seal is in the bulb housing/socket. Simple 90 degree turn to lock it in... sealed.

(bunch of links deleted)
You will love the output and color of these!

Thanks a bunch. I may not do them all at once, but I'm sure I'll get them all done before the end of the year. I'm really digging the LED lights I have at home now (dimmable floods and spots) so I'm sure I'll like them in the car as well.

I replaced my dome lights with LED's too. I can say that I agree with #1 and #2. As for #3... I don't hear any interference on AM. (Even on weak stations.) On the other hand... Who listens to Am radio any more? I used these:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=CAR&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FWLEDB-xHP6-DAC.htm#photos

Thanks a bunch. I may not do them all at once, but I'm sure I'll get them all done before the end of the year. I'm really digging the LED lights I have at home now (dimmable floods and spots) so I'm sure I'll like them in the car as well.

Finished, kinda.

My second order of bulbs showed up today and I just finished installing them. This second set included the vanity bulbs, rear cargo, and license plate lamps (4 festoon bulbs and 3 194 Flank bulbs).

The rear cargo and license plate lamps were a breeze - pop out the existing fixture, remove the existing bulb, install the new flank bulb (pointing the right direction!) and reinstalling the fixture. The cargo area has a slot (toward the front of the car) in which you can insert a screwdriver to pop out the fixture. Pull it out and remove the bulb. Replace the bulb with the new bulb, with the flank lamps facing the lens. Mine didn't light up immediately, which was disconcerting, but when I shut the cargo door and re-opened it the lamp lit as expected (and WOW! it's a lot better).

The license plate lamps have tabs that are holding in a weather-tight fixture that holds the bulb. Pop out the fixture by inserting a screwdriver between the pressure tab and the body to remove the entire fixture. Twist the lamp holder out of the fixture to remove the housing from the bulb. I disconnected the wire and moved the fixture to a more comfortable location before turning the bulb holder, but that's not required. Once the bulb holder is out of the fixture, remove the existing bulb and insert the 194 Flank bulb with the lamps pointing away from the tab that holds the wire clip on the bulb holder. If you do this, then when you insert the bulb holder back into the fixture and turn it clockwise it will lock in place, both sealing the enclosure and putting the flank lights in the right orientation.

The vanity lights are also easy to replace - insert a screwdriver into the slot on the outward sides of both lights to pop off the cover. As previously noted, the bulbs look like glass car fuses. This time, things didn't quite work so easily. The vanity lights that TopSpeed used were no longer available from V-LEDs, so I ordered what they called the "Vanity LEDs". They look like the bulbs that were in the vanity lamps but instead of the glass bulb with filament they have 2 LEDs facing in the same direction. The good news is that the inboard ones on both vanity mirrors work fine, but the outboard ones don't at all. It's weird, too - I swapped them thinking that the LEDs were duds but it ended with the same situation: the inboard lamps light and the outboard lamps are unlit. Order of installation seemed to not matter (same behavior if I install the inboard first or the outboard first).

I'm debating about what the next step should be, given that the vanity bulbs TopSpeed recommended got the Super Hot Girlfriend Seal of Approval (SHGSoA?). Any other sources for the recommended bulbs? Any other thoughts?

This time, things didn't quite work so easily.
...
The good news is that the inboard ones on both vanity mirrors work fine, but the outboard ones don't at all.


I had a brainstorm while I was at the grocery store - maybe it's a polarity issue. I flipped them end-for-end and they work just fine. I think the clues that clicked were a) the bulbs all work (since I tested them earlier), and b) the filament bulbs used to work in all of the slots.

So now I just got a reminder: Polarity matters for diodes, but not so much for resistors. I've known this since I was a freshman in college, but a kick in the head helps some times.