Rear spoiler brake light. How to replace diodes

[Kristian_Wraae]

European Supras didn't come with spoilers with built in brake lights.

So I bought one on ebay and had it shipped from Japan.

I had to wire it to the rear brake lights since our Supras don't have the plugs for it either. But no problem there.

However as you can see a few of the diodes are a bit weak and one is not comming on at all. So I want to exchange them if possible.

I have been looking at the spoiler and I don't really see how to get access to the diodes. How do I take it apart? I'm afraid to break something. It looks like it is glued together.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[ForcedTorque]

I did it once!

 

[Kristian_Wraae]

Ok. So what is the trick to get the brake light disassembled?

 

[Kristian_Wraae]

What I mean is how do I get the rectangular plate off?

Assuming that it needs to come off in order to get to the diodes.

Btw I didn't scratch it. That happend during shipping.

 

[Kristian_Wraae]

I guess I figured it out. On the EPC it seems there is a screw that holds the light in place:

The 90159-50060

Does anyone know if the color of the JDM spoiler light is the same as the USDM? The rear lights are different, but what about the spoiler?

 

[Kristian_Wraae]

I did it once!

Ok, now I have the brake light in my hand. how did you disassemble the brake light? It seems the red plastic is glued to the gray plastik. I have tried to cut the glue with a razor but no cigar.

I guess I might end up buy a new light assembly.

 

[90T04]

If you are going to be getting a new one anyway, and you dont really care about the old one, try putting it in your oven and gradually raising the temperature until the glue melts. Thats how people get sealed headlights apart. I am not sure what temperature would work best, maybe you could find it on the internet somewhere.

Once you get the lamp apart you could probably de-solder the diodes from the board. You will probably have to replace all the diodes so that they all match in color and intensity.

If you dont try it, I probably will just to see if it works!:naughty:

 

[Kristian_Wraae]

Thanks for the input. I thought of heating but I was not sure. It looks like it is some very strong epoxy glue they have used.

So I cut the bottom off with a dremel and resoldered the two diodes and glued it back together again with some epoxy glue. It worked quite well. The diodes I got were not exactly the same regarding color and intensity as the original ones so I have ordered 100 new high intensity LEDs so I can replace all of them. There are 56 diodes and it will take forever to desolder them.

I gave up on buying a new lamp since Toyota here in Denmark charges $625 for the light. I almost fainted when I heard it. For that price I could get several new spoilers on ebay.

How common is it that the LEDs fail on these spoilers? The reason I ask is that the avarage lifetime of a diode is something like 15 years when constantly illuminated. So for two LED to completely die and several of the rest being very lazy sounds a bit strange to me. I reheated all the soldering spots in case they were the ones failing but that didn't help. So it must be the diodes.

 

[ZoomZoomZoom]

I have the exact same issue with my spoiler (90t). I am going to try and fix it myself. Nothing to lose..

 

[Kristian_Wraae]

Cutting the red plastic with a wheel and and a dremel just above the gray part will work. It will of course mess everything up. It will look like crap after wards but all the cutting will be hidden inside the spoiler and nobody will ever notice. The only really important thing is to glue is back together without leaving any defects in the glue from which moisture can enter the light.

 

[Kristian_Wraae]

All 56 diodes have been replaced with ultra bright LEDs.

I have the impression that any braking I do in the future will be noticed.....

 

[Zumtizzle]

Nevermind!

What voltage are the led's 12?

 

[Kristian_Wraae]

I cut the red plastic from the gray plastic just below the print circuit and replaced the diodes. Then I glued the two parts together with epoxy glue.

The diodes are these:

Emitted Colour
Red LED's

Size (mm)
5mm

Lens Colour
Water Clear

Forward Voltage (V)
< = 3.6

Reverse Current (uA)
< = 30

Luminous Intensity Typ Iv (mcd)
6000 - 7000

Life Rating
100,000 Hours

Viewing Angle
20 Degree

Absolute Maximum Ratings
( Ta = 25°C )

Max Power Dissipation
PM = 80 mw

Max Continuous Forward Current
IFM = 30 mA

Max Peak Forward Current
IFP =75 mA

Reverse Voltage
5 ~ 6 V

Lead Soldering Temperature
240 ° C ( < 5 Sec )

Operating Temperature Range
- 25 ° C ~ + 85 ° C

Preservative Temperature Range
- 30 ° C ~ + 100 ° C

I don't really know if they are the best for the job but I just tried them out and it seems to work.