I have a 2013 Silverado I am installing LED headlight bulbs in. Low beams are H11, high are 9005.
Replacing H11 with: Limited-time deal: GloDrv 2023 Upgrade H11 Led Headlight Bulbs [Newest and Brightest] 20000lm 600% Brighter 1:1 Mini Size Design With 6000k Cool White，Halogen Upgrade Replacement, Plug and Play, Pack of 2 https://a.co/d/6mHLGyr

9005 with this: Limited-time deal: FAHREN 9005/HB3 LED Bulbs, 2023 Upgraded Ultra-Bright 20000 Lumens, Cool White 6000K, IP68 Waterproof, Halogen Replacement, Pack of 2 https://a.co/d/2B6D5X8

I understand that sometimes when replacing halogen with LED, flickering can occur due to canbus. Is there a way a person can connect an additional light to each LED bulb connection so that the current draw is equal to the stock H11 and 9005 bulb so to eliminate flickering and other can bus issues? I am thinking the additional light would be a small set of lights behind the grill. How can I determine the correct additional lights to purchase where LED lights + grill lights = stock headlights?
Thanks so much for your help!

 

Why would you use bulbs when you could just use resistors?

 

Why would you use bulbs when you could just use resistors?

This is how it is generally done. Just use a few power resistors. I had to do that on my bike for my turn signals when I went from incandescent to LED bulbs.

Ron

 

First I've heard of LED's flickering. Not saying it doesn't, just that I've experienced flickering with HID (not LED). An older Sonata (2003) had flickering issues with HID. That was solved with a flicker kit. I don't know if there are flicker kits for LED's, like I said, I've not heard of such an issue before.

Recently I came across some H11 LED bulbs for $3.00 ($2.99 for the set). Installed them in my fog lights since I already have HID on the headlights. Amazed at how bright the LED's are. The reason for the cheap price is because it was an Amazon return. There's a place nearby that buys return pallets then puts stuff up for sale. If they don't sell right away they get put in a discount bin. Each day the price drops from $8.99 to $6.99 to $4.99 to $2.99 then finally down to 99¢. I happened along at the $2.99 day and nobody had picked them up, so I grabbed them. For the price I couldn't go wrong.

My LED's don't flicker and they're installed in the fog lights on a 2017 Tacoma.

What I'm saying is maybe there's an anti flicker kit out there. Worth searching if you're having issues.

 

How

First I've heard of LED's flickering. Not saying it doesn't, just that I've experienced flickering with HID (not LED). An older Sonata (2003) had flickering issues with HID. That was solved with a flicker kit. I don't know if there are flicker kits for LED's, like I said, I've not heard of such an issue before.

Recently I came across some H11 LED bulbs for $3.00 ($2.99 for the set). Installed them in my fog lights since I already have HID on the headlights. Amazed at how bright the LED's are. The reason for the cheap price is because it was an Amazon return. There's a place nearby that buys return pallets then puts stuff up for sale. If they don't sell right away they get put in a discount bin. Each day the price drops from $8.99 to $6.99 to $4.99 to $2.99 then finally down to 99¢. I happened along at the $2.99 day and nobody had picked them up, so I grabbed them. For the price I couldn't go wrong.

My LED's don't flicker and they're installed in the fog lights on a 2017 Tacoma.

What I'm saying is maybe there's an anti flicker kit out there. Worth searching if you're having issues.

How often do you experience FOG so that your fog lights can actually be used as intended??
What I see in my area is that some folks always have their fog lights on, along with their headlights, when it rains. Reflecting lots of light off the wet pavement, into the eyes of on-coming traffic. Not improving their safety at all.

 

What I see in my area is that some folks always have their fog lights on, along with their headlights, when it rains. Reflecting lots of light off the wet pavement, into the eyes of on-coming traffic. Not improving their safety at all.

Off topic but my old Yukon Denali and I think one of my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokees had factory fog lights. You could run A or B (Headlights or Fog Lights) but not A and B at the same time.

We now return to our regular programming before we drag the thread way off the rails from the original question.

In the resistor example I cited above I used 6 Ohm 50 Watt aluminum resistors.

Ron

 

Has the TS actually seen any flickering of the new headlight bulbs? If it is not yet a problem then why do anything??
AND, if there would be some flickering, what is the mechanism of the resistors reducing it?? How would adding resistor loading, OR additional bulb loading, solve a canbus problem??
"flickering caused by Canbus" sounds a lot like many of the other false story tales on the internet.
So the first step is to see if it actually happens. Then do a bit of analysis to discover just what actually would cause any flicker.

 

Has the TS actually seen any flickering of the new headlight bulbs? If it is not yet a problem then why do anything??

No but if the do...

AND, if there would be some flickering, what is the mechanism of the resistors reducing it?? How would adding resistor loading, OR additional bulb loading, solve a canbus problem??

It's not exactly a canbus problem. The ECM looks at headlight load and if it does not see an adequate load it throws a flag assuming a lamp is burned out. Adding a resistive load gets the current draw back up to what the ECM wants to see. This is why they make and market resistor kits for just this purpose. The canbus ( Controller Area Network ) is no more than a communications protocol used by the ECM (Engine Control Module).

The problem is very real and the fact that many are not aware of it does not make it someone's internet pipe dream. The problem relates to how things work. Flickering is caused by the Canbus electrical system communicating with the ECM. It pulses the power to the headlights to increase bulb life (for halogen bulbs). It does this looking at load. They stay energized just long enough so you never see the flicker. LED's can turn on and off so fast that you can usually see the flicker.

The thread starter asked specifically about halogen lamps and going to LED lamps. There are other causes of headlight flicker which can be investigated. Most common problem is solved by adding a resistor kit.

Ron

 

Has the TS actually seen any flickering of the new headlight bulbs? If it is not yet a problem then why do anything??

I'm pretty sure the TS was doing the smart thing and trying to find out just what exactly what could be happening and what could be done about it before installing the lights and finding out there is a problem. Sometimes a little research before the fact goes a long ways in sorting out issues.

 

Judging from a few diagrams I found online it looks like the headlights are powered directly from relays in the underhood fuse block. There should be no issues with flickering or load sensing.

 

Good find. I wonder if Make/Model matter? The TS has a 2013 Silverado. That what you looked up?

Ron

 

From what I could find it seems that 2007 - 2014 share the same diagram. The only exception seems to be the HID lighting which is whole different ball of wax, but maybe wasn't an option on trucks (Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon and the like?).

This is the best diagram I could find and it seemed to match thumbnails of others that were hidden in sites that wanted you to register.

https://portal-diagnostov.com/en/20...lverado-1500-ltz-2013-system-wiring-diagrams/

Another interesting resource although it doesn't exactly have the headlight wiring diagram. It covers the Silverado, Sierra, Suburban, Yukon, and Tahoe.

https://www.gmupfitter.com/wp-conte...13_LD_ElectricalPickupsChassisCabs_100713.pdf

 

Why would you use bulbs when you could just use resistors?

Because I would rather use the extra power to add lights than to create useless heat with a resistor.

 

OK, so there is an explanation that actually make some sense. In that case the TS will need to know the current that the original lamp drew and the current draw for the intended to add lights, as well as the current draw of the LED lights.

 

OK, so there is an explanation that actually make some sense. In that case the TS will need to know the current that the original lamp drew and the current draw for the intended to add lights, as well as the current draw of the LED lights.

Thanks
The best I have found at least for the H11 bulbs is that they typically draw 55 watts and around 5 amps. Similar H11 LED bulbs draw around 2 amps but not sure if the ones I have draw exactly that.
so I would need a light that uses around 3 amps

 

Thanks
The best I have found at least for the H11 bulbs is that they typically draw 55 watts and around 5 amps. Similar H11 LED bulbs draw around 2 amps but not sure if the ones I have draw exactly that.
so I would need a light that uses around 3 amps

Just keep in mind what I mentioned several post back. If you need the added load make sure your resistors, assuming you use resistors, can dissipate the power they will need to. Hypothetic, current bulbs draw 5.0 amps new LED draws 1 amp. so we want a 4 amp additional load with the LED lamp. The resistive loads will parallel existing lamps. If you look at the kits for this you will see 50 watt resistors used to dissipate excess power.

Ron

 

Although it's not a perfect measurement and subject to a bit of variation one thing you could do is measure the voltage change across your headlight fuse with the current bulb and record it. Poke a probe at one leg of the fuse and the other probe at the other leg. Most of the time there is a small bit of the leg showing through the top of the fuse. It should be under 0.1V I would imagine (it's been a while) so use the mV scale if possible.
Replace the bulbs with your new ones and measure the change across the fuse again and record it.
You should then be able to find how much power the new lights use compared to the old ones and guesstimate roughly where you are.

Of course if you don't have a meter on hand then nevermind.

Edit:

Even smarter yet would be to measure the draw of a new light, but I'll guess if it was possible there would already be a measurement given.

Nevermind this post

 

Although it's not a perfect measurement and subject to a bit of variation one thing you could do is measure the voltage change across your headlight fuse with the current bulb and record it. Poke a probe at one leg of the fuse and the other probe at the other leg. Most of the time there is a small bit of the leg showing through the top of the fuse. It should be under 0.1V I would imagine (it's been a while) so use the mV scale if possible.
Replace the bulbs with your new ones and measure the change across the fuse again and record it.
You should then be able to find how much power the new lights use compared to the old ones and guesstimate roughly where you are.

Of course if you don't have a meter on hand then nevermind.

Edit:

Even smarter yet would be to measure the draw of a new light, but I'll guess if it was possible there would already be a measurement given.

Nevermind this post

I actually thought of doing this except measuring at each light instead of the fuse.

one thing I was wondering yesterday was I noticed my lights are automatic in the daytime as daytime lights. Do they use less power in this mode and how does that effect any “extra” lights I might add?

 

Certainly running the lights in series uses less power., but since the filament type light current/voltage relationship is non-linear it is not exactly a quarter of the power, which it would be for resistors.

 

I actually thought of doing this except measuring at each light instead of the fuse.

one thing I was wondering yesterday was I noticed my lights are automatic in the daytime as daytime lights. Do they use less power in this mode and how does that effect any “extra” lights I might add?

Measuring at each light would be the best option.

I was wondering about the DRLs in that era. Does it actually use your headlights or is it a separate bulb? I know my 2004 is a separate bulb and I was hoping they stayed with that arrangement, but I could not find a definite answer. I noticed DRL wire in the schematic I linked, but unfortunately it's going to cost to get the rest of the schematics so I couldn't make much sense of it.

If it does use your actual headlight bulbs then it's probably a PWM or reduced voltage to your lights and that may cause issues with your new bulbs, or of course it may not. It would mot likely come from a separate internal circuit through the DRL fuse and then connect to the output side of the relay so that if the relay is off you have DRL power, and if the relay is on then full power to the lights.

Although they are handy in some ways and I have always been a fan of them you should be able to just pull the DRL fuse and eliminate them according to the schematic if you so choose. That may or may not cause the headlights to be constant on full power also so I really can't say what would be the best option there.