LED in DRL 7443 socket - canbus error

TDI321

Active member
Joined
Aug 19, 2018
Location
Space Coast FL (321 area code)
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL, phase 2a
Got 2 amazon LED bulbs that claimed to be canbus-error free. not. Got the yellow bulb idiot light on so I removed it. I dont think the bulb even came on. This is a USA spec 2015 TDI prem SEL.

So - I will not cut into harness with ballast — as ballast temp goes over 220F usually. Is there a way to turn off the bulb check on DRL and still have the light operable? Or should I invest in the LED-turn signal housings that have to be manually wired into a fused connection to get some LED running lights ?

I’m surprised the 2015 SEL premium has no LED anywhere — when my 2006 audi had them everywhere behind the grill.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Yeah - that's odd. I have tried at least four different LED 7443 bulbs in my taillight assembly on 2015 Golf TDI, and while the first three (hence the four) were not nearly bright enough for my liking, none of them gave me a bulb-out error or warning light.
 

TDI321

Active member
Joined
Aug 19, 2018
Location
Space Coast FL (321 area code)
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL, phase 2a
Resolved: There is +/- polarity with LED bulbs. I had it in backwards - that threw the canbus idiot light on the dash. On sunday I tried it again and success ! But the next side I didnt have the bulb in far enough and it popped into the housing — making an impossible fishing exposition. So I removed the headlight — its about 9 torex bolts, popped off the grill and wiggled the headlight out. Was even faster than removing the wheel-well port and doing the 1 handed pushup for 5 minutes. Tested light plugging in unit before re-install. Magic ! Took 11 minutes in total to remove & reinstall. Requires torex 30 and torex 25 bits. I used the 1/4” electric impact dewalt drill with 3/8” & extensions.
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Resolved: There is +/- polarity with LED bulbs. I had it in backwards - that threw the canbus idiot light on the dash. On sunday I tried it again and success ! But the next side I didnt have the bulb in far enough and it popped into the housing — making an impossible fishing exposition. So I removed the headlight — its about 9 torex bolts, popped off the grill and wiggled the headlight out. Was even faster than removing the wheel-well port and doing the 1 handed pushup for 5 minutes. Tested light plugging in unit before re-install. Magic ! Took 11 minutes in total to remove & reinstall. Requires torex 30 and torex 25 bits. I used the 1/4” electric impact dewalt drill with 3/8” & extensions.

A good idea may be to identify the LED bulb for polarity using as small as a 9 volt battery, then mark the negative side with a black felt marker. Also if you have a multimeter identify the socket which is negative (probably a brown wire) and also mark the negative side. That way in future there is no guesswork how to plug the bulb in.
Anyway that's how I do it.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
I put LED 7443 in my hybrid highlanders so I wouldn't eat up 60w of power at stop lights- man they are dim, almost ready to put the oem ones back in- Yorkim 921's are nice and bright but they do not make a 7443
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
I found that the LEDs that have a bunch of the little SMDs (surface-mounted diodes) to emit light are garbage, particularly for red or amber light output.

I found a set that have CREE LEDs, similar to these that put out more than enough light - and it's red light that's output, so my taillights, instead of having a kinda orange-ish red color, are intensely red-red.
 

TDI321

Active member
Joined
Aug 19, 2018
Location
Space Coast FL (321 area code)
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL, phase 2a
NUJE - I agree -- these small-SMD bulbs are a little dim in full Florida Daylight sun. These small Surface Mount Diodes look like 40 slots -- not like dice dots. all you see is a small white square looking head-on. It's very white now but I'm changing them out soon. they look like a dime sized pen-light and dont put any side light out at all. 80% of light output is top/bottom - which looks okay standing in front of the car looking down - but only 20% of light projects out.



first try ones were 10.99 on amazon for pair. I also noticed they mounted the chips on the top/bottom of the cylinder tube and a few SMD on the tip - no SMD on the sides in line with the blade/plug. this format is not good for passat that has big bulb-side reflectors in the bezel. just ordered super-bright big-SMD dice-dot sized SMD bulbs for $5/pair that are canfree and have SMDs surrounding the whole cylinder including the sides and on the tip. also amazon.. we will see if the side light bulb design helps at all.
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
to emit light are garbage, particularly for red or amber light output.
I found a set that have CREE LEDs, similar to these that put out more than enough light - and it's red light that's output, so my taillights, instead of having a kinda orange-ish red color, are intensely red-red.

A rule of thumb with LED bulbs is that for a red tail light lens the LED bulb needs to be red, a yellow turn signal lens the LED bulb needs to be yellow.
People buy white, but that is wrong !
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
Totally agree; standard incandescent bulbs have quite a yellow-ish tint to them (color temp probably around 2500K), whereas white LEDs are white-white - typically 6000K (almost bluish white).
 
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