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 Converting an eBrake warning light from Incandescent to LEDJump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
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56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10914    Location: Lower Mainland BC | . This example of converting an eBrake warning light from using a conventional incandescent bulb to an LED bulb is based on the 56 Dodge but I presume (hope) that it will apply to other lines and years as well. The inspiration (read: kick in the keester to get it done) came from DelS (Dels56) who also has a 56 Dodge and had made this change using a Grote 49332 bulb. I've had an unlabeled integral LED light and lens (probably a Grote) for a couple of years (neighbour gave it to me). But I wasn't unhappy with the conventional GE90 bulb that I had installed back in July 2018. That is until it burned out and I could NOT get it out of the housing. Going back to the beginning, the eBrake warning light was an option for 56 Dodge Coronets and Royals but standard equipment on Custom Royals (like mine and DelSs). The 56 Dodge Accessories brochure called the light the "Parking Brake Warning Light" When I purchased my car, the bulb was missing. Since it wasn't listed in the owner's manual it was a bit of a problem finding out what the incandescent bulb was (I needed to call in a favour or two from 56 Dodge Custom Royal owners). They confirmed that the bulb was the 2 pin base, single filament, GE90. Not expensive (so why change to LED? More to follow) Getting the new bulb in and settled required a suction cup (my neighbour lent me one from some kids toy) because once you put the bulb in the housing there is nothing to grab on to twist it into place (two pin base, single filament bulb). Once I had the bulb in place I discovered that a) it got real hot real quick and was and had previously melted the red plastic lens and b) the warning light was on when the brake was on both with the key turned to RUN (IGN) and Accessory (ACC). Since I didn't want to melt my light lens while parking and listening to the radio (converted to AM/FM/Bluetooth/USB/iPod) with the key turned to ACC while I was working on the car, I changed the source of the power to the ACC terminal on the back of the ignition switch. (From IGN to the ACC terminal circled in red): Happy days!! For a while.   Then sometime in 2020, the light stopped working. Annoying but not fatal. I ignored fixing it until I was spending time in that area recently (shifter housing games, signal light flasher follies, etc.). Finally after emailing with DelS (Dels56) about the issue and him telling me that he had already converted his to LED, I decided to get on it and use the LED light that I had been saving (read: procrastinating) until I was desperate. Well desperate might be a bit overkill - but Frus-Freaking-trated would not be wrong. I figured it was just the bulb but I could not get the bulb out (I needed that suction cup!). In the end, I just cut the warning light socket off and removed it from the car. This was going to end. To get the Grote style integral LED and lens into the OE warning light housing you have to remove the bakelite bit at the back of the housing. DelS said that his just came out. No such luck for me. I had to crush mine with pliers and then extract the bits. This made loading the Grote LED in from the front very easy. It fits under the OE chrome threaded bezel perfectly. DelS used a Grote 49332 that came with long wires terminating with bullets. DelS said "I did change one wire from the Grote by cutting off the bullet and putting a 1/4" eye on for the ground. Hot is from the ignition switch and connected with a female bullet connection to the Grote wire." My (DaveF's) Grote was wired differently so I added a bit of wire to the white (ground) wire and a bullet connector for the connection at the grounding switch. For the power, I used a pair of shielded/insulated male/female connectors to eliminate any chance of shorting. One point that should be made is you need to make sure that the total length of the wire going to the grounding switch is long enough so when you release the brake, the wire doesn't get pulled, i.e. there is still some slack. Here are photos of this conversion from both DelS (thanks Del) and me showing our joint efforts, ending with the seemingly blinding LED warning light. It is VERY bright, not to be ignored (which is a good thing). (PS: I don't think that there is a GE90 equivalent LED bulb that would fit in the OE socket under the OE lens and chrome bezel. If there is, please post it up in a reply. My Grote was free and DelS's was about $15 which might be hard to beat, even if there is an LED bulb that does fit) Edited by 56D500boy 2021-01-22 10:56 AM (eBrakeWarningLight_DelSsOESocketLensLockNutAndChromeBezel.jpg) (eBrakeWarningLight_DelSsGrote49332LEDLightAndAdjustedOESocketAndBezel.jpg) (eBrakeWarningLight_DelSsGrote49332LEDLightLoadedInOESocketWithOEBezel.jpg) (eBrakeWarningLight_DaveFsVersionOfThePosAndNegLEDHarness.jpg) (eBrakeWarningLight_DaveFsLEDGroundConnectionAtWarningLightSwitch.jpg) (eBrakeWarningLight_DaveFsHotConnectionIgnitionToBlackLEDWireShieldedMaleAndFemaleConnectors.jpg) (eBrakeWarningLight_DaveFsVersionInAction.jpg) Attachments ----------------  eBrakeWarningLight_DelSsOESocketLensLockNutAndChromeBezel.jpg (153KB - 443 downloads) eBrakeWarningLight_DelSsGrote49332LEDLightAndAdjustedOESocketAndBezel.jpg (157KB - 432 downloads) eBrakeWarningLight_DelSsGrote49332LEDLightLoadedInOESocketWithOEBezel.jpg (96KB - 431 downloads) eBrakeWarningLight_DaveFsVersionOfThePosAndNegLEDHarness.jpg (70KB - 404 downloads) eBrakeWarningLight_DaveFsLEDGroundConnectionAtWarningLightSwitch.jpg (185KB - 440 downloads) eBrakeWarningLight_DaveFsHotConnectionIgnitionToBlackLEDWireShieldedMaleAndFemaleConnectors.jpg (87KB - 410 downloads) eBrakeWarningLight_DaveFsVersionInAction.jpg (132KB - 423 downloads) | ||
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| Lancer Mike |
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 Location: The Centennial State | |||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10914 Location: Lower Mainland BC | Lancer Mike - 2021-01-21 8:55 PM There are some direct plug-ins out there https://store.marinebeam.com/compact-ge89-and-ge90-replacement-for-a... However, I've tried them and they don't seem to last very long - especially for the emergency brake warning light! Dave, your hard-wired solution may be best. Thanks Mike. Not sure if that would fit my 56 Dodge housing. Seems quite wide at the top.   Edited by 56D500boy 2021-01-22 1:44 AM | ||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10456 Location: So. Cal | |||
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| Powerflite |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10456 Location: So. Cal | |||
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| 1960fury |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 7619  Location: northern germany | |||
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10914 Location: Lower Mainland BC | . If your car did not come with an eBrake warning switch and light, you would have to cobble something together, either using OE parts or after market parts. As far as I can tell, the switch is an 1838 957 which is basically the same type of plunger switch used on the door/dome light activation switches, i.e. plunger in = no continuity, plunger out = current will flow. Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/306312318577 The bracket isn't very fancy and I think the OE PN is 1622 516. Can't find one on eBay, etc. Might be best to get both (and maybe the eBrake handle) from an autowrecker like Big M in Williams California or French Lake Auto Parts in Minnesota. There are lots of plunger switches shown in this pdf: https://www.elecdirect.com/media/specsheets/CHg7.pdf Edited by 56D500boy 2025-10-25 8:12 PM (.OEeBrakeWarningLightSwitchAndBracketPNs.jpg) (1838957PlungerSwitch.jpg) Attachments ---------------- .OEeBrakeWarningLightSwitchAndBracketPNs.jpg (111KB - 46 downloads) 1838957PlungerSwitch.jpg (101KB - 53 downloads) | ||
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| BUCKET |
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| 56D500boy |
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Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 10914 Location: Lower Mainland BC | . The eBrake warning light socket should only need one wire because the socket should be attached to the eBrake handle bracket and the bracket is attached to the dash and the dash is attached to the car = there is a ground. You just need a switched power. If you can't get the ignition switch down (mine is only held to the dash by one machine screw), I think that I would run switched power from the horn relay. There are details about the horn relay in this post:. http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=75311&... View of a 56 Dodge horn relay calling out where the switched power terminal is located: Hope that helps | ||
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