XC60 rear indicator bulbs

[Fat Magpie]

I agree with GMcL. I replaced the front indicators with LEDs; the old bulbs did seem to have lost their sparkle. I am giving the old girl a minor facelift as I decided to keep her. I will post some pictures of what I have done soon.

[Lancee]

Perhaps beware using LED bulbs in plastic lens headlights ? These bulbs can likely generate more heat and damage the headlight. For example C70 mk2 headlamps are prone to cracking, try finding a good working used unit anywhere for sensible money. A re-mortgage might be needed for new.

[monkeh]

Originally Posted by Lancee

Perhaps beware using LED bulbs in plastic lens headlights ? These bulbs can likely generate more heat and damage the headlight. For example C70 mk2 headlamps are prone to cracking, try finding a good working used unit anywhere for sensible money. A re-mortgage might be needed for new.

Not necessarily on indicator leds. They're only on for a minute. It's not as if they generate the same amount of heat as a sidelight led.
Leds will run cooler if you don't cheap out and buy a decent set.
I've had minimal heat out of some leds in comparison to their halogen counterparts.

[Lancee]

Originally Posted by monkeh

Not necessarily on indicator leds. They're only on for a minute. It's not as if they generate the same amount of heat as a sidelight led.
Leds will run cooler if you don't cheap out and buy a decent set.
I've had minimal heat out of some leds in comparison to their halogen counterparts.

"It might crack it, no it won't, it might crack it, no it won't, it might crack it, no it won't" !

[Phil Croxley]

I replaced a brake light bulb on mine and dropped it, it's now lost forever in the hollow bodywork. The next time it happens I'll be more careful!

[Fat Magpie]

LEDs are much more efficient than normal bulbs, but some get hot. It's not the LED that gets hot; it's the parasite resistor. This is because most cars have a bulb check circuit (you get an alarm if a bulb fails). These check systems expect to see older type bulbs, which consume more electrical current; if you do a straight swap with an LED, you will get a bulb failure alarm, sometimes called a CANNBUS error.

So, car LED manufacturers had to add a resistor to their LEDs, whose sole purpose is to consume more electrical energy to keep the car's diagnostic system happy. These are the things that dissipate the energy as heat. Cheap LED bulbs have smaller heatsinks and do get hotspots; more expensive LEDs have a perhaps more oversized heatsink and run cooler. I have front marker bulbs on mine, and they run very hot; I burned my fingers on one. The replacement LEDs run much cooler.

[monkeh]

For once, there's a fat magpie I won't stick a pellet in! (part time pest control) 🤣
You speak absolute 100% truth there. Quality LEDS dissipate heat much better than el cheapo ones. The resistor gets almost as hot as an incandescent lamp on the surface mounted cheap w5w thingies.