So I was going to remove the yellow bulbs from the front turn indicator sockets and replace with LEDs, and then I actually opened the hood and looked in there and can't for the life of me figure out how to get those bulbs out.

Plus, do I have to buy a specific kind of bulb so as not to trigger a bulb-fail message?

Jess

 

You have to remove the whole headlight unit to get at the bulbs. Two 10mm bolts on the top and 1 in the wheel arch (you have to turn the wheels all the way to get access.... Not too difficult. I also investigated LEDs and it honestly doesn't look like you will be able to find an error-free LED and will have to got the load resistor route which is a PIA. For the rears, forget about it. Jaguar used the most unusual bulb they could find - 12275. I have not found an LED version of that style and I am sure you would also face the hyperflash/error/load resistor issues. All in all it probably isn't worth it!

 

The other issue with LED bulbs there is that they will be in the same enclosed compartment as the head light bulbs, so they may get too hot. I had LEDs there in the parking bulb position and replaced them when they started to flicker shortly after installation.

 

Well that sounds just lovely.

Load resistors are definitely hit-or-miss. My other collector cars are Mitsubishi Starions. Resistors work on some individual cars, won't work on others. I have a 1988 in my garage now that won't accept resistors, but will accept hacking into the wiring, mounting a dummy socket down in the bumper and putting a regular light in it, with an LED in the actual signal slot. But other owners put resistors in with no trouble.

By the way, I looked into that 12275 bulb for the rear, and found a couple of sites suggesting just to use an 1156 bulb to replace it. The key is to find the correct bayonet and then just buy another bulb with that particular bayonet layout. Problem is, the 12275 is showing two options and I'm not sure which is correct. There's a PG20-2 and a BA15S indicated for that bulb. If it's a BA15S, you're in luck -- both a 67 and an 1156 are showing as replacements. If it's truly a PG20-2, though, you're screwed.

Jess

 

I've heard some people mention that same problem and others say they have no issues. I think a lot depends on the actual LED chassis you pick. Sylvania makes some fairly robust, metal-chassis lights that look like they'd stand up. LUYED makes a couple, but they also make a lot of pure plastic lights that probably won't. I think the key here is to convert the headlights to LED at the same time you do the parking lights.

Jess