CANbus?

[RBSilvy85]

Sorry I've tried searching. I have a 2015 Silverado 1500 LT. I want to convert most all of.my bulbs to LED. Which ones need CANbus to work correctly? I just replaced my tag lights with led. Wanting to change turn signals, reverse lights, tail lights and stop lights

[brholtz02]

backup lights don't need canbus.  I never changed the others.

 

[TheBlackPearl]

In my monthly Onstar report, it tells me to check/service my license plate lights because of the LEDs I installed there...

[Old School Mechanic]

You can use standard LED turn signal bulbs, just wire in resistors. Some say their LED bulbs are CANbus ready, but they're not.

I have a 2015 and switched all my bulbs, except headlights, to LED.

[Old School Mechanic]

There are alot of people out there telling how to do something, everyone has their own ideas and this is just how I did it.

 

To do the basic LED switch, and I'm just talking about my 15, because it's the only one I have done. I think in 16 they changed sockets, maybe not until 17? , and I haven't really looked at the GMC, but I think the basics should be similar.

 

I have a 2015 Silverado SCLB LT, two turn signal bulbs on each side, front and back. Someone on this forum said you need a resistor for each bulb, and I found that to be true. I thought to myself "this is gonna suck" because I didn't want to splice into each bulb with a resistor. Wiring in these resistors is just a work around to "fool" the BCM, so it doesn't think there is a bulb out and turn on a warning telling you so. You would think there would be some computer guy out there that could make a software program and you could plug your laptop into your truck and change the settings that control the lights. My DiabloSport hand held tuner can change my PCM & TCM, so what gives? What ever happened to the ole' flasher?

 

Anyway,

So here's what I did. One end of the resistor has to go to power, the other end goes to ground. It does not matter which end goes where... On the front, I ran two resistors in parallel, two wires down to one and spliced into the 6 pin connectors on each side of the shroud. One wire spliced into the turn signal power wire. The other ends of the 2 resistors, I did the same way, 2 wires into 1, and ran that wire to the body ground located on the firewall. Works great. Mounted my resistors on the inner fender, easy to get to.

 

 

 

Two resistors for each side, just ran a wire to the right side and spliced into the 6 pin connector over there.

Run the other end of the resistors to the stud.

 

Note: These resistors get hot, so you should mount them to metal and not let them touch things that will melt.

 

I tried to use just one resistor, no go, still hyperflash, you have to use two.
I didn't try to wire them in series, since I found wiring in parallel works.

 

I found that you really only need one wire going to the connector, the hot side of the turn signal, and the other end of the resistor can be grounded anywhere that is ground, even if you have to make the wire longer to get there. You don't have to wire the ground to the ground wire at the 6 pin connector going to the bulb is what I'm saying. You can, but you don't have to, make it easy on yourself.

 

Many years ago when I was young 1977, I was in school for automotive technology, a fancy way to say grease monkey. The first class I had was automotive electric, where we were going to learn about starters, alternators, points and condenser etc., and the first words out of the teacher's mouth was very loud... "Ground is ground is ground, until it isn't ground, then it isn't ground ! and never forget that". My classmates all looked at each other and said WTF? This old guy is talking crazy. But all it really means is that all ground wires end up in the same place, the negative side of the battery, and I have never forgotten that.

 

In my years of experience, I have found that probably 75% of all light problems are caused by a bad ground. The rest have a loose "bad" connection, or something that isn't ground. So don't use scotch locks to make your connections. Yes they are quick and easy, but they will only cause problems later. Make good solder connections, and use quality, adhesive lined, shrink tube to seal out moisture.

 

So, back to the subject.

One splice for each corner instead of four.

 

On my 2015
Front left turn 6 pin connector X110 wire was BU/WH
Front right turn 6 pin connector X120 wire was GN/VT
---Check the wiring diagram for your truck !

The right side connector is a pain, you have to remove the air filter box to get to it, and also to replace the bulbs.

On both sides you can get to the bulbs through a small opening on the inner fender.

 

The same thing can be done for the rear turn signals with two bulbs on each side...there is a junction block just to the left of the spare tire, one wire one splice, then just find a good ground.

Both wires for rear turn lights were D-GN but in different connectors.
Rear left turn junction block X63A connector X2
Rear right turn junction block X63A connector X3
---Check the wiring diagram for your truck !

 

Rear resistors mounted to reese hitch, single wire to junction box plug. Other end going to ground.

I made my own ground with other LED going to it with no ill effects.

 

To get to the rear turn signal bulbs and back up light, you must remove the tail light housing. With the tail gate down you will see 2 screws to remove, then carefully pull the housing straight back.
There are clips on the very end that fit into holes in the bed, that I broke when removing the housing, that are replaceable... GM part # 22876572, good luck.

 

TEST ALL THE BULBS BEFORE YOU INSTALL THEM BACK IN THE HOUSING.

 

If they do not work take them out of the socket and turn 180 degrees and push back in to the socket and try again. Most LED's are polar.

 

I had no trouble replacing the rest with LED, I also did the center cargo light and center brake light, same bulbs as backup lights in the tail lights.

 

I like to try and find the best deals on stuff, and for my money eBay is the place to go. So here is a list of the stuff I used. You can copy and paste the description into search on eBay and they should come up. Many different sellers, so shop around.

 

 

Resistors - you'll need 8, they come as a pack of 10.
$11.99 - Free Shipping

10pcs 50W 6 ohm Load Resistor Fix LED Bulb Fast Hyper Flash Turn Signal w/ T-Tap

( I haven't looked, but someone may make a 100W 12 ohm resistor to flash 2 bulbs? )

 

 

 

Turn signals front and rear, on my truck, use the same bulb, they come as a pack of 10.
These bulbs are all white, you need 8.
My lenses are solid amber in front and solid red in rear...no clear at all.
$18.99 - Free Shipping

10x White 7443 7440 T20 33-SMD RV Camper Turn Signal Stop Light Bulbs 12V-24V

 

 

 

Back up lights, center cargo and brake, you'll need 5.  They come as a pack of 2.
Wish I coulda found a better deal on these.
$11.39 - Free Shipping - Total $34.17

AUXITO 912 921 LED Backup Light Bulbs 1000 Lumens High Power 2835 15-SMD Chipset

 

 

License plate lights come as a pack of 10, don't know what I'm going to do with the other 8.
$8.54 - Free Shipping

AUXITO 10x T10 20 SMD LED White Super Bright Car Lights Bulb - 194,168,2825,W5W

 

 

Auxiliary Back up lights pack of 10. These are bright. Put them in the step.
$9.99 - Free Shipping

10x23mm Eagle Eye 12SMD 4014 LED White Back Up Reverse Daytime Running Light

 

Marker lights pack of 30, 10 red, 10 amber, 10 white.

( I used a couple of the white ones on the inside kick panels to light up the floor boards)

$19.95 - Free Shipping

30X Red Amber White 12V 3/4" Round Marker Light Clearance 3 LED Bullet US Ship

 

 

 

 

 

These bulbs are cross referenced part numbers I got from my OWNERS Manual.
Yours may be different.

Hopefully these lights are all of good quality and will last a long time.

These lights look better in real life than my crappy photography shows......

 

Hope this helps, and good luck to those who try this.

[Madcow2020]

There is a dude that will reprogram your BCM to work with leds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wforrest08]

6 hours ago, Madcow2020 said:

There is a dude that will reprogram your BCM to work with leds.

http://www.whiteautoandmedia.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=94&category_id=54&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=54

[rbrjr1]

Hmmm. Now, do I go full tilt with the whites auto reprogramming or do I wire in resistors....?

 

are the resistors “water resistant” ? I noticed that some people have them mounted in areas that see splash.. 

[wforrest08]

4 hours ago, rbrjr1 said:

Hmmm. Now, do I go full tilt with the whites auto reprogramming or do I wire in resistors....?

 

are the resistors “water resistant” ? I noticed that some people have them mounted in areas that see splash.. 

I mounted mine for the factory taillights on the top of the hitch under truck. I don’t drive it in the winter but otherwise no problems with them getting wet.