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ZB Commodore LED Upgrade

Robdre

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Does any body know if using CAN BUS decoders can lead to problems with the BCM?
Several LED sellers have told me to be careful as it could "short" the BCM.
 

stooge

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Does any body know if using CAN BUS decoders can lead to problems with the BCM?
Several LED sellers have told me to be careful as it could "short" the BCM.

those "sellers" are exactly that "sellers" and they dont know what they are talking about when it comes to vehicle electrical systems.
the term "can bus decoder" is a misnomer because the "can bus decoder" for a headlight does not actually interface with the canbus or decode anything.
what these "can bus decoders" do is simply put a resistive load on the wires that plug into the headlight to emulate a halogen bulb because the bcm monitors the load on the power wires for each bulb and when the load or current falls below a certain threshold it triggers a check headlight message.
led bulbs and hid ballasts pull less current than a halogen bulb so that message will trigger if there is no device generating a synthetic load and that is all these so called "can bus decoders" do.

if something was to short on the headlight wires it would blow the fuse not the bcm because that is what the system is designed to do in the event of a short.


for reference...


this is what it looks like inside of a headlight "can bus decoder"
top.jpg

bott.jpg



this is what a real can bus decoder looks like...
MyCanBox.jpg
there are other types but this type decodes/encodes messages within the vehicles can to interface with a aftermarket radio.
devices like this are not used on headlights.


unnecessary nerdy stuff...

many real can bus decoders need to have chips like this to interface with the vehicles can.

another popular one used in obd diagnostic devices sold on ebay is the elm327
 
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Robdre

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Thanks so much for your reply, really appreciate the help. Going to go ahead and do it so I can least see more than 5 meters in front of me.
 

Ceramic

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Hi there, thanks for the pictures of the results.
Looks like I will be ordering some of those...hate not being able to see properly as night time.

Thanks for this, would I need the H7's for my RS AWD V6? I am looking at replacing the normal beam and high beam.
 

stooge

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Thanks for this, would I need the H7's for my RS AWD V6? I am looking at replacing the normal beam and high beam.

H7 for both high and low in the rs
 

stooge

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will these work

If they are h7 they should work.
Just be aware when you see listings that contain "xenon" on a led light they are just putting anything in the title that will snag a search so you can probably bet that they are not cree leds and they are cheap nasty chinese junk.
 

Ceramic

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So it turns out that the bulbs/LED's in the vehicle need to be ADR approved to meet Australian roadworthy standards and apparently failure to have these installed can lead to defect and insurance dramas (I'm guessing if your involved in a collision during the night, or if a police officer deems your headlights too bright). I spoke with a friend over the long weekend who works in motor vehicle insurance and they said it would void the claim on a vehicle if it didn't meet the Australian Design Rules, so basically the national standards for vehicle safety, anti-theft and emissions. So because of that! I have purchased these: Philips X-treme Vision +130% H7 | Replacement Headlight Bulbs | PowerBulbs AU
 
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stooge

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So it turns out that the bulbs/LED's in the vehicle need to be ADR approved to meet Australian roadworthy standards and apparently failure to have these installed can lead to defect and insurance dramas (I'm guessing if your involved in a collision during the night, or if a police officer deems your headlights too bright). I spoke with a friend over the long weekend who works in motor vehicle insurance and they said it would void the claim on a vehicle if it didn't meet the Australian Design Rules, so basically the national standards for vehicle safety, anti-theft and emissions. So because of that! I have purchased these: X-tremeVision Pro150 car headlight bulb 00569428 | Philips

most things you put on your vehicle needs to be adr compliant, most insurance companies do not go looking to see if your lights are adr compliant unless they are the cause which would make them inspect it.

in some cases just putting custom rims/tyres on can put you in the same boat with adr compliance if they do not match the requirements.
 

87VLCALAIS

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You cannot buy LED headlights (or other exterior LED lights) in New Zealand. I have seen them at places like Supercheap and Repco in the past but not any more. The reason being is they are not legal.

I've been using T 10 LED bulbs in the park and number plate lights on my VY Commodore as the incandescent bulbs produce too much heat and over time they cause the plastic bulb housing to go brittle. Can't even get them and I cannot see how they affect the safety of the vehicle.
 
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