After a year since I made the video, there are so many more choices in capsules you can put in there. If going aftermarket, make sure you check the orientation of the lights you are installing. Good luck!
I really appreciate your Solstice videos because they've made my life easier, but the section about the LED headlight orientation is incorrect. I just installed similar 2-sided LEDs in my 2006 base model and if they are not turned vertical (light emitting out the sides at 3 and 9 o-clock) the high beams do not work at all. My bulbs have fixed adjustment points so I was not able to get them exactly vertical, but they work nicely. If you turn them "flat" or horizontal as you state, the light they cast is terrible.
I showed the drawings of the bulb and housing. Not sure why you are getting different results, but the drawings of the light housings clearly show the path the light takes as it reflects in the housing. I guess the important thing to know here is that those LED's are adjustable and can be rotated for maximum light output. I think I will try what you did and see if it makes a difference here. Thank you for the feedback!
I purchased this from Amazon, BEAMTECH H13 LED Headlight Bulb, 50W 6500K 8000Lumens Extremely Brigh (9008 Hi/Lo). I looked and they don't sell this anymore under that name. Just get a fanless H13 LED headlight and you should be fine. There are lots of different ones there. Don't forget to check the orientation of the LED chips as I showed in the video.
My solstice has Daytime Running Lamps which are also the front Turn Signal. Have you tried putting a resistor on the front? It has four wires: one to the fog lamp, one ground, and I would imagine the other two are for the turn signal and DRL. Would both the DRL and TS wire need a resistor?
I really think the only reason for the resistor is to correct the load problem with an LED capsule. If you are changing the fog lamps to LED, probably no need to load that circuit. If you are changing the park/turn indicators to LED, you will likely run into the same problem as I did when converting the rears. I have a wiring diagram that I put up today on Afternoon Garage Facebook page. This shows all the exterior lighting, wire colors and where it terminates. Looks like the rear turns and front turns are independent connections on the BCM. Rear turn light outputs are pins A7 and A12 to the BCM while the front light outputs are pins 35 and 17 on the BCM. So if you are changing the front to LED, don't be surprised if you will need to load the front circuit as you did in the rear.
So should you not use these resistors on these particular tail lights since they also work as parking lights? I read that the resistors get really hot if used on blinker lights that serve as parking lights and/or daytime running lamps. ????
Daytime running lamps are headlights. These are park/turn bulbs. They are a dual filament bulb. It has a common, and two independent filaments (or LED clusters). You are only connecting the resistors to the brake/turn on each side. The reason for the resistors are to load the circuit (just as an old style filament bulb will) to make the BCM operate like there is not a bulb out because of the low current draw of the LED's. You want the yellow/black on the left side (left turn and brake), and green/black on the right side (right turn and brake). You do NOT want to load the parking light circuit.
@@afternoongarage Thanks for clarifying! I had just installed front and rear turn signal led lights and experience the "hyper" blinking so I started researching. I'm not sure if I have daytime running lamps or not on the front amber lights, hoping they are not. (haven't had the vehicle long enough before I started upgrading/taking it apart.)
I love your vids! Getting me a Solstice when possible (cause of you :).) Not many Solstices up here in Sweden but I will do my best and get one in the end.
What a great car it is. I can't think of anything on the market that is quite like it, unless you get an older british car. Thanks for watching my videos, more to come!
Hi my name is Pablo, I one a 2009 GXP Solstice in the Caribbean and I installed a hitch, now a want to install a plug for the trailer. My question can I just "steal" connect the wiring from the plug to the existing taillights wiring without any risk? Thank you in advance, greetings from Curacao.
The wiring you need to connect your trailer is there in the rear. Brown for park, yellow for left, green for right and white for ground. The tail lights are set up for a trailer, as there are no separate amber lights for the turn signals. The turn signal wiring is shared with the brake, ideal for your trailer. The stop lights are fused for 15 Amps, the turn signals fused for 10 Amps and the park lights fused for 10 Amps. Plenty of current to supply for your trailer. You should have no issues tapping the wires from this fused source. Good luck, and thank you for the subscription!
I purchased this from Amazon, BEAMTECH H13 LED Headlight Bulb, 50W 6500K 8000Lumens Extremely Brigh (9008 Hi/Lo). I looked and they don't sell this anymore under that name. Just get a fanless H13 LED headlight and you should be fine. There are lots of different ones there. Don't forget to check the orientation of the LED chips as I showed in the video.
3 years later but .... Checking in to see if your Solstice caught fire or not? You shouldn't tape the load resistor to the wiring harness, it gets attached to a metal surface and screwed into the metal. It gets extremely hot..
It really doesn't get hot, even if on continuously. Figure the wattage (50W) of the circuit with a 6 ohm load and the heat generated even if on all the time is nothing. The wattage on those resistors is certainly overkill. No need to mount these resistors, just get strap them to the harness and make sure they don't short to anything. Thanks for watching!
Just one side had the fast flash and when I put a load resistor on the right side, the left side started to fast flash as well. So I figured the BCM needs to see both the right and the left at the correct resistance or you have that problem.
Funny you ask! I know very little about the car I just purchased when I was doing the dash removal. When I got it back together, and drove the car at night, I noticed that my heater controls aren't lighting up. I thought it was from something I didn't plug back in, although I remember reconnecting everything. You must have the same issue. I am good with electronics and repair. Will make a video soon, remove the controls and replace the illumination. Thanks for watching, and expect that video soon!
Hi, Thanks for your Solstice videos! So, I bought a pair of 5.5w LED 3157 tail lights. The lights came with resistors (no spec on them) wired everything up. With the car on but not running everything was perfect. Took the car for a spin and it started fast flashing almost immediately. Went to the parts store and bought Sylvania 12v 6ohm resistors. Swapped out and tested car both running and not and all was fine! Took the car for a rip and the fast flashing has returned...Frustrating. Suggestions? Cheers. Allan
It is up to the BCM to determine the load. Did you wire the resistor in parallel across the green (or yellow) wire and the black? If you notice in my video, when I first installed them, only one side was doing the 'fast flash' without load resistors. Not sure why that happened, but I used a 50 watt 6 ohm resistor. I would take the light assembly out again, pull the bulb, disconnect all power and actually measure the contacts the bulb plugs into. If you don't have 6 ohms on across two of the terminals, then you have either a bad resistor or socket. I see Sylvania calls this a 'load equalizer'. Testing at the socket will tell you if you have a bad solder joint as well. Those solder connections are stiff and require a bunch of heat, and maybe something amiss there. I have done a few conversions on GM cars and never had a problem, but I buy mine from electronics parts houses.
@@afternoongarage I'm pretty novice. I'll start with verifying the basics... Weird that the fast flash was rectified at first which makes me somewhat confident in correct wiring but, who knows? I appreciate the response! cheers
@@afternoongarage I really appreciate your time. So, measure twice cut once... I should have watched your video one more time and NOT defer to the included paper instructions. I had both resistors wired to black & brown...not B&Y B&G. All working perfectly now! Tomorrow, I tackle the center strobe module!
Great video, learned a lot about my new Solstice! My question: I have read multiple times that the resistors get really hot, and to mount them to metal. I notice you taped yours to the wire harness. Any problems with this configuration? I planned on following your instructions to a T. Thanks in advance!
They should be fine taped to the harness, I see that done frequently. They are 6 ohm 50 watt resistors. Running a quick ohms law calculation, it is ~13 volts and 6 ohms. That would be ~28 watts total power dissipation. The 50 watt resistors should be fine without an additional heat sink. Another thing to note is they are not flowing current unless the turn signal or brake is on. So the duty cycle is small and that is why I think it is OK in this situation. Thank you for watching my video!
Worked like a charm! One more question. I may have missed it in the video, but why not use the red wire adapters that come with the resistors? Do they fail over time?
You will find that experienced electrical people don't like solderless wire splices like that. They can get loose and fail over time, especially if exposed to moisture. I have seen those splices melt down before because of the current and poor contact area generating heat.
You really don't want to do that with the resistor. I would not tape them to the wires they get very very hot. That's why they had mounting holes on them to mount them to metal somewhere that it won't matter if they get hot.
I purchased this from Amazon, BEAMTECH H13 LED Headlight Bulb, 50W 6500K 8000Lumens Extremely Brigh (9008 Hi/Lo) Remember watch the video because these need some adjustment to get them to work properly! A year later and these things are great.
Yeah I saw that. A few years ago when I started the Solstice series, I realized that this light is a one-off and there were only so many made. I could pick up a light assembly for a 100 or 200 and now, it looks like those days have ended. I checked car-part.com and it looks like they have a few right hand assemblys that can be had for a bit over $200 in my area. I wish I would have purchased a few sets of these 5 years ago. Thanks for watching!
@@afternoongarage many used headlight assy are selling are defective. why on earth would anyone want to pay high prices & then clean/sand/rub/polish....?
Sure tech gets better. I think what I put in there you can't buy anymore under that name. What you need to look out for is to get a headlight without a fan that will eventually fail. They make some heatsinks from copper strap but the aluminum heatsink one like I have here is going to have the most chance of working long term. Thank you for watching!
![Pontiac Solstice: Wind Deflector/Rear panel removal [4K] Ep11](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rpWZQwqD6KA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Pontiac Solstice: Wind Deflector/Rear panel removal [4K] Ep11](/img/tr.png)
Watching this as I need to replace a headlight. So I might as well get 2 and get a nice modern xenon bright white light lol. Thanks for the video!
After a year since I made the video, there are so many more choices in capsules you can put in there. If going aftermarket, make sure you check the orientation of the lights you are installing. Good luck!
I really appreciate your Solstice videos because they've made my life easier, but the section about the LED headlight orientation is incorrect. I just installed similar 2-sided LEDs in my 2006 base model and if they are not turned vertical (light emitting out the sides at 3 and 9 o-clock) the high beams do not work at all. My bulbs have fixed adjustment points so I was not able to get them exactly vertical, but they work nicely. If you turn them "flat" or horizontal as you state, the light they cast is terrible.
I showed the drawings of the bulb and housing. Not sure why you are getting different results, but the drawings of the light housings clearly show the path the light takes as it reflects in the housing. I guess the important thing to know here is that those LED's are adjustable and can be rotated for maximum light output. I think I will try what you did and see if it makes a difference here. Thank you for the feedback!
Recently picked up a GXP and i fooking love it, have been enjoying your videos alot!!! What lights did you purchase, do you have any links?
I purchased this from Amazon, BEAMTECH H13 LED Headlight Bulb, 50W 6500K 8000Lumens Extremely Brigh (9008 Hi/Lo). I looked and they don't sell this anymore under that name. Just get a fanless H13 LED headlight and you should be fine. There are lots of different ones there. Don't forget to check the orientation of the LED chips as I showed in the video.
My solstice has Daytime Running Lamps which are also the front Turn Signal. Have you tried putting a resistor on the front? It has four wires: one to the fog lamp, one ground, and I would imagine the other two are for the turn signal and DRL. Would both the DRL and TS wire need a resistor?
I really think the only reason for the resistor is to correct the load problem with an LED capsule. If you are changing the fog lamps to LED, probably no need to load that circuit. If you are changing the park/turn indicators to LED, you will likely run into the same problem as I did when converting the rears. I have a wiring diagram that I put up today on Afternoon Garage Facebook page. This shows all the exterior lighting, wire colors and where it terminates. Looks like the rear turns and front turns are independent connections on the BCM. Rear turn light outputs are pins A7 and A12 to the BCM while the front light outputs are pins 35 and 17 on the BCM. So if you are changing the front to LED, don't be surprised if you will need to load the front circuit as you did in the rear.
Great video
Thanks
One more thing I want to do twice 😎
Thank you so much, i couldnt get my rear light off, thanks for the help!
Glad I could help! Thank you for watching!
So should you not use these resistors on these particular tail lights since they also work as parking lights? I read that the resistors get really hot if used on blinker lights that serve as parking lights and/or daytime running lamps. ????
Daytime running lamps are headlights. These are park/turn bulbs. They are a dual filament bulb. It has a common, and two independent filaments (or LED clusters). You are only connecting the resistors to the brake/turn on each side. The reason for the resistors are to load the circuit (just as an old style filament bulb will) to make the BCM operate like there is not a bulb out because of the low current draw of the LED's. You want the yellow/black on the left side (left turn and brake), and green/black on the right side (right turn and brake). You do NOT want to load the parking light circuit.
@@afternoongarage Thanks for clarifying! I had just installed front and rear turn signal led lights and experience the "hyper" blinking so I started researching. I'm not sure if I have daytime running lamps or not on the front amber lights, hoping they are not. (haven't had the vehicle long enough before I started upgrading/taking it apart.)
I love your vids! Getting me a Solstice when possible (cause of you :).) Not many Solstices up here in Sweden but I will do my best and get one in the end.
What a great car it is. I can't think of anything on the market that is quite like it, unless you get an older british car. Thanks for watching my videos, more to come!
Hi my name is Pablo, I one a 2009 GXP Solstice in the Caribbean and I installed a hitch, now a want to install a plug for the trailer.
My question can I just "steal" connect the wiring from the plug to the existing taillights wiring without any risk?
Thank you in advance, greetings from Curacao.
The wiring you need to connect your trailer is there in the rear. Brown for park, yellow for left, green for right and white for ground. The tail lights are set up for a trailer, as there are no separate amber lights for the turn signals. The turn signal wiring is shared with the brake, ideal for your trailer. The stop lights are fused for 15 Amps, the turn signals fused for 10 Amps and the park lights fused for 10 Amps. Plenty of current to supply for your trailer. You should have no issues tapping the wires from this fused source. Good luck, and thank you for the subscription!
@@afternoongarage WOW thank and I appreciate for your fast answer and keep doing videos for the solstice
will do thx. I saw some short cuts online, but ill wait for urs :)
Going to have the Firebird off the lift early next week, and I'll get that car back on there and get that done. Thank you for the suggestion!
where did you get your lights and what make/model are they?
I purchased this from Amazon, BEAMTECH H13 LED Headlight Bulb, 50W 6500K 8000Lumens Extremely Brigh (9008 Hi/Lo). I looked and they don't sell this anymore under that name. Just get a fanless H13 LED headlight and you should be fine. There are lots of different ones there. Don't forget to check the orientation of the LED chips as I showed in the video.
I had a mechanic do this for me, not rotate the bulb and wondered why people were flashing their brights at me for 4 months.
Yes those reflectors inside your composite headlamp are designed to have light in the right places. Thank you for watching!
3 years later but .... Checking in to see if your Solstice caught fire or not? You shouldn't tape the load resistor to the wiring harness, it gets attached to a metal surface and screwed into the metal. It gets extremely hot..
It really doesn't get hot, even if on continuously. Figure the wattage (50W) of the circuit with a 6 ohm load and the heat generated even if on all the time is nothing. The wattage on those resistors is certainly overkill. No need to mount these resistors, just get strap them to the harness and make sure they don't short to anything. Thanks for watching!
Did you put a load resistor on each light or just one?
Just one side had the fast flash and when I put a load resistor on the right side, the left side started to fast flash as well. So I figured the BCM needs to see both the right and the left at the correct resistance or you have that problem.
Do you know how to change the bulbs on the dash the light up the controls ie fan air control knobs? Thx
Funny you ask! I know very little about the car I just purchased when I was doing the dash removal. When I got it back together, and drove the car at night, I noticed that my heater controls aren't lighting up. I thought it was from something I didn't plug back in, although I remember reconnecting everything. You must have the same issue. I am good with electronics and repair. Will make a video soon, remove the controls and replace the illumination. Thanks for watching, and expect that video soon!
Hey there Allen! I have a video on these parts. Here: ruclips.net/video/kgs6lULAEA0/видео.html
Hi, Thanks for your Solstice videos! So, I bought a pair of 5.5w LED 3157 tail lights. The lights came with resistors (no spec on them) wired everything up. With the car on but not running everything was perfect. Took the car for a spin and it started fast flashing almost immediately. Went to the parts store and bought Sylvania 12v 6ohm resistors. Swapped out and tested car both running and not and all was fine! Took the car for a rip and the fast flashing has returned...Frustrating. Suggestions? Cheers. Allan
It is up to the BCM to determine the load. Did you wire the resistor in parallel across the green (or yellow) wire and the black? If you notice in my video, when I first installed them, only one side was doing the 'fast flash' without load resistors. Not sure why that happened, but I used a 50 watt 6 ohm resistor. I would take the light assembly out again, pull the bulb, disconnect all power and actually measure the contacts the bulb plugs into. If you don't have 6 ohms on across two of the terminals, then you have either a bad resistor or socket. I see Sylvania calls this a 'load equalizer'. Testing at the socket will tell you if you have a bad solder joint as well. Those solder connections are stiff and require a bunch of heat, and maybe something amiss there. I have done a few conversions on GM cars and never had a problem, but I buy mine from electronics parts houses.
@@afternoongarage I'm pretty novice. I'll start with verifying the basics... Weird that the fast flash was rectified at first which makes me somewhat confident in correct wiring but, who knows? I appreciate the response! cheers
@@afternoongarage I really appreciate your time. So, measure twice cut once... I should have watched your video one more time and NOT defer to the included paper instructions. I had both resistors wired to black & brown...not B&Y B&G. All working perfectly now! Tomorrow, I tackle the center strobe module!
Great video, learned a lot about my new Solstice! My question: I have read multiple times that the resistors get really hot, and to mount them to metal. I notice you taped yours to the wire harness. Any problems with this configuration? I planned on following your instructions to a T. Thanks in advance!
They should be fine taped to the harness, I see that done frequently. They are 6 ohm 50 watt resistors. Running a quick ohms law calculation, it is ~13 volts and 6 ohms. That would be ~28 watts total power dissipation. The 50 watt resistors should be fine without an additional heat sink. Another thing to note is they are not flowing current unless the turn signal or brake is on. So the duty cycle is small and that is why I think it is OK in this situation. Thank you for watching my video!
Worked like a charm! One more question. I may have missed it in the video, but why not use the red wire adapters that come with the resistors? Do they fail over time?
You will find that experienced electrical people don't like solderless wire splices like that. They can get loose and fail over time, especially if exposed to moisture. I have seen those splices melt down before because of the current and poor contact area generating heat.
You really don't want to do that with the resistor. I would not tape them to the wires they get very very hot. That's why they had mounting holes on them to mount them to metal somewhere that it won't matter if they get hot.
Flash fast lol 😆 good one
Ah yes you are paying attention. 🙂
I want to know where to order the kit you used for the headlights in order to make it LED
I purchased this from Amazon, BEAMTECH H13 LED Headlight Bulb, 50W 6500K 8000Lumens Extremely Brigh (9008 Hi/Lo)
Remember watch the video because these need some adjustment to get them to work properly! A year later and these things are great.
anyone knows where to buy the complete headlight assy for less than $245/each?
ebay jacked up these lights beyond $525!
Yeah I saw that. A few years ago when I started the Solstice series, I realized that this light is a one-off and there were only so many made. I could pick up a light assembly for a 100 or 200 and now, it looks like those days have ended. I checked car-part.com and it looks like they have a few right hand assemblys that can be had for a bit over $200 in my area. I wish I would have purchased a few sets of these 5 years ago. Thanks for watching!
@@afternoongarage many used headlight assy are selling are defective.
why on earth would anyone want to pay high prices & then clean/sand/rub/polish....?
What year is this Solstice
It is a 2007 GXP.
Anybody doing this in 2023? Are there newer models available that may be even better?
Sure tech gets better. I think what I put in there you can't buy anymore under that name. What you need to look out for is to get a headlight without a fan that will eventually fail. They make some heatsinks from copper strap but the aluminum heatsink one like I have here is going to have the most chance of working long term. Thank you for watching!
@@afternoongarage Thanks for making these videos. They've been a huge help and given me some great ideas!
Nice little joke on the fast flash 😅
I have a bad habit of doing things like this. Just checking to see if you are watching!