ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Hi .org members. Recently I swapped trunk lids with one with a spoiler. And to my unpleasant suprise the LED strip on the spoiler did not work. I got on and searched and searched, Looked through the how-to's and couldn't find anything. Although someone did mention that the resistors go bad. Some people need this to work to pass inspection, and if you are like me and think that the clear LED strip "replacement" is ugly, nor do you want to shell out 170 bucks to Nissan for a new one, You can do this.

Materials:
A Blow dryer/Heat gun, Soldering Iron, A Razorblade (or something to "pry" the casing off) and a $1.05.



I used a blow dryer because well, I didn't have a heat gun and this works too. Your best bet is to heat up one side and try to 'pry' it open with something like a razorblade, Be careful not to crack it because it does crack pretty easily I noticed, Although I wasn't too worried about it because when it is on the car you cannot see it, Just be careful to not crack it to bad so that water or something can seep it and destroy it.

I heated up one side and then stuck the razorblade in there and pried it down. Continued heating each part I pried.

After getting it pried down I noticed one of the resistors was pretty badly burnt out. I honestly do not know the resistance of it. I went to my local Radio Shack and picked up a set of resistors for a $1.05, I got 560 watt 1/2 ohm.

You can easily get a lower resistance, but be careful though. I did notice the 560 ohm wasn't as bright as I wanted it and will be going back tomorrow for something lower.
Here is a picture of it put in:

Notice the cut up black casing, Don't worry to much about it, it should go back together like a puzzle, or atleast mine did.
Because of the fact that I want a brighter one I do not have pictures of it on my car. Note that it is a LOT brighter than you think when you put the red reflector over it so don't judge by just how bright the LEDS look w/o it.
I will get a better picture of it tomorrow. I havn't sealed it back up yet but make sure to use something that will not let moisture in. But that is the easy part.

Hope this helps out some of you people!

maxx0831

iTrader: (2)

Nice... I been wanting to do this since half of my leds work. Do you have pics fo the finish product?

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Hey. As it is too dark and about 5 degrees here in Iowa I don't. I will Get a day and night shot tomorrow as soon as possible. I'm going to go get different resistors. as these ones arn't as bright as I want it. Although it's about as bright as stock. My resistor on the end was burnt out and I do not know the exact ohm of it. So if yours is working or if someone knows the exact number I'd like to know.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

Can you read the color code on the OEM resistors? That'll tell you what you need to get.

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

The one that was burnt out seemed, or looked, a bit bigger than the others. So I'm not sure if the end one is just bigger? or if they are all he same.
The colors are: Blue/blue/black/gold. BUT the second blue might be wrong it's on there very very thin and I cannot tell if it is blue or violet. In any case they are 66ohm with a tolerance of 5%. But I did not find anything in there that matched those.
I know for a fact the 560 isn't the right one. It's bright enough for people to notice. I could easily see it from accross the street. but I want it to be brighter.

I just figured with all the people shelling out to pass inspection. In any case you don't have to spend 100 dollars to fix a 1.05 problem. Or you can buy the clear ones for what? 30 bucks? I don't think the clear ones look good on a white maxima though. Maybe any other color but I wasn't feeling the clear look on my spoiler.

nafddur

I did the exact same repair many years ago, and my spoiler LED assembly has worked fine ever since.

I carefuly pried mine apart without using heat, and the back popped right off the light assembly (probably how I was getting water in to cause the resistor corrosion in the first place).

I read the resistor code to get the right one, but I forget now exactly which ones I got. Just match the resistors up at Radio Shack. I do remember they were in a pack of 2 for $1.

The way I silicone glued it back together, I just hope I never have to try to take it apart again.

Tatanko

iTrader: (34)

Don't forget to get rid of your old third brake light. Nothing annoys me more than people that have two third brake lights

sodie14

so what if you're a single guy who doesnt have access to a hair dryer? oh wait....if you were a single guy with no lady to nag you....then you would just go out and buy your own heat gun! haha...nice write up....final pix would be great though

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Dude it was my mothers.
Pix will be up tonight.

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Final. put it back together quick for this. It's with about 140 ohms when I tested it. I want to get it more down to about 50ohms, I belive they (the resistors) are all 66 ohm or something close to this. but none the less the thread is complete hope you guys find this useful.

Edit: Sorry for the terrible picture. ;o

oVeRdOsE

Way, and what if it's all rusted??

That's what I did:

-2 red LED "high beam"
-1 Store hexagonal rod
- One 470 ohms resistance

#1 : Grind at every 1/2 inches a line on the rod (makes light reflecting)
#2 : Drill 2 holes on each extremity and fit the LEDs in with clear cutex.
#3 : Put a bike reflection tape in the back side of the rod (to get more light out)

Works fine and it's strong!

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Nice, cost and whats it look like on the car?
And what if...what is rusted? o.O

Quickywd01

iTrader: (16)

ZaxWhite97Max Nice work! $170 for that part is insane.

oVeRdOsE Do you have pictures of it lit up on the car?

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Hey thanks. I ended up using a 68ohm resistor and it matches exactly how I want it

petro2342

I know for a fact that not all 4th gens are the same. When my leds went out I went to the junk yard and got me a new one. It came out of a 98 and I must say it is MUCH MUCH brighter because it has more leds in it. Although you do have to modify the spoiler for it to fit its worth it.

Sounbwoy

iTrader: (2)

+1. That's what I did too. I had failed inspection b/c of it, and tried the spolierlights.com route, but didn't feel like modifying the housing just for that. There used to be writeup on on the old homepage back in tha day...

crazthe1nonly

iTrader: (3)

this should be sticky

AndrewR2442

iTrader: (1)

The led light on mine had significant water damage so i couldn't do this... I bought the led strip that has no tabs and mounts via double sided tape. The only problem i ran into was that the wiring was centered on this new strip. The cheapest place i found was 35 bucks shipped on ebay.

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

You could have bought new LED's? or was it really bad

AndrewR2442

iTrader: (1)

The board looked pretty nasty... it was all black and rusty... and alot of the resistors and led's were crapped out. It was deffinately a 50/50 project

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

I have 98 GXE and when I bought it it came with a SE spoiler on it, but there was a problem: the stop light was under the driver's seat. I went to do inspections and the stupid guy said 5 stop lights is not enough you need to fix that one. I cut the top peace with a knife, took the circuit board out, cleaned it up, put new wires and put the circuit board back in. I made sure to seal it well with super glue. Then I mounted the stop light with 2-sided tape and connected the wires to one of the stop lights located on the trunk. It look perfect and never had problems with it!

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Nice. I used Golf Club Epoxy Probably wont be able to open it agian but oh well lol

thegreat1dev

thanks for the how-to bud. i haven't had any of mine go bad, but if it does, i'll know how to fix it.

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

If you did a good job, which seems like you did, you will not have to worry about opening it again.

sfhellwig

Perhaps there is something I am missing about the actual removal of the light. I think this fix will absolutely help me but I can't see the three screws that hold the fixture to the spoiler. Everyone's pictures look the same and my fixture appears to be the same but the three screw would be hidden from view. Were the 95's different?

tallkid2201

iTrader: (1)

wait, so all you did is replace the resistors or did you have to replace some leds too?
if the resistors went bad wouldnt that lead to the leds going out?

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Nope. Just the resistors, I'm just saying for example if your board had water damage and somehow some of the LED's got damaged you could easily replace those as well. But the resistors should be burnt out. You'll see when you open it up. I only had 1 resistor corroded and it was corroded pretty bad if you can see the picture.

I'm sorry, I drive a 97, So I HOPE someone can correct me if I am wrong I am just speaking as if they design is the same. but on the bottom of the wing near the back of the light there should be some screwes that hold the light up to the wing. I had to use a pair of Pliers with a philips head to get them out. Hope that helps.

sfhellwig

Well since the title says "how to" and I need to fix mine anyway, let's be thorough. Here is a picture of the bottom of my 95'.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...runderside.jpg

Has anyone with a 95' done this? Does anyone have a spoiler that looks like this? None of the factory manuals seem to address it. There are two small holes but the offset screw driver doesn't find anything in there. It sounds so easy to do, I just can't get the housing free.

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

There are no indents anywhere on the bottom to remove it? Does it.. pop out by any chance? Don't want to break it.

The how-to refers to fixing the light not...how to remove your spoiler light

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

That is a strange looking stop light. Does the spoiler come with the car or you put it on there?

sfhellwig

The spoiler came with the car which I bought used but appears to be completely stock. The inside of the trunk lid is well sealed with black sealant that matches elsewhere in the trunk. The harness does not show any taps.

If the light "pops out" I am going to have to know that before I go prying on it. The lense is already separated which is why it's probably burnt out. I just figured I would ask as everything about fixing this simply says unscrew the light and mine does not. I thought it would add to the thread for the others that have searched this subject and found theirs isn't like that.

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

Well in the picture there looks like there are indents in the back half of it are you sure there are none? It's plastic. give it a little nudge see if it moves.

nafddur

The light assembly in the picture doesn't look anything like the one that came on my 95 SE. Mine had 3 obvious (phillips) screws - one in the center and one on each end - attaching the light to the spoiler. Since the screws were under the spoiler (at the front of the light assembly) with no room to get a regular screwdriver in, I had to use a chapman offset ratchet to get them out. But all 3 screws came right out and the light assembly fell right off the spoiler.

I looked in the FSM and couldn't find any mention of how the light is attached or how to get it off - likely because the screws are so obvious.

And the only damage inside mine was the rusted off resistor leads. All the Led's were fine.

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

Try to pull it out. If there is no screws you should be able to do that. In the worst case if you brake it you can just tape it back to the spoiler like I did with mine

carterrptr99

did you use 1/2 or 1 watt?

luke95gxe

iTrader: (4)

this should be in the how to sticky

nismomaxgtr18

iTrader: (5)

Agreed. Some very good information that the OP posted up.

mas324

Dude, this would so help me a lot bro. Now I know how to fix my spoiler light

cam_honestiam

iTrader: (2)

Best kept secret for fixing stuff: HOT GLUE!

I would have used either hot glue or RTV gasket/sealant to put light back together. Epoxy seems a bit extreme...

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

To each there own. I wasn't planning on taking it apart again.