First mods done to my Volt!

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Since I've had her just over a week and put almost 600 miles on (averaging 70 MPG combined
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), I figured it was about time to do some mods. I have a real love/hate relationship with Amazon. Darn Prime. Anyways, here we go:

Stubby antenna to replace the long metal eyesore:



LED license plate bulbs (the incandescent reverse light below, for comparison):



And finally, these bad boys came in the mail today. LED switchback's to replace the amber bulbs in the front running lights/turn signals. I've REALLY been looking forward to these:



I have diodes coming on Monday to modify the LED DRL's to stay on when the headlights. Those would be in the outer corners on that video. See time stamp 1:00 in the video below, gives an idea of what it will look like when it's done:
 
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Originally Posted By: bruckus
I've enjoyed your write-up since you bought the Volt. Glad you're happy with it so far.


Thanks much! I'll keep you guys posted as I get the other things taken care of. Monday my girlfriend is having back surgery so I probably won't get to the headlights until later in the week. Hopefully this spring the door speakers and subwoofer will get installed. I'm just waiting for the "garage project" weather to show up. Good ol' Minnesota has us sitting in the 40's until at least next week, and not much above for the immediate future.

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Are all of the interior lights already LED's?


No, the interior lights are still incandescent. I'm on the fence about changing them, I did that in the Marauder, but the different bulb sizes used different LED chips and the color temp's didn't match. It looked weird. I'm still doing research, however.
 
Why change the license plate bulbs with LEDs and not any others ? I was on the fence about changing the license plate bulbs, but ended up buying the entire kit, to save some money. License plate bulbs would be last on my list.

Having slightly brighter soft white bulbs inside is very nice. I should have done it sooner.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Why change the license plate bulbs with LEDs? I was on the fence about changing this, but ended up buying the entire kit, to save some money.


I prefer the white look of the LEDs. Other than that, no reason although when you run on battery every amp counts 👍
 
Your point is taken about the difference between interior and license plate bulbs, since the license plate bulbs are always on while your lights are on, whereas interior lights may only be on for several minutes per day. The color difference makes it also worth the priced to some. I originally tried the one-step-whiter bulbs, but found them to be harsh and obnoxious (not a dig on you, just my own experience). I do, however, love the added lumens in the cabin while trying to look for something.

What was the wattage of the old bulbs; how much are they actually drawing, something like 3W each? Together, that's less than half an amp. I don't know what the ah rating of your battery is (what's the kwh and voltage rating of the battery?) To put it into perspective, I'd guess that you could run those license plate bulbs for at least a couple of thousand hrs (assuming unrealistically that this was your only draw.)

//

Those switchbacks look really cool. Are those lights just your signal lights or are they normally on while your lights are on.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Your point is taken about the difference between interior and license plate bulbs, since the license plate bulbs are always on while your lights are on, whereas interior lights may only be on for several minutes per day. The color difference makes it also worth the priced to some. I originally tried the one-step-whiter bulbs, but found them to be harsh and obnoxious (not a dig on you, just my own experience). I do, however, love the added lumens in the cabin while trying to look for something.

What was the wattage of the old bulbs; how much are they actually drawing, something like 3W each? Together, that's less than half an amp. I don't know what the ah rating of your battery is (what's the kwh and voltage rating of the battery?) To put it into perspective, I'd guess that you could run those license plate bulbs for at least a couple of thousand hrs (assuming unrealistically that this was your only draw.)

//

Those switchbacks look really cool. Are those lights just your signal lights or are they normally on while your lights are on.



I was totally kidding about saving power. Hard to relay through a keyboard, no offense taken. I looked it up, the interior uses 5 #194 bulbs total. Amazon has a 10-pack of warm white LED's HERE. I'm going to order them tonight and try them out.

The lights in the bumper light up white with the headlights. During the day they're off and just function as turn signals.
 
Originally Posted By: DaRider34
Any interest in throwing a tune on there?


Probably not. Some have tried, I really didn't get it for performance. There's so many modules on this car I don't want to attempt to fool with anything..
 
Originally Posted By: 14Accent
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Your point is taken about the difference between interior and license plate bulbs, since the license plate bulbs are always on while your lights are on, whereas interior lights may only be on for several minutes per day. The color difference makes it also worth the priced to some. I originally tried the one-step-whiter bulbs, but found them to be harsh and obnoxious (not a dig on you, just my own experience). I do, however, love the added lumens in the cabin while trying to look for something.

What was the wattage of the old bulbs; how much are they actually drawing, something like 3W each? Together, that's less than half an amp. I don't know what the ah rating of your battery is (what's the kwh and voltage rating of the battery?) To put it into perspective, I'd guess that you could run those license plate bulbs for at least a couple of thousand hrs (assuming unrealistically that this was your only draw.)

//

Those switchbacks look really cool. Are those lights just your signal lights or are they normally on while your lights are on.



I was totally kidding about saving power. Hard to relay through a keyboard, no offense taken. I looked it up, the interior uses 5 #194 bulbs total. Amazon has a 10-pack of warm white LED's HERE. I'm going to order them tonight and try them out.

The lights in the bumper light up white with the headlights. During the day they're off and just function as turn signals.


Haha, yea, I definitely missed the sarcasm!
cheers3.gif


I used diodedyanmics as my source for LED's. Definitely more expensive, but I feel as if there's a lower risk of burning my car to the ground. I don't know if they're all the same and I'm just a rube, or if they actually are higher quality.
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About the corner lights, I mean to ask: were they off when the lights were on, and ONLY blinked while signaling or are they typically on/orange with the lights on. I'm just curious, since it seems like a great mod, especially if the lights were always off, except for when you signaled, and now they're always on, for added visibility, but without compromising signaling efficacy.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Originally Posted By: 14Accent
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Your point is taken about the difference between interior and license plate bulbs, since the license plate bulbs are always on while your lights are on, whereas interior lights may only be on for several minutes per day. The color difference makes it also worth the priced to some. I originally tried the one-step-whiter bulbs, but found them to be harsh and obnoxious (not a dig on you, just my own experience). I do, however, love the added lumens in the cabin while trying to look for something.

What was the wattage of the old bulbs; how much are they actually drawing, something like 3W each? Together, that's less than half an amp. I don't know what the ah rating of your battery is (what's the kwh and voltage rating of the battery?) To put it into perspective, I'd guess that you could run those license plate bulbs for at least a couple of thousand hrs (assuming unrealistically that this was your only draw.)

//

Those switchbacks look really cool. Are those lights just your signal lights or are they normally on while your lights are on.



I was totally kidding about saving power. Hard to relay through a keyboard, no offense taken. I looked it up, the interior uses 5 #194 bulbs total. Amazon has a 10-pack of warm white LED's HERE. I'm going to order them tonight and try them out.

The lights in the bumper light up white with the headlights. During the day they're off and just function as turn signals.


Haha, yea, I definitely missed the sarcasm!
cheers3.gif


I used diodedyanmics as my source for LED's. Definitely more expensive, but I feel as if there's a lower risk of burning my car to the ground. I don't know if they're all the same and I'm just a rube, or if they actually are higher quality.
21.gif


About the corner lights, I mean to ask: were they off when the lights were on, and ONLY blinked while signaling or are they typically on/orange with the lights on. I'm just curious, since it seems like a great mod, especially if the lights were always off, except for when you signaled, and now they're always on, for added visibility, but without compromising signaling efficacy.


In the original configuration, the bulbs were lit at low power when the headlights were on, and flashed with the signals. The new bulbs light full power white during normal operation, and flash amber with the signals.

During the day, just the LED DRL lights are lit. I'd love to run the lower lights with the DRL's but I don't want to screw with the wiring.

Edit: just to clarify, there's factory running lights in the corners of the headlight assemblies. They are lit during the day. When the headlights come on, the corner lights turn off and the lower LEDs turn in. That is, until I modify the headlights to keep the DRL's on even when the main headlights are on.
 
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And here's the finale. All LED front end (save the headlights, no thanks). Turned out perfect! Not bad for a $35 investment.


 
I'm not sure I like the contrast between the halogen projector headlights and the four LED's - looks a little off.
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I'm not sure I like the contrast between the halogen projector headlights and the four LED's - looks a little off.


It's bugging me too... Ugh I was hoping no one would reaffirm that! I'm looking at HID kits now.
 
Haha, sorry! Our Forester has whiter OEM HID's than the 4300K halogen fogs. I want to change the fog bulbs out, but don't want to be that guy running a [censored] LED or HID retrofit, and I'm too lazy to do it right...so, I just leave it be.
 
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