I looked in the sticky and i couldnt find anything about replacing the lights in the spoiler, mine only 2 of them are working the rest are out..............what should i do?

 

replace the whole piece. you have to take the spoiler off to do it tho.

 

i just got a ticket for mine being out..you think i can tint the light to make it look like its not there for those cops?

 

Wow the cops must really suck wherever you live. If you have a black max, i don't see why a really dark tint wouldn't work.

 

I thought the spoiler LEDs never burnt out? Normally I would say fuse/wiring but since some of them are still working... idk

 

I picked up a 97-99 trunk lid with spoiler still on it..
the spoiler LED's, the "head" part on most of them came off and there was "rust" on the pc board that the LED's are soldered onto..
so water can get in to the unit and destroy the board itsef..



or a bad short which caused led's to "burn out"
or could be severed connections to those specific LED's on the board..

 

http://www.spoilerlights.com/servlet...ima/Categories
try that.

 

those cops really suc ****. okay so your wing light goes out, does that mean the corner brake lights are out as well? if not why a ticket.Damnn.

 

has anyone actually bought the led strip from spoiler lights b4. I remember seeing a post one time saying they dont fit into our spoilers.

 

there are many differennt styles and widths of spoilers lights for our cars on that website. Make sure you measure your old one and then purchase the proper one.
all I saw was that our spoiler has 3 tabs and the closest fit on their web site had 4 tabs. you needed to cut off the 2 inner tabs and it fit perfectly. Or something like that.
It was a long time ago.

 

^^^only 95-96 are 3 tabs.. other years are 4 tabs...

the site has only 1 that is a 3 tabber.

15.5" Fat Red Spoiler Light
3 Tabs
Price: $44.95


pretty cool site.. but hella expensive for a tab light...
also, hw do you fish the new cable thru the spoiler?

 

use a "fish". It's a longish hard metal flexible wire that electircans use to feed wire through walls. I'm sure that would work out.

Thanks for the correction to my thread. It's been a while since I've had the stock spoiler on and I couldn't quite remember properly.

 

By law (I dont know if its federal or what, but at least in MA this is the case) you have to have three brake lights (2 corner, one spoiler or inside). That cop is a ****, yes, since most cops would just give you a warning, but he isnt really out of line.

 

Wrong. All OEM 4th gen spoiler lights are the same exact size. The 95/96 have more LEDs which are small, thats it. I have a 96 on my 98, direct fit. Its after market spoilers that use 4 tabs.

A 4 tab will fit if you cut off the inners and use different screws with new holes to mount it. I have used a 4 tab clear in the past. You can also cut all the tabs off and glue/double stuck tape it to the spoiler.

Painting it wont matter, you need a 3rd brake light by law.

Also you dont need to remove the spoiler to replace the light.

You can also open the strip and replace resistors, LEDs, or whatever is broken. Its not easy to open it up, but its way cheaper. I fixed mine for less than a $1.

 

JSutter.. thanks for the correction...
damn, that means the scrapyard/junkyard sold me a non 97-99 SE trunk lid with the wing on it ( the light was a 4 tabber)...

but it's all good now.. went with a GXE trunk lid ( no wing)

 

Does anyone have a pic of the clear 15.5" ones? I was thinking about making my own, but since they sell them I thought they would look pretty nice with my black maxima.
http://www.spoilerlights.com/servlet...d-Clear/Detail

 

Exactly. The resistors you can get from Radio Shack for a dollar. When you put it back together, use good sealer/adhesive and apply liberally.

 

i have some pix on my home page

 

The spoiler brake lights can be fixed. I took my light assembly off (without removing the spoiler), carefully pried it apart, and found a corroded component (I think it was a resistor, that I found at Radio Shack for .50)

I soldered the new resistor on, resealed the assembly with clear silicone, and it's been fine ever since (was fixed at least 6 years ago). And it IS illegal here in MA not to have a working 3rd brake light

 

i dont think everyone is capable of doing that..

and yes the cops suck in the glassbro area(thats why i stay in my hood bridgeton)..I blame it being the 30th of jan..and im going to back it out when i get paid..i hope it work and my car is deep evergreen!

 

Yeah I don't know anything about soldering. My mechanic took a look at the light and we werent sure if it was the light. He said the wire connection or something was corroded so he striped off the old connection and just spliced it together or something temporarily I'd have to go look at it again to see what was done. But the light didn't work. So we assumed maybe it had been shorted out or something. He said I'd have to replace the whole spoiler. I have a custom color like a midnight blue maxima that I haven't been able to find a spoiler for anywhere and having to get someone to paint it is just not worth the money. So I see if its possible to attempt to just replace the light portion in the spoiler and reconnect the wires if it works that'd be great. I have a 95'. Is is easy to connect n what not?

 

Out of the ones listed on http://www.spoilerlights.com/servlet...999/Categories

Does anyone know which is the factory one for a 95 max.? If any

 

Longest screen name evarrrrrr

 

lol!
its true.

 

Before I fixed mine (for 50 cents, by soldering in a new resistor from radio shack) I priced the LED assembly at a dealer and (if I remember correctly - it was years ago) was quoted something like $180 for a new light assembly.

It really was a pretty easy fix. Soldering isn't rocket science.

 

do you know the model/make of this resistor you brought, i dont know anything about such things

and what soldering tools used

 

Sorry, fore, but this was such a (relatively) simple and (definitely - less than $1) inexpensive repair, I never kept any documentation nor even logged it in my maintenance log. Also, it was years ago so I don't remember the exact resistor used. The make/model resistor isn't important - the resistance and (if I remember correctly) wattage is all that matters.

You may or may not have the same exact problem any way. the only way to know is to (carefully) pry your light assembly apart and examine the interior. I saw immediately what my problem was, as the component I needed to replace was corroded from water seeping in - one side wasn't even touching the motherboard.

Just take what's left of whatever bad part you suspect to an electronics supply store (yes, insert any Radio Shack joke here), and someone should be able to help you. Standard resistor color coding needs to be read to find a replacement. But, once you know which one you need, they ARE super cheap (2 for a buck back when I fixed my LED strip).

As for the soldering, you need a small soldering iron with a pin point tip, as you would use for any circuit board repair. One of those humongous, high heat soldering irons with a wide tip just won't cut it.

Thank god for all those years of RC car racing so I knew how to solder pretty well in the first place.

 

Mine is still working, but looks pretty dim. Got rear ended and that may have caused the damage, but I'm not sure because only the bumper got hit. Could this be fixed by taking apart and replacing components? Also....I see that resistors can be swapped, but what about the LEDs themselves, or should that just be done as a unit?

 

I had to replace mine to pass inspection. The list for the OEM is like $175, I got it for $120. But I was in a hurry so I let the shop replace it for me. I didn't even know that I had this tool or I would have DIY. But as I recall, I was in a hurry that day to get to Shea Stadium anyway, so I guess it was worth getting my sticker.

You just need a ratchet that literally drives a philips bit:

http://www.amazon.com/Chapman-Manufa...8789513&sr=8-2

 

You can do it all yourself. It really sucked having to open the light assembly on my friends 98. It sucks even more if you have to play with the wires while the spoiler is still on the car. The good news is that it is doable with a little patience. I liked the results that we got even though we did most of the work at night in the dark.

 

It sounds like it's definitely worth a try..thanks!

 

Does this one fit and work like the OEM one? Mine still works, but the LEDs are tired and dimming.