Troubleshooting Lighting Issues After Switching From Incandescent To LED Bulbs

Updated 09/07/2023 | Published 09/02/2023

Question:

I have a 2007 camper and a 2020 Silverado. I bought new 1157 LED bulbs to replace the incandescent bulbs. The lights work good until I turn the tail lights on. When the tail lights are on and you push the brakes all the lights on the trailer go out, same with the turn signals. All the lights works fine before I switched the bulbs so I know its not a ground. When this happens with the new LED’s you can hear a click like a relay at the trailer plug connections. Any information how to fix this issue?

asked by: Michael F

Expert Reply:

The issue you are describing sounds like a ground issue. We would definitely want to eliminate the possibility of a weak/bad ground. Although it is odd that everything did work prior to you changing the bulbs. The LED bulbs are pulling way less power so generally that would not cause any issues.

The best thing to do will be to check your ground. Make sure everything is grounded to goo clean metal free of any paint or corrosion. You could also try replacing a few of the LED's with incandescent and see if that fixes it.

expert reply by: Jesse M