LED Taillights on 96+ XJ

I have searched out all the threads on LED tail lights and have found that the relays (flashers) for the hazards and turn signals can be swapped, and this works for slowing down the turn signal blinking speed. Well, I found out that 96+ XJ's don't have flashers on the fuse block like the older ones have.

For 96+ XJ's, there is one relay that does double duty for the hazards and the turn signal. It is located under the dash on a multi-relay block to the right of the steering wheel. I looked in a manual to see if there was relays (or flashers) anywhere else that I was missing, but did not find anything. I can figure out what size resistor I need to suitably slow down the blinking speed, but I was wondering if anyone has found any other tricks for doing this on a 96+ XJ.

Thanks,
Andy

Either Live with the faster blinking speed, or wire in a resistor. Your only real options. No deffinative answer to waht resistance, because ANY resistance will slow them down, just depends on how slow you want to go!

Matt

Andy, actually it's '95+. I ran into the same issue when I installed a set of Matt's nifty LED tail light setups. Supposedly formattfab.com has a plug-in flasher that works on the dual-flasher XJ's, but I can't find specifics on their site about it anymore...

What I did on mine was a bit round-about, but it works, and there's no resistors. I'll cover it all in my review on Matt's tail lights for Jeepin.com (probably have it online next month), but basically what you do is get a TJ flasher unit and do the infamous TJ flasher mod, then jumper the hazzard and turn signal outputs. www.stu-offroad.com has a good article on putting LED tails on a TJ that goes over the TJ flasher mod. The TJ dual flasher is a 4-prong unit with a single output for both hazzard and blinkers. The XJ dual flasher is a 5-prong unit, with seperate outputs for hazzard and blinkers. I tried jumpering the terminals inside the flasher unit (spent a weekend dorking with the stupid things) but never got it to work that way. Once you plug in the modified TJ flasher unit, you need to jumper the output wires for the hazzard and blinker together. I used an inline wiresplice to tie them together inside the relay box. I can post some pics later tonight or this weekend if you want.

If you use resistors, I don't think the rate is variable though. The IC chip inside the flasher unit reads the resistance in the circuit, and blinks double-rate if it's below some certain point to let you know that you've got a bulb burnt out. You'd need something around an 8ohm x 20W resistor for each light, based on what we used in our TJ.

OK, I'll check out Stu's website for the TJ flasher mod, and if you could get a pic or two over the weekend that would be great. I have not had a chance to figure out the amp draw of my lights, but was thinking I would need a resistor about the size of what you specified. I'll check it out this weekend.

Thanks for the help!!

Andy

actually jason, it's 97+...

95's and 96's are fine with a standard electronic flasher/relay... we've done a bunch of 95's and 96's and i personally own a 96. you can buy them at any autostore. I think Pepboy's sell them for around $12.00 each. I'll have to check for a part number.. i can't remember it off the top of my head. just swap them out and you're good to go.

formatt said:

actually jason, it's 97+...

95's and 96's are fine with a standard electronic flasher/relay... we've done a bunch of 95's and 96's and i personally own a 96. you can buy them at any autostore. I think Pepboy's sell them for around $12.00 each. I'll have to check for a part number.. i can't remember it off the top of my head. just swap them out and you're good to go.

Click to expand...

You might want to check again. 95 is the year the XJ went to the flasher "relay" . They do not have the standard plug in flasher motors like the older ones do. They have spots for them in the fuse block, but they are not used. Jason's is a 95 & I've got a 96 sitting in my garage & both have the flasher "relay". These are located in a seperate relay block just in front of the knees on the inside of the dash.

Matt

if you could provide a p/n that'd be great, 'cause I tried a ton of stuff on my '95 and nothing worked right, short of the mod I outlined above.

FarmerMatt said:

You might want to check again. 95 is the year the XJ went to the flasher "relay" . They do not have the standard plug in flasher motors like the older ones do. They have spots for them in the fuse block, but they are not used. Jason's is a 95 & I've got a 96 sitting in my garage & both have the flasher "relay". These are located in a seperate relay block just in front of the knees on the inside of the dash.

Matt

Click to expand...

Formatt said:

95's and 96's are fine with a standard electronic flasher/relay....

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you're right matt.... that's why i say flasher/relay. it's the same on both the 95's and 96's... i too own a 96. if you head to someplace like Pepboys or Autozone, it's not a "special" part that needs to be ordered. it is a standard part for those two years. we're on the same page here.

jason.. lemme see if i can find that p/n tonight. i think we still even have a few in stock.

Just did this over the weekend. I took the Tridon/Stant EP-26 relay (from Autozone, same as what TJ's use) modded it as per www.stu-offroad.com recommendations, and installed it. Matt, have you tried your hazards? My guess is they will not work unless you tied the wiring together like Jeepin-Jason did. My turn signals blink fine now, but since the EP-26 is only a four-prong relay, it does not pick up the wire for the hazards. If you want this to work, you need to tie the wiring together behind the relay block. If anyone has the wiring schematic for the EP-27 relay, (the five pin that the 95+ XJ's use) I would figure out how to modify it and post it.

Rgds,
Andy

I just tied the two output wires together in the relay box.

Here's the rest of the pics showing modifying the EP26 flasher unit.

http://jeepin.com/features/ledtaillights

Also some pics of the stock flasher vs the EP26. The EP27 is a direct replacement for the stock unit.

Thanks for the pic Jason, I have not done that part of the mod yet, I have splices somewhere, haven't been able to find them yet.....

I compared the components inside each of the relays. The PC boards are significantly different in the way they are layed out, but I believe the mod can be done to the stock 95+ XJ flasher, I just didn't have an electrical schematic to identify the components. Anyone know where I can dig one up?

Thanks,
Andy

Andy in Pa. said:

Just did this over the weekend. I took the Tridon/Stant EP-26 relay (from Autozone, same as what TJ's use) modded it as per www.stu-offroad.com recommendations, and installed it. Matt, have you tried your hazards? My guess is they will not work unless you tied the wiring together like Jeepin-Jason did. My turn signals blink fine now, but since the EP-26 is only a four-prong relay, it does not pick up the wire for the hazards. If you want this to work, you need to tie the wiring together behind the relay block. If anyone has the wiring schematic for the EP-27 relay, (the five pin that the 95+ XJ's use) I would figure out how to modify it and post it.

Rgds,
Andy

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i'm sorry guys.. i totally dropped the ball this weekend as far as getting that flasher/relay number. let me see if i can locate it this afternoon. I got busy with tube doors and... blah blah. lemme see what i can find.

Andy, my flashers do work... everything works just fine. flashers work perfectly, turn signals flash normally, etc.. absolutely no problems at all. I swapped the relay in my 96, used our wiring convertor and called it done. seriously, it was that simple.

relay: #EP-27

it was a direct swap and i didn't have to do anything but wire in the converter. if i had to guess, i think it took brian and I about a half hour from start to finish including mounting the boxes.

if you know me, you'd know that if wiring in these lights was any sort of hassle, i definitely wouldn't be using them. between my anal retentiveness and my lack of patience, i couldn't be bothered.

if anyone wants any pictures of certain parts of my wiring, lemme know. i'd be more than happy to snap some and post them for reference. heck, i could probably go so far as to make a small video showing the frequency of my flashing.

hope this helps you guys out... take care!

so you're saying just a regular EP27, unmodded, will correct the flashing time? Hmm... I don't remember if I actually tried the EP27 by itself before I started trying to mess with it... I'll have to try that when I get home tonight.

??? The EP-27 is the standard stock replacement for the stock relay in 95+ XJ's. Formatt, what were the converters for? Maybe this has something to do with why yours works. I tried the EP-27 before starting this thread and my turn signal was blinking too fast. My brake lights are separate from my turn signals. I don't know if I have a pic of the boxes/LED lights I made up, but if I find one I'll post it.

Andy

Jeepin Jason said:

so you're saying just a regular EP27, unmodded, will correct the flashing time? Hmm... I don't remember if I actually tried the EP27 by itself before I started trying to mess with it... I'll have to try that when I get home tonight.

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yup.

other than wiring in the harness that we use and that relay, i didn't do a single thing. like i said, i'm more than happy to snap some pics for you guys and grab a small vid to show frequency. flashes exactly as stock.. turn signals, flashers, etc.. and again, this is on my 96 xj.

andy, the wiring harness converts the european three light system to the US two light system.

Found a pic of mine...304SS 12 gauge. I designed them a little too narrow, but they work. As you can see, I have separate turn signals so I did not use/need a 3 to 2 wire converter.

Formatt, this is why yours works with the standard relay. The converter loads up the circuit enough to slow the blinking down.

"Its elementary, my dear Watson"....

Andy

http://a8.cpimg.com/image/14/74/39080468-2f8c-00600080-.jpg

Andy,
The hazards work just fine & actually blink at a "normal" rate.

Formatt,
Sorry, when you referred to the flasher as a "normal" flasher I assumed you meant a regular 2 or 3 pronged flasher motor. I can only assume like Andy suggested that the converter is eating some amps that allows for the blinkers to slow down.

Matt

Andy in Pa. said:

Found a pic of mine...304SS 12 gauge. I designed them a little too narrow, but they work. As you can see, I have separate turn signals so I did not use/need a 3 to 2 wire converter.

Formatt, this is why yours works with the standard relay. The converter loads up the circuit enough to slow the blinking down.

"Its elementary, my dear Watson"....

Andy

http://a8.cpimg.com/image/14/74/39080468-2f8c-00600080-.jpg

Click to expand...

So what solution did you end up going with?

Wanted to bring this back up to the top & relay some new info. I've found that NAPA's OEM replacement for the newer style flasher relay will operate the signals at a normal rate without the need for resisters or curcuit modifications. The NAPA part# is EP-27. I'm using this relay to operate just rear LED turns in my 96 XJ buggy & the rate is completely normal. I don't know what the difference is between the different motors, but it does work.

Matt