Reversing light. Canbus system

[Grainfoot]

Looking at replacing my single poor p21 reversing light bulb for led replacement. Is the reversing light part of the canbus system. Or can I use any bulb.

 

[Deaky]

Looking at replacing my single poor p21 reversing light bulb for led replacement. Is the reversing light part of the canbus system. Or can I use any bulb.

Yes, the reversing lights are monitored for failure by the canbus system

 

[Robert]

Looking at replacing my single poor p21 reversing light bulb for led replacement. Is the reversing light part of the canbus system. Or can I use any bulb.

If you want your replacement LEDs to last you should deactivate PWM.

 

[Sackmycook]

PWM?

 

[Deaky]

PWM?

Pulse-width modulation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Grainfoot]

If you want your replacement LEDs to last you should deactivate PWM.

Not sure I know how to do that. Might just try one of the canbus error free bulbs see if it works and how long it lasts.

 

[Littleblackflash]

Don't buy cheap bulbs on eBay from China.

I added an LED bulb from Halfords and it's been fine for 6 years now. It's so much brighter than the standard bulbs which is useful for hitching the trailer up late at night.

 

[Howzat]

If you want your replacement LEDs to last you should deactivate PWM.

Can this be done for individual lights or is it a sytem wide setting? My DLR's and sidelights are LED but all other bulbs are halogen.

 

[Robert]

Yes, PWM can be individually switched ON or OFF. To switch OFF PWM for reversing lights Byte 11 bit 4 needs to be deactivated(unticked) in BCM(address 09).

 

[Jambon73]

Don't buy cheap bulbs on eBay from China.

I added an LED bulb from Halfords and it's been fine for 6 years now. It's so much brighter than the standard bulbs which is useful for hitching the trailer up late at night.

Will that work on a t6, I’m in the arse end of Devon and regularly have to back up down dark lanes, the reversing lights are hideously bad

 

[Enigmasdream]

Only have 1 reverse light, its useless in the winter nights. Has anyone fitted a light bar to reverse? Just after more light...any ideas welcome

 

[Sackmycook]

Only have 1 reverse light, its useless in the winter nights. Has anyone fitted a light bar to reverse? Just after more light...any ideas welcome

If you have T6 you can upgrade from halogen rear clusters to LED's....I think someone has a pair for sale for £150. These will give you twin halogen reverse lights and you could upgrade the bulbs.
I've done this and it's like night and day.
You will need to rework the pins on the sockets or fit an adapter loom which is relatively easy.

 

[DXX]

Only have 1 reverse light, its useless in the winter nights. Has anyone fitted a light bar to reverse? Just after more light...any ideas welcome

Here’s a few photos, some taken with the bumper off.

LED light (Labcraft Scenelite) - Positive feed spliced to the reversing lamp positive feed on the inboard side of the nearside tail light / body grommet.
Dedicated grounding point is on the nearside tailgate guide bracket bolt, shown in photo, don’t ground through the common ground wire for the light cluster as the reversing light will flash when the indicators are on!

Garmin BC30 wifi camera unit is spliced in on the inboard side of the nearside tail light / body grommet. Positive to the reversing lamp positive feed and negative to the tail light common ground. Both wires are routed up the nearside D pillar and through the tailgate via the cramped tailgate cable boot.

The reversing light is mounted on a home made bracket under the nearside rear bumper. The bracket is bolted to the thin plastic trim which gives it some shock resilience on rough roads.

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[dubber36]

Only have 1 reverse light, its useless in the winter nights. Has anyone fitted a light bar to reverse? Just after more light...any ideas welcome

A fella I know has a Shuttle as one of his taxis. He has a pair of small LED worklights under the rear bumper as additional reverse lights.

They don't need to be expensive ones, but be aware that the cheap ones tend to get moisture in them. A bead of clear silicone to seal the lense usually prevents that.