hey everybody roger here from o'reilly
auto parts to show you how to install an led load equalizer before i get into that
take a second to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already so you don't miss out
on any of our new content load equalizers or load resistors are necessary when you upgrade the
lights in your vehicle to leds they prevent overly rapid flashing of your turn signals or dashboard
messages that say lamp out because led bulbs draw so little power the vehicle's electrical
system may think that the bulbs burn out this can result in the turn signals flashing
rapidly as they would with the burnout bulb today i'll be installing these sylvania load equalizers
on a 2008 ford escape which is already equipped with led combination brake light tail light and
turn signal bulbs because these were installed without a load equalizer currently the turn signal
bulbs on the escape are flashing much too rapidly the load equalizer restores original power to
the turn signal wiring to convince the electrical system that the bulb is drawing as much power as
the previous incandescent bulbs to install these you'll need a drill and screwdriver or hex bit
self-tapping screws and the load equalizer kit since this repair doesn't involve cutting any
existing wires we'll be able to simply connect the trailer splices over the wiring from the
equalizer and the current turn signal wiring once you've got your supplies together
here's what you'll do start by removing the tail light assembly where you'll be
working in our case we'll raise the hatch remove the two screws securing the assembly and pull straight back to
disengage it from the vehicle locate the wiring for your turn signal in some
cases the wiring to each bulb socket will be very apparent as it is on the escape others may have a
plug and a connector that contains all the wiring for every bulb in the taillight assembly more on
what to do in each of these circumstances a little bit later once you've found your turn signal bulb
wires make sure your load equalizer can reach an internal metal surface of your vehicle and
that the wiring can reach the turn signal wires if not the load equalizer wires can be extended
to reach from the mounting location to the turn signal wire if the turn signal lamp is
a double filament or three wire socket you'll need to determine which socket wire color
to use look at the wire colors on each turn signal socket the common wire is usually the same on
both sides of the vehicle as well as the position light wire color the turn signal circuit wire
color on the other hand is typically different on the left than it is on the right and those
are the wires that you'll attach one side of each load equalizer to the other side of each
load equalizer is attached to the common wire clip the trailer splices over the
ends of one of the turn signal wire and the load resistor wire it doesn't
matter which one as both wires will be used and the load resistor doesn't
specify a current flow direction now you'll need to install the load resistor
to a flat metal surface on your car's body to dissipate the heat your equalizer is supplied with
a large heat sink to prevent it from overheating use your drill and self-tapping screws to
install the resistor on metal where the screws won't be visible make sure the heat sink
won't be touching the tail light assembly once it's reinstalled or the plastic could melt once
that's done test your turn signals and other led lights to make sure they're working the way they
should be then you can move to the other side of the vehicle if you're installing a load equalizer
on a tail light assembly with a single connector use a multimeter set to continuity to find
the correct wires on a lot of multimeters this will look like a speaker and it'll
emit a tone if continuity is present figure out which bulb you're
replacing and remove the bulb socket then touch one lead on your multimeter to one of
the contacts on the body of the taillight assembly and use the other to touch the connector
on the assembly until you find continuity once you find continuity to both points on
the assembly socket opening look at the wiring and connector on your vehicle and trace the
contacts back to the wire connected to them follow the previous instructions to install
your load equalizer on these two wires and that's it you can find everything you
need for this and other jobs at o'reilly auto parts or o'reillyauto.com
our diy videos are designed to help answer questions we get in our stores
every day so if you found this one helpful subscribe to our channel to get all
the latest we'll see you again soon
