I hate incandescent bulbs so I wanted to experiment with LED bulbs for my car. I wanted to install a set for my running/ brake lights but they don't work. It seems like the bulb is internally wired wrong because I tried them in a 2002 Jeep Wrangler and I got the same results. The brake (bright) works but the running light side doesn't. If I turn the bulb backwards the lights seem to work better but then you can't lock it in the fixture.
Mabye someone else has had the same issue. If it's been done how can I make it work?

 

Perhaps the bulbs you purchased were faulty, though LED bulbs really aren't ideal for the applications you're describing anyway. The two most common problems with LED replacement bulbs are light output and current draw.

To begin with, the LED bulbs do not emit light in the same directions as the original bulbs, and therefore do not utilize the housing's reflector properly. Because of this, the actual illumination of the housings and lenses is relatively poor, even though the LED's themselves may put out more light than the original bulbs. Various new designs have attempted to address this by altering the positioning and configuration of the LED array on the bulb, but the results are almost never as good as the original incandescent bulbs.

Second, when used in turn signal / hazard applications, the lower current draw of the LED's often results in "fast blinkers". This is not as big of a problem as the one described above, because it can be solved with resistors (and some new bulbs include the resistors so no modifications are needed).

Either way, I think your best bet will be to stick with quality incandescent bulbs for these uses. I'm not sure what it is that you "hate" about them, but they will provide you with the best lighting in your existing housings.

 

what kind of LEDs are you talking about. You can't just take a regular LED and dump 12 volts into it, LEDs are also polarity sensitive unlike a light bulb, meaning one end has to be positive and one end has to be negative.

 

Well I was going to go the Ebay route with buying them. But I picked up two from advance auto and guess what brand they are APC. Yea i know i should have known better. Incandescant lights are a thing of the past, Unfortunately aftermarket LED technology doesn't seem to be advancing as quick as OEM technology (ex: 2006 accord) So I guess i'll count my loss for now and wait for the technology to catch up. Plus I like to be on the fresh edge of the new products, if you had the chance to peek into my life you would know that well.
But for this application I guess I can be stuck in the dark ages a little while longer. (no pun intended)
Thanks for the advice anyway though.