Are the bulbs on a 1972 Cutlass Convertible a #90 Courtesy light bulb for the under the dash and the rear armrest lights?

 

Yes

 

Front & back? All 4 are #90s?

I see the double and single prongs sometimes both get called #90 but I have seen the single prong called out # 97 bulb

 

On a side-note, my rear armrest courtesy light were working just fine in my 71 442 convertible. So I thought I would LED upgrade them, and can’t get anything to work now - should’ve left well enough alone 😡

But yes, despite not working for me now, the proper bulbs are 90s.

 

Would this LED bulb work?

 

From what I can see both of those bulbs only have a single contact on the base - but what is needed for this application is 2 contacts - as in the 90 or I think a 68 would work as well.

My experience with LEDs back there is very negative. Still can’t figure out how to get them working, all my other interior lights work🤔

 

Might have been bad LEDs are a fuse popped. Where did you buy your LED's?

SuperBrightLEDs have these LEDs listed as 1142 but compatible with 90 bulbs. Listed as "BA15D Double Contact Bayonet" and Polar Sensitivity = NO

 

Yup those have the proper dual contact base. I got mine from the same vendor off Amazon that I bought upgraded dash LED lights from - they worked like a charm so not sure what happened, best of luck.

 

I will update once installed...

 

Any update on this? I am looking into this as well. It looks like the original #90 bulb is a Ba15d but those dual contacts both have to be positive. If you check the wiring diagram that light has two ways to be turned on. Either by opening the door with the white wire or by turning the headlight switch, which sends power to the orange wire. Most Ba15d led bulbs I have found are positive negative, which is probably what vCode442 tried unsuccessfully, or they don’t say one way or another. Another concern for me is bulb height as the rear lights in the convertible is limited by the lens, the front ones would be okay with the longer bulbs. I came across these ones and the reviews list someone who claims to have used them successfully on a 1965 f85, which I believe uses the same bulb as our cars. It doesn’t say if both contacts are positive but it does say it’s not polarity sensitive so maybe that’s what we need to find a Ba15d led that is not polarity sensitive.
https://www.aero-lites.com/product-p...double-contact

 

Yes, here is the update. Got the following from SUPERBRIGHTLEDS.com

1142-WW12-G (BA15D) Which is a warm white 12 SMD LED bulb for all 4 interior lights
1156-WW18-T (BA15S) Which is warm white light for the rear license plate light

$38 delivered for all 5 bulbs

The bulb light looks 100% like the stock OEM bulb (warm glow) but there is almost no battery power draw and you can leave the interior lights on for 2 hours and the lenses are cool to the touch. Simply amazing technology with LEDs.

The rear armrest sockets will require that you slightly bend the metal tabs that hold the socket in place as the LED bases are a little thicker so they might want to retract once pushed in. Other than that, they are a direct bolt in and no modifications are required.

PS - On a side note. I also have LED headlights and tailights. The LED headlights are amazing and make nighttime driving so much more safer. LED is the way to go.

 

Thanks for the update. I found another add for non-polarity sensitive, or bi-polar led bulbs and it showed both contacts on the base were positive. Those bulbs you listed are also non-polarity sensitive, so that makes sense that they worked. It seems I can find cheap ones for around $1 a piece but they won’t fit in the rear armrests without interfering with the lens. The ones that are short enough to fit and also have two positive contacts are $10.

 

Great update thank you, I’m still pissed off at myself for not leaving well enough alone, but theoretically as you mentioned the lack of heat from LEDs really makes sense - so I’m going to try the ones you purchased, LEDs look great in my rally pac.

 

Save yourself the headaches by getting QUALITY LED'S and not buying the cheapest priced ones. The LED'S I got are ROHS tested and warranties. I have had zero issues with them. Cheaper LED's will causes problems.

 

I did end up ordering the ones you got, but I went with the cool white instead of the warm. They actually were the cheapest ones I could find that had the double positive contacts, were short enough to fit under the lens for the rear and wasn’t shipping from Hong Kong. I got a few extra bulbs for the console also. Like you said I didn’t want to have any headaches dealing with the cheap stuff.

 

German H4 Hella lamp housings that hold my LED lights. HUGE night and day difference in safety and visibility at night.

 

It's a VERY EASY swap. No need to replace wiring or anything like that. Plug & play.

You must buy new headlight housings. German H4 Hella projectors - Summit sells them. Around $100 for a set (2) which will cover the 2 low beam headlights and then you can do the 2 high beam lights later on.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/h...+5ba2839995bcf

The H4 headlight housings fit perfects in the factory brackets. They are 5.75"

Remove the factory lights, install the H4 lights. Then install a set of twist and turn LED lights. I got these from Amazon:


About $45. They are basically plug & play. Unplug the 3 prong plug from the factory lamps and connect the LEDs. Done deal.

It's a clean 6000K white light (not blue) and they light up the road really nice. 10,000 Lumens and they use a CREE LED chip set. Plus the LED bulbs only draw 30 Watts per bulb, while the OEM halogens bulbs were like 100 Watts per bulb.

The nighttime safety & visibility is so much better. The H4 projectors are really well designed to spread the beam pattern and the LED's make it so much safer at night. Especially if you live in a rural area, you can see deer and other animals much clearer. The lower power draw is easier on your wiring and wiring harnesses. They don't run hot like the OEM Halogens will. The higher power draw heats up the 50+ year old wiring really fast and it puts a draw on the alternator and charging system. LED's really help lessen that draw.

I think this is a must upgrade, especially in rural or suburban areas. These cars are becoming more and more rare and having one wrecked out because you can't see well at night is something that is avoidable. After this upgrade, I would say the headlights are equal to or even better than most 2020 new vehicle LED headlights.

 

No, not quite. LEDs should draw significantly less current, but the old H5006 low beams are rated 30 Watts and the H5001 high beams are rated 50 Watts according to Sylvania's specs.

The newer H4 type halogen bulbs are rated 55W low and 65W high per DOT regulations, from what I recall reading years ago. I had to buy off-road only bulbs for my Jeep in order to get more high beam light, and they are 55W / 100W marketed for off-road use only. The regular ones are 55W / 65 W.

Well anyway, comparing wattage is misleading. Comparing the current is key, and the LEDs should draw much less current than what Sylvania shows for their halogen lights, which is 2.7 Amps for the low beam and 3.9 Amps for the high beam.

 

Just got these and installed them - they work perfectly. The right parts do matter! Thanks to all 👍