Nope not always
dont most moderns have dual filiment and offset pins?
2cv uses ba15 bases (single contact parallel pins)
21w( brake and indicator bulb) will fit in the 5w tail light socket but will scorch the plastic

good motor factors will sell 10w ba15 which are usefully brighter than the feeble 5w but dont scorch the lens

leds should cause no problems as they dont produce any noticable heat......but are often not allowed for vehicle usage, e numbers, type aprroval, directional light and all that

Sean

When I ordered mine from ebay they asked me to specify if my car used separate brake/tail bulbs or combined ones, so obviously I ordered the separate ones. They went in ok and are working fine, and as you mentioned they don't get hot enough to do any damage to anything. I did try LED's in the indicators too but they wouldn't flash, I've since learned that you need a new flasher part for those to work.

As for not being allowed? They are brighter than normal bulbs, which means to my way of thinking that they are better for the purpose, and thus safer.

Where my personal safety is concerned I'd tell the authorities the same as I said last time I was prosecuted for 'illegally' saving my own life.

"I'd rather be judged by twelve than carried by six"

You need to add a resistor for the LED flashers to work. You need 2 per car, not one on each corner. It'll fool the flasher unit into thinking the bulbs are drawing the correct current.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LED-signal-flashe ... 41543e84c9

sorry to wonder off topic, but could you use those sorts of bulbs in a light board for a trailer?

Sure.

James. LEDs are perfect for use on a trailer board as they don't draw any appreciable extra current - so no relays or nasty stuff needed. Also, LED indicator bulbs should work straight off and not affect the flash rate.

what you mean for the trailer board i assume/? gunna have me invest in some of those, and for rear brakes too, i hate how close people get to me before they realise im braking!!

DA,
for about the last 16 years, on perhaps 90% of the journeys I've made, the car I'm driving has been towing a trailer.
I've never fitted extra relays, just standard A series flasher units, with no problems regarding longevity of those items...

If anything has been affected by extra current draw from a trailer board, it's been the brake light switch, which is why there's a relay fitted to that circuit on all of our Dyanes...

ken

( On a side note, if the trailer wiring incorporates a buzzer ( or dashboard light) to warn of indicator bulb failure on the trailer board, I don't think that will work with LED bulbs in the trailer board.)

I'd agree with Sean,
for a good few years, I've been fitting 10w tail/number plate illumination bulbs in customers' 2CVs, or a pair of high intensity LEDs in Dyane tail lights to boost their _really_ feeble 4 watt bulbs.

ken

( Depressing how many 2CV rear light lenses have been 'cooked' by folk bunging 21W bulbs into the tail light sockets, even though they're clearly marked as '5W'.
Yep, some characters have even managed to force 21/5 W combined stop and tail light bulbs in there as well... )

Aye aparently its a safety feature (acording to the 2cv gb mag about 10 yrs ago) as the LEDs light up time is faster than incandescents

that extra millisecond makes all the differance to the F*kwit driving too close and spending all his time looking at the sat nav stuck in front of his nose

Sean