A Real Mera in Paradise (Page 666/713)
hnthomps OCT 31, 02:23 PM

quote
Originally posted by Larryinkc:

Pulled gently while heating with a hairdryer did the trick, now to get the adhesive residue off.




Goof Off does a decent job. I have also used acetone if I was not concerned about the paint.

Nelson
hnthomps NOV 06, 06:04 PM
There is another post in the Technical section but I am also placing the information here to reach the Mera owners. A number of the Meras have an apparent issue with the stock stop/turn/brake lights distorting and/or melting the housings. At least two of my cars have this issue so I am trying to do a conversion to LEDs to mitigate the problem. As of today, here are the results, approximate costs, and components used.

After pulling all of the tail/turn/stop light bulbs, all of the sockets have dual contacts in them and this should be as delivered from the factory. I located some appropriate dual element replacement LEDs and installed them in the sockets. I also replaced the standard electromechanical flasher units with electronic flashers (LED compatible). As of this moment all of the turn and tail light signals are functional, but the brake/stop lights are not working. I do not know if the standard brake switch is not appropriate for LED lights or if the issue is something else. I will continue to work on this problem and hope that there is a simple/inexpensive solution.

As of this moment, here is a list of parts used as well as the quantity. So far I have less than $125 invested in this experimental project and hope to hold the final cost to a very similar number.

Zevo 1157A LEDs, quantity of 4 (replacement for 2357 and 2057 standard lights)
Zevo 1157R LEDs, quantity of 4 (replacement for 2357 and 2057 standard lights)
Electronic Flasher, EL12, quantity of two or
Electronic Falsher LL552, quantity of two

The EL12 is almost twice as much as the KK552 but supposedly is a higher quality that can control more lights.

All parts were obtained from the local AutoZone.

If anyone has any input on the brake light/switch issue, please feel free to post suggestions.

Nelson
Larryinkc NOV 07, 07:56 AM
Nelson,

The brake lights worked normally and the turns flashed at the same rate when I installed the 1157 Plasma LED bulbs in my 88 Mera.

I did not have to change anything except the bulbs.

Mine was a Formula and I had previously cut the white loop wire to keep the amber turns from illuminating with the brake lights.

Larry
hnthomps NOV 07, 09:52 AM

quote
Originally posted by Larryinkc:

Nelson,

The brake lights worked normally and the turns flashed at the same rate when I installed the 1157 Plasma LED bulbs in my 88 Mera.

I did not have to change anything except the bulbs.

Mine was a Formula and I had previously cut the white loop wire to keep the amber turns from illuminating with the brake lights.

Larry



Larry,

This particular 88 is also a Formula based Mera. I will look into the loop cutting and consider it for this vehicle if nothing else turns up.

Update:

Cutting the white wire did not help at all. I looked at the car again to confirm the needed lights and saw that all sockets were two conductor 1157 types. My blinkers work well but not my stop/brake lights. I will try some of the West Coast Cougar red lights and see if they will work in this application.

Nelson

[This message has been edited by hnthomps (edited 11-07-2017).]

hnthomps NOV 07, 05:47 PM
After determining that all sockets on my 88 Formula based Mera were 1157 types, I pulled the lights on an 87 GT based Mera and saw a mix of 1156 and 1157 sockets. I do not know if this is because of using the Formula for most of the 88 Meras or if a previous owner modified the wiring/socket. I will be in Georgia tomorrow and while there I will check out the light configuration on my GT platform 88 Mera. Maybe I can learn why the differences in wiring exist.

Nelson
Larryinkc NOV 07, 06:17 PM

quote
Originally posted by hnthomps:

After determining that all sockets on my 88 Formula based Mera were 1157 types, I pulled the lights on an 87 GT based Mera and saw a mix of 1156 and 1157 sockets. I do not know if this is because of using the Formula for most of the 88 Meras or if a previous owner modified the wiring/socket. I will be in Georgia tomorrow and while there I will check out the light configuration on my GT platform 88 Mera. Maybe I can learn why the differences in wiring exist.

Nelson



Nelson

That's interesting, when I modified my tail light housings the red tail lights had one 1157 socket and one 1156 socket in each housing. I 'm not sure if the amber lights had all 1157 bulbs in them or not.

When I wired the C4 sockets I made all the sockets 1157 type, Classic Cougar only had amber LEDs in 1157 type, and used the bright illumination on the amber turn LEDs.

Larry
hnthomps NOV 09, 06:02 AM

quote
Originally posted by Larryinkc:


Nelson

That's interesting, when I modified my tail light housings the red tail lights had one 1157 socket and one 1156 socket in each housing. I 'm not sure if the amber lights had all 1157 bulbs in them or not.

When I wired the C4 sockets I made all the sockets 1157 type, Classic Cougar only had amber LEDs in 1157 type, and used the bright illumination on the amber turn LEDs.

Larry



As an information update, I checked my 88 GT platform based Mera and it had the same light configuration as one of my 87 GT platform Meras. At some point in time, I will pull the rear cover panel and see what lights are in my other 87 GT platform Mera. Both use a combination of 1156 and 1157 lights. That indicates to me that the 88 Formula is the odd ball here. I do not plan to untape/uncover all of the wires to see if the harness was spliced by someone.

I also ordered the West Coast Cougar red LEDs (1157 type) and will see if those lights function in the Formula Mera but it is likely to be a week or more before the lights arrive.

Nelson
Larryinkc NOV 09, 09:34 AM
Nelson,

I checked my 88 service manual exterior lights diagrams.

It shows GT models have 2 dual filament lights on each side that are tail-stop lights and 2 single filament lights on each side that are turn lights. The GT also has 4 single filament lights that are the Pontiac emblem tail lights.

SE models have 2 dual filament lights on each side that are tail-stop-turn lights and 1 single filament light on each side that is a tail light.

My Mera had a 1 dual filament and 1 single filament bulb in each red tail light, I don't remember if it had 1 or 2 dual filament bulbs in the amber turn lights, but probably both bulbs in the amber turns were dual filament bulbs. Corporate Concepts probably added a second bulb to the turn lights when it was converted to a Mera. My amber turns would come on when the brakes were applied when I got it before I cut the white loop wire. Now the rear lights function properly. Red lights are stop-tail lights, ambers are turn signale only.

Larry
Rexgirl NOV 09, 05:12 PM
Each red stop-tail housing, and amber turn light housing on my SE based Mera (7029) contain one dual filament and one single filament bulb. I would like to convert the stop lights from a single to a dual filament holder, but worry the extra heat would lead to melting the reflector. I am still wondering if automobile LED's run hot-ish since the LED's in my home fixtures do.
VanGTP5000 NOV 09, 05:34 PM

quote
Originally posted by hnthomps:

I also ordered the West Coast Cougar red LEDs (1157 type) and will see if those lights function in the Formula Mera but it is likely to be a week or more before the lights arrive.

Nelson



I know the website says shipping can take up to a month but I have ordered two times already and both times the bulbs arrived in only 3 days with regular shipping. I am very impressed with their turnaround time.

-Van