Using a 921 bulb in place of 194 for the license marker?

[vibenvy]

This seems like a dumb question to me, but I figure what the hell! It's worth a try...I have changed out all the lighting on my '09 Vibe GT for a cleaner look. I have Silver Star bulbs in the fog lights, low and high beams and reverse lights. I have Stealth Auto chrome amber bulbs in the front and rear turn signals. I ordered a white LED bulb from Oznium.com for the license marker, but unfortunately due to the angle of the license marker housing, the LED bulb only lit up half of the license plate which obviously looked totally ridiculous. I tried a cheapy Xenon bulb from Auto Zone which actually looked decent, but wasn't nearly as bright as I would like (don't want to get pulled over).I have come up with an idea, but I am wondering if it will have any negative effects on the wiring and such. I put one of the Silver Star 921 bulbs that I have in the reverse lights in the license marker. It provides the nice, bright, clean white light I am looking for and it fits in the housing, the only problem is that the license marker bulb is a 194. I put 921 bulbs in the license markers on my '02 Sunfire GT and it never effected the wiring, but I am wondering if after a while it would hurt anything.Here are the specifications for the two bulbs:Sylvania Silver Star 921 bulb:- 12.8 volts / 17.9 wattsSylvania halogen 194 bulb:- 14 volts / 3 wattsObviously there's a big difference in the wattage, but as I said above, I did this in my Sunfire and never had any problems. The only problem I could really forsee is the housing melting with the bulb being bigger and closer to the lens. Obviously replacing the housing wouldn't be a big deal, I am more worried about damaging the wiring.Opinions? Thanks in advance.

[star_deceiver]

The wiring should be able to handle it. If it can't you'll simply blow a fuse before anything melts!

[djkeev]

I'd worry about melting the lens being melted by the heat generated by the higher wattage. I've seen this happen on other cars with the wrong bulbs.I've also seen melted wiring without the fuse being blown! Again, not in a Vibe. I do think wire melting at this wattage is unlikely though.Dave

[vibenvy]

Thanks guys!I was thinking the lense melting would probably be the worst thing to happen. I checked GM Parts Direct and they want about $20.00 for a new license marker housing. Not bad IMO, so I might just go ahead and try the Silver Star bulb out for a few days and just keep a close eye on it to see what, if anything, happens.

[vibenvy]

I put the Silver Star 921 in there and left the lights on for a few minutes. It got WAY too hot, so I ended up putting the cheapy Xenon bulb back in. It's not quite as bright as I would like, but it does give off a whiter light than the factory bulb.

[jackie879]

I replaced the stock license plate light on my '09 with one of these:http://www.superbrightleds.com...5.htmIt looks good in my opinion, gives off a nice white light and is brighter than the xenon bulb in your second pic. It has a 220 degree beam so it lights up more of the license plate.I'll try and post a pic of how it looks in the next day or two.

[northvibe]

I find it funny you all want your license to be seen but I dont want anyone to see mine!

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by jackie879 »I replaced the stock license plate light on my '09 with one of these:http://www.superbrightleds.com...5.htmIt looks good in my opinion, gives off a nice white light and is brighter than the xenon bulb in your second pic. It has a 220 degree beam so it lights up more of the license plate.I'll try and post a pic of how it looks in the next day or two.Funny you should mention this because I was checking out Super Bright LEDs the other night, but wasn't sure which one, if any, would give me the look I am going for.Someone on the J-Body Organization website said they have the same one in their Cavalier.Here's a picture of his:Seeing as they are so cheap, I am going to go ahead and order two (one for my Vibe and one for my mom's).Thanks for the help guys and girls .

[ColonelPanic]

I tried some of the LED wedge bulbs from superbrightleds.com many years ago when I had my Vibe but they were too top heavy and kept falling out of the sockets. They also didn't have a good enough viewing angle to really be usable in that application. But the new ones certainly appear to be improved. What's with the new Vibes having only one bulb? That sucks. I'd be installing a white LED strip all the way across the opening.

[Jyik40]

I am using led bulbs from this website: http://autolumination.com/194.htmThe 9 LED SMT Tower II bulb fits and is very very bright.

[vibenvy]

I finally achieved the look I wanted! I ended up getting the WLED-x5 bulb in natural white from Super Bright LEDs.

[ColonelPanic]

That's looking good!

[vibolista]

That does look good. Would that bulb fit the 03-08s license plate light? I've wanted to change out as many of the lights to LED for a while. Signals, stop, tails and markers. Anyone done this successfully on their Vibe? What do you think about your backup (reverse) lights?

[star_deceiver]

That's quite bright!

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by Colonel Panic »That's looking good! Thanks!Quote, originally posted by vibolista »That does look good. Would that bulb fit the 03-08s license plate light? I've wanted to change out as many of the lights to LED for a while. Signals, stop, tails and markers. Anyone done this successfully on their Vibe? What do you think about your backup (reverse) lights?Yes, this bulb will work in the '03-'08 license plate lights as well since they are 168 bulbs too. The only difference being that the '09-'10 Vibes only have one bulb in the license marker compared to two on the older Vibes.This is the first and only LED bulb I have used in any of my vehicles so I have no experience with converting all the bulbs to LED. Personally, I think LED bulbs are only good for license markers, interior lights, stuff like that. There is a Jetta around me that has LED bulbs in the taillights and they are very annoying at night. It looks like they're riding with the brake lights on. Also, when you put them in turn signals you need other parts because they will flash too fast. Too much of a pain IMO.The Silver Star reverse bulbs? I love them! They are nice and bright white just like the Silver Star headlight bulbs. $7.99 a pair at Auto Zone.Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »That's quite bright!Yes it is! Actually, it lights the plate up the same as the factory bulb except it obviously puts out a nice white light rather than ugly yellowish light.factory bulb:LED bulb:

[vibolista]

The fast blinking comes from not having enough load on the wire. If a turn signal bulb goes out, you know by the faster blinking rate produced. Some of the LED blinker bulbs have built in resistance to keep the system blinking at normal rates. The reason I'm trying to get brighter bulbs on the Vibe, is simply because we have a fairly dim tailight section. I got bumped in daylight by an inattentive driver. I saw it coming and even pumped my brakes to try to get her attention by flashing the brake lights. No damage resulted, but later at another stop light I noticed three cars ahead of me. One was a Vibe, one was an Escalade/ Suburban/ Yukon and another truck. The Vibe brake lights and CHMSL (3rd brake light) were extremely dim, compared to the other two vehicles. I now have my LED CMSL on order, but I still want to install brighter brake lights as well.

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »I find it funny you all want your license to be seen but I dont want anyone to see mine!

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »The fast blinking comes from not having enough load on the wire. If a turn signal bulb goes out, you know by the faster blinking rate produced. Some of the LED blinker bulbs have built in resistance to keep the system blinking at normal rates. The reason I'm trying to get brighter bulbs on the Vibe, is simply because we have a fairly dim tailight section. I got bumped in daylight by an inattentive driver. I saw it coming and even pumped my brakes to try to get her attention by flashing the brake lights. No damage resulted, but later at another stop light I noticed three cars ahead of me. One was a Vibe, one was an Escalade/ Suburban/ Yukon and another truck. The Vibe brake lights and CHMSL (3rd brake light) were extremely dim, compared to the other two vehicles. I now have my LED CMSL on order, but I still want to install brighter brake lights as well.Yeah, so far I haven't had any issues, of course the '09-'10 Vibes have LED third brake lights so they are pretty darn bright. I'm not too worried about it.Quote, originally posted by northvibe »I find it funny you all want your license to be seen but I dont want anyone to see mine!Quote, originally posted by scherry2 » I want my license plate to be seen by the cops so they don't feel the need to pull me over.