LED brake light

I've wanted to add an LED brakelight to my '89 240 wagon, since they come on
about 1/2 second faster than the regular bulbs. I put this off because of
the bulb-out warning system, which detects the different current draw
between the bulbs. A few weeks ago, I found a red side-marker assembly that
contains 3 bright red LEDs. Since LEDS typically draw about 20ma, I figured
the sensor circuit might not detect the 60ma difference it would cause. It
was only $10 at the local PepBoys store. I wired it across the central brake
light. Not only does it come on noticibly faster than the regular lights,
but it didn't trigger the warning light in the dashboard! I used silicon
sealant to fasten it to the top of the central brakelight assembly, and have
had no problems with it.

 

LEDs aren't a true resistive load... no matter what the current draw.
That's the issue.