I just got these JDM Astar LED backup bulbs because they were recommended as a good brand. They are nice and very bright when backing up, which is exactly what I wanted. All the reviews on Amazon were also very good, so I thought I would be okay.

But they light up every time the brake lights come on, which is certainly not desirable and is likely not street legal.

Is there a way to fix this or do I try to return them and get other LED backup bulbs that other CV.net users have tried and tested that they work properly?

I also noticed that they were very hot when I removed them, making me think that I should not only get lower wattage bulbs but also maybe shorter ones so they are not so close to the plastic lens if they do get hot. These barely fit and are very, very close to the lens.

The previous bulbs you pulled out before installing these leds didn't do the same thing? They should be on totally separate circuits...

Check your grounds and wiring in the trunk, especially if it was a cop car, mine still has a reverse light wig wag flasher installed (inop), so who knows what effect that might have if I put LED's in the reverse lights.

Something is wrong. There is no situation I can think of where LED reverse lights would be turning on with the brake lights unless there is a bad ground somewhere. It may be that it was always like that but it never passed enough current to illuminate a incandescent bulb, but the LEDs need less power to light up.

FWIW, I have cheapie 3157 LEDs in my reverse lights that I "modified" so the entire bulb lights up. Out of the box 2/3 of the bulb would light up for "brake" or "signal" function of a 3157, and 1/3 would light up for "tail" or "running light". I simply crossed a wire in the bulb so now it all lights up. Its the only way I could get it any brighter than a stock 3156. I trash picked them at work after a customer threw them out so I wasn't worried if I broke them.

I'll have to try these. Although, I don't think JDM astar has the best quality. I have some taillights from them and one of them broke a contact inside. I had to pull the bulb apart and resolder it. Then I hot glued it back together.

As soon as I replaced the original bulbs back in, they work as they normally would.

Still not sure why it might do this. I was very surprised when a friend told me this was happening. Better to find out from a friend than the cops.