I received an e-mail a little earlier this year from Mark Lochridge. Mark owns Gold Coast Distributing which is located in California and he can be reached at 805-340-9619. Mark and I have worked on a couple of TJ LED tail light projects in the past and so it is always good to see an e-mail from him. When one arrives, it usually contains good news and this one was no different. Mark told me that after many months of effort, he had a TJ flasher for the 2001 through 2006 TJs that was a plug in replacement. If you are doing a rear LED project and don’t want to try modifying your factory flasher, keep on reading!
If you have an early model TJ, 1997 through 2000, please go here for your LED flasher options.
The LED capable flasher is part # GCD-TJ0106. As of October, 2020, it was verified that Mark is selling this flasher on Amazon. If you need one, that is where it can now be found. Mark used to have his own GCD website but it is no longer active.
Update: 3/30/2008
Having received permission from Mike Kondritz, I wanted to share this series of e-mails with you. The exchange between Mike and myself started several weeks before I received word from Mark about the new flasher he had. As they say, timing is everything!
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 5:48 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: LED flasher problem
Stu,
Thanks for keeping a site that is extremely helpful to those of us in the “Club”, it has saved my son and myself many hours and dollars.
Sometime back I used information from your site to resolve the rapid turn signal problem I had after installing LED tail lights on my 2003 Rubicon. I had to remove the turn signal module from the steering column and solder in some jumpers, good instructions and it worked great. My problem is that I spend two weeks of every three out of town and my battery is DEAD when I return to the airport. I eliminated all possibility from my other wiring modifications and still had a dead battery. Finally I disconnected the positive lead to my battery and the last two trips home I have had no battery problem. So, I decided to wire in a toggle switch through the fuse block to isolate the turn signal circuit and turn off the power to the module while I was away. I removed the fuse for the turn signal circuit and still had a turn signal, I removed all of the fuses and still had a turn signal. I checked the fuse and relay panel under the hood and saw nothing related to the turn signal circuit. Any ideas?
Thanks, Mike Kondritz
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 7:28 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: LED flasher problem
Hi Mike,
I don’t know right off the top of my head what the problem is but I would recommend the following. Don’t worry about the fuses for the time being. Instead, remove the flasher module from the socket. yeah, it’s not the easiest to get at but with only doing just that, you will prove without a doubt the flasher is the problem. So pull the flasher and leave the battery cables connected during your next 2 week absence. If you have a dead battery upon your return, you know the flasher is not the source of the problem. If the battery is fine, then I would suspect something in the flasher conversion didn’t go as planned. I’ve heard of no one else having issues like yours and given how long that mod has been out, I would think someone besides you would have noticed it before now.
Stu
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 6:14 AM
To: Stu Olson
Subject: RE: LED flasher problem
Hi Stu,
I followed your suggestion and removed the flasher module when I parked my Jeep and when I returned 2 weeks later it started with no problem. Also, the day before I left town I removed the module to be sure there would be no problem doing so at the airport and noticed the module was warm, but the Jeep had not been driven any that day. I’m guessing that it should not have had power running through it with the ignition switch off.
If I need to buy a new module do you know of one out there that will do what I need without any modification?
Thanks for your help, Mike
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 7:02 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: LED flasher problem
Mike,
As a matter of fact, yes I do know where you can get the correct flasher that won�t require modification. Something is not right with your current flasher, that is for sure.
Get in touch with Mark at [email protected] He just sent me a flasher so I could do a write-up.
Stu
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 3:44 PM
To: Stu Olson
Subject: turn signal module
Hi Stu,
If you will remember I contacted you some time back about a problem I’d had with a flasher module modification for LED tail lights. You suggested that I contact Mark Lochridge and purchase a ready made module. I did as you suggested, plugged it in and all my troubles disappeared. I would recommend this fix to everyone that has installed LED tail lights and wants to slow down the pace of their flasher.
Mark was easy to deal with, shipped quickly, and appears to have a good product to solve this type of problem.
Thank for your help, Mike Kondritz