[leethal]

1. The rear indicators work fine until the front pair are connected.

2. The front indicators will not work without the rear pair connected, at which point the relay buzzes like mad.

3. If you run a jumper from the front indicators down to the rear and connect them instead of the rear pair, the front indicators work fine. But if you try to jump the front indicators off the rear then its back to point 1.

Can someone please connect the dots for me? At which point should I try to locate my fault?

 

[leethal]

I thought I'd start by borrowing a working barswitch from Rod and eliminating that as a fault before I spent any money. Rods switch revealed mine to be grounding to the switch case in the right turn position. But once I corrected the fault I was still left with the problem I posted in this thread.

I just got back from the Honda shop with my new 12v variable watt relay. I now have working indicators all round, but the relay keeps ticking (without the lights) when the ignition is on and the barswitch is off....it also starts to heat the relay wires, and the neutral display light blinks.

Should I be trialing another higher watt/amp relay or should I be trying to locate a fault in the harness?

 

[Bird76Mojo]

If your neutral indicator is blinking (the reason your flasher is still clicking) then I'd say you've got some wires crossed somewhere...


GB :mrgreen:

 

[IndieSol]

I hate electrical issues, and I've decided to go ahead and start drinking for you.

It seems like checking the harness for a fault would be cheaper and easier than buying another relay that may or may not ultimately end up working on your bike, regardless of its condition. Also, (with my limited knowledge)it seems like it would be fairly easy to do.

Your blinker wire colors are light blue and green, and orange and green, right (assuming yours is the Aussie version)?

I just fixed the signals on my bike, but I was lucky in that the PO had the incorrect wiring diagram when he replaced the front signals. It was pretty easy to find the problems in there. I was also lucky enough to pick up an OEM relay on eBay just in case, which ended up being needed.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

He already bought a new relay. He's got some wires crossed in his harness if the neutral indicator is flashing while the signal relay is clicking...


GB :mrgreen:

 

[leethal]

Heres a couple pics of the relay. Its kinda hard to read the value on the top but it says 12v 8-23w x2 I blew a couple of main fuses before I figured out the orientation of the wires :roll:

<EDIT> this is not the correct location of the wires....see next page.

 

[leethal]

I've had a small victory!!!!

After disconnecting every wire in the headlamp shell one at a time (with the ignition on, and indicators off) I have iscolated the ticking relay fault. Drumroll please.......the speedo earth wire

Its bed time now, so the speedometer surgery will have to wait...but at least now I can sleep I would never have traced it back to the source without a) borrowing Rods barswitch and b) purchasing a working relay.

Aahhh... its the small victorys that keep us interested in these problematic machines

 

[leethal]

Hmmmm...in true form I cheered too soon

Surely the indicators should still blink with speedo disconnected....but they dont. The ticking only stops when the earth wire is disconnected, the relay keeps ticking with only the brown/white attached :evil:

There is something terminal with the earthing in this wiring harness. I fear its time to source a NOS one on ebay :roll: I could try and rebuild mine, but my confidence is waning.

 

[66Sprint]

Lee, You should be using a two spade (terminal) flasher module... the Green (earth) connection on that one isn't helping the situation....
In the stock set-up, the flasher is ALWAYS powered (when key is on) but grounds through the bulb filaments (to their ground connections)....when you switch the signals on, the circuit is complete, causing the bi-metallic strip in the module to get hot, expand, and break the internal contact, shutting the lights back off for as long as it takes to cool enough to re-close the module's internal switch contacts...
Higher amperage or more bulbs draw more power, and "heat" it faster, so it blinks faster...... Power runs (in series) from battery + (through key switch) to the module, then through the indicator bulb and on to the handlebar switch.....When you turn it left or right, it then continues through both (that side's) bulbs (in parallel) to grounds (battery -), completing the circuit.....

 

[leethal]

Is it possible to only use 2 of the 3 spades on the relay I just purchased? Does that disqualify my eathing issues from the speedo?

 

[66Sprint]

Can't hurt to try...just disconnect the Green wire....

 

[leethal]

You're a genius Steve, removing the green wire and swapping the other two wires has eradicated my earthing issues. Now to see if I can retract my ebay purchase of one NOS harness :?

Steve, one more question.....why did the OEM relay setup use 3 wires?

 

[leethal]

This is correct orientation of the new flasher relay, only 2 spades are required.

 

[66Sprint]

Can't help you there Lee... My schematic only shows two wires to the flasher module...(U.S. version)... That green is just a nearby "extra" ground (I usually put it on a coil mount bolt for the condenser ground).............

 

[leethal]

Of course you are spot on regarding the US version.... but the UK, French, German, Euro, and 'General' versions (guess that means us aussies) all use a 3 pin flasher....... :|

 

[66Sprint]

I'd have to see the wiring diagram...... The only way I can get a three pin to work is to wire it backwards (so the flasher is after the lights but before the ground.....)...LMAO!

 

[leethal]

I'm not sure if you have the Honda service manual that Bill posted, but it's page 121 - page 125. These are also models which locate the flasher onto the battery box beside the solenoid switch ( as opposed to behind the ignition switch under the tank).

 

[drones76]

Thanks Leethal for this thread and to all who helped. I just got a set of directionals from another member here a few days ago. They are in perfect order. Plenty of wire leads on the fixtures to work with. My issue was the way the PO had mucked up the wiring. Some wires disconnected, grounds hanging, filed metal tabs soldered to a wire to make a ground connection from the light post to the frame. That was on one rear directional. The other side had a washer with a lug spade connector and another piece of wire going off to ground land. And this was all with an aftermarket set of lights that did not work and I had no desire to get them working. I pulled his set of lights off, went off to Radio Shack for some bullet type crimp connectors and wire.

I realized that I was going to have some grounding issues with the rubber grommets in the back and the pair I got for the front in the aftermarket ears to which the front lights would mount. I resolved the problem by running an extra wire(green) through the posts and connected from the ground screw in the lights to the chassis ground.

To my surprise, after connecting everything up and turning the key all worked perfectly except I had the blinker and running light leads reversed for one light. I switched them and all is good.

As I was working on it, I was thinking that there is some dude down under dealing with some of the same issues on the same bike. Lots of great info here.