Aftermarket lights, wiring issues

[williampkerr]

I have an aftermarket brake light that I need to install. It turns on when I ground it and then run a wire from the hot to the +battery terminal. Looking at wiring diagram shows the Brown wire from the ignition going to the light. But the light doesn't turn on when I turn the key. I verified that the brown wire has connectivity from the ignition to the wire end that connects to the light. Does anyone have any insight?

 

[posplayr]

Edit: I looked:

White is brake switched o/g ; that means it goes to +12v with brake switch. Brown should be hot with key on . Only thing left in b/w ground. Do you have s ground?





if all else fails get a $5 VOM from HF

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS750_schematic_color.pdf

 

[gordinho80]

How many wires coming out of that aftermarket light? If only 2, you have a single filament bulb, only 1 light (Brake or Running). If you want the light to come on with key and to get brighter with brake switch, then you need a dual filament bulb/assembly.

 

[posplayr]

How many wires coming out of that aftermarket light? If only 2, you have a single filament bulb, only 1 light (Brake or Running). If you want the light to come on with key and to get brighter with brake switch, then you need a dual filament bulb/assembly.

Op op said it was aftermarket; how much more descriptive could he be?

 

[williampkerr]

LED lights. 3 wires. I assume one is ground, one is running and license plate light, and one is brake switch light.

 

[williampkerr]

Edit: I looked:

White is brake switched o/g ; that means it goes to +12v with brake switch. Brown should be hot with key on . Only thing left in b/w ground. Do you have s ground?





if all else fails get a $5 VOM from HF

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS750_schematic_color.pdf

I found that the wires on the light to represent such: green is ground, yellow is running, brown is brake.
At the switch I have one white wire and one orange wire.
Posplayr, I'll give your instructions a try.

 

[Steve]

Where your stock light plugged in, there would be a white wire, a brown wire and a black wire with a white stripe.
White wire is BRAKE
Brown wire is TAIL
Black/white wire is GROUND.

Now, adapt those to what you have found with your new light, it should be good to go.

.

 

[williampkerr]

Where your stock light plugged in, there would be a white wire, a brown wire and a black wire with a white stripe.
White wire is BRAKE
Brown wire is TAIL
Black/white wire is GROUND.

Now, adapt those to what you have found with your new light, it should be good to go.

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I don't have the original brake light connector any longer. What I do have is the brown wire from the ignition switch, the brake switch with it's orange and white wire, then the new brake light which has green for ground, brown for brake, and yellow for running light.

I was able to get the switch working. So when I have the bike running and hit the brake the light and license plate light turns on but the running light isn't lit. I can't get 12v to the brown wire at the ignition which I think is the problem. I'm wondering if the ignition is malfunctioning?

 

[Steve]

I don't have the original brake light connector any longer. What I do have is the brown wire from the ignition switch, the brake switch with it's orange and white wire, then the new brake light which has green for ground, brown for brake, and yellow for running light.

OK, I said you should have brown, white and black/white wires.

You said you have a brown wire and a white wire, you only need a ground. You can connect to the frame for a ground.

The orange wire FEEDS the brake switch, the white wire goes from the switch to the light.
If you connect to the orange wire, your brake light will be on ALL the time.

Based on what you have posted, connect:
your bike's brown wire to the light's yellow wire
your bike's white wire to the light's brown wire
your bike's (missing) black/white wire to the light's green wire, or just connect the green wire to the chassis for a ground.

I was able to get the switch working.

What switch? I must have missed the post where you said a switch is not working.

So when I have the bike running and hit the brake the light and license plate light turns on but the running light isn't lit.

"the light and the license plate light" turn on. What light came on?

Sounds like the light itself is wired incorrectly. If it is of Chinese ancestry I would not trust the wire colors and just go by function.

I can't get 12v to the brown wire at the ignition which I think is the problem. I'm wondering if the ignition is malfunctioning?

Not sure what you are trying to do there, but the brown wire does not feed the ignition switch, the switch feeds the wire. In the RUN position, the brown wire is fed by the gray wire. In the PARK position, it is fed by the red wire.

In your first post, you said you had continuity from the ignition switch to the end of the brown wire. You should see 12 volts at the brown wire when you turn the key ON.

Based on your description of what you are doing, it appears that you are trying to use your new light to power the bike.

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[williampkerr]

I'm sorry, it's hard to relay via text exactly what I'm experiencing. Currently the brake switch is working, but the brake light's running light isn't working. No light when I turn the key on. I read your reply and see that the grey wire feeds to brown wire at the ignition. Crrently the brown and grey ignition wire isn't connected to anything because I don't know what to connect then to.

 

[Steve]

Wiring diagram. Click the link.

OK, clicking the link will help, but there is also some confusion there. :-k

I just looked at all the 850 wiring diagrams on BassCliff's site, they all seem to have a problem.
There is no connection between the gray and brownn wires and the rest of the bike.

The gray wire is actually fed from the headlight circuit, specifically the instrument lights. It then goes to the ignition switch, which then connects it to the tail light via the brown wire. I don't know where the gray wire actually connects, but it's probably in the headlight bucket.

.

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[posplayr]

I posted this schematic way up top............... for a GS750, but it appears to be a similar current flow.

It shows that:
the grey wire powered by the O/R from the headlamp switch.
Then grey connects to brown inside of the ignition switch. Greg does go to the instrument panel but is not powered there.
Brown is the tail light (running light).
The Brake light comes from signal O/G and is switched by the brake switches to give white.

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS750_schematic_color.pdf

 

[Steve]

That diagram does show the gray wire connecting to the instrument lights. None of the 850 diagrams show that connection just above the ignition switch, they only show a direct run from the ignition switch to the license light for the gray wire and from the ignition switch to the tail light for the brown wire. No other connections in either wire. :-k

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[posplayr]

Yes grey connects to the instrument lights but the power comes from here.....
The greg gets it's power from the O/R headlamp. Inthe schematci you show it is a conenctor that used t ogo to a headlamp switch.

That diagram does show the gray wire connecting to the instrument lights. None of the 850 diagrams show that connection just above the ignition switch, they only show a direct run from the ignition switch to the license light for the gray wire and from the ignition switch to the tail light for the brown wire. No other connections in either wire. :-k

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[williampkerr]

Yes grey connects to the instrument lights but the power comes from here.....
The greg gets it's power from the O/R headlamp. Inthe schematci you show it is a conenctor that used t ogo to a headlamp switch.

I also don't have the original headlight or instrument panel. I'll try splicing the grey wire to the Orange/Red coming from the fuse. Then I'll check the brown wire at the ignition switch for 12v. If success then I'll try to finish wiring the brake light asap. Been busy with school today. Maybe I'll have time tomorrow to work on this. Thanks for the help Posplayr.

 

[Steve]

Yes grey connects to the instrument lights but the power comes from here.....
The greg gets it's power from the O/R headlamp. Inthe schematci you show it is a conenctor that used t ogo to a headlamp switch.

If you read that diagram PROPERLY, you will note that there is no connection where the two gray wires cross, but there should be.

As shown in the diagram, the gray wire goes from the ignition switch to the license light with no other connections. It should have a black dot at the intersection with the other gray wire, just like the other black dots shown in that little clip.

.

 

[williampkerr]

If you read that diagram PROPERLY, you will note that there is no connection where the two gray wires cross, but there should be.

As shown in the diagram, the gray wire goes from the ignition switch to the license light with no other connections. It should have a black dot at the intersection with the other gray wire, just like the other black dots shown in that little clip.

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Okay, cool. I was wondering about that. Thanks for the note!

 

[posplayr]

If you have really hacked up your harness, then look over this as it is the minimum configuration for a Bobber. It does not include lights, as I assumed that was up to the particular builder.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...0-Bobber-Schematic&highlight=bobber+schematic

 

[posplayr]

In the figure above I contrasted the 1981 GS750E schematic with the 1980 GS850GT/GLT. There is a mistake in the GS850 schematic. Suzuki was fairly consistent and even when there are variations within the different models (8V v.s. 16V in particular) there was still a sense of duty to maintain coloring standard with the models.

In general if you have a multi position fuse box, you can always expect to see the following:

Red (from Battery) turns to Orange at the Ignition switch (when "ON") and returning to the fuse box.
At the fuse box Orange is distributed (through fuses) to :

• Orange/Green (SIGNAL)
• Orange /Red (HEADLAMP)
• Orange/White(Ignition)

The greg and brown are a bit convoluted but here is basically what happens.

O/R powers Grey (if there is a headlight control ON/OFF then it is in the switch, else it is accomplished in the harness.

Grey splits and powers the Gauge Lights and the Ignition switch. (both grey)

From the Ignition Switch Brown is powered in the "ON" and "PARK" position. (common to all standards GS's).

The brown circuit is used for the Tail light and optionally a front running/parking light.

There may be exceptions to this basic layout but from what I have seen it is pretty consistent across most schematics I have seen.

 

[williampkerr]

Wow! Super thorough! I'm sure I'll be able to get brake light wired up now. I'll update progress when I can. Thanks!