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Dash lights not working

  • Thread starter Thread starter T3nrec
  • Start date Start date
T

T3nrec

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Just did a rebuild of my 450. Before I took it all apart, the speedo and tach lights were not working. So when I got to it, I replaced the bulbs, thinking that was the problem. I replaced them with LED bulbs. While I was in there, I went ahead and replaced all the dash bulbs with the new led bulbs. Thinking it would solve the problem, I put it all back together, mounted it to the bike, and turned the key. Neutral worked great, but now none of the other bulbs came on. No oil light which was working before, and the gear indicator isn't working and the high beam isn't working. Weird. So my question is, should I be looking at the connectors in the harness? Or does it sound like the cluster might be bad? That seems unlikely. It's probably sketching stupid easy, but just in case someone else had the same problem, I wanted to ask. Thanks, comments, qyestions, and derogatory remarks welcome!
 
LED lights usually only like to be plugged in one way. Reverse it and they won't light. Check for power with a known good bulb, or better yet, a meter.
 
Right on, I didn't even think about the reversing thing. I'll check em and see. I did try one with the bulb that is working and it didn't work, but then moved one to the spot where the light was working and it worked, so maybe it was just luck that I put it in right. I'll try reversing the bulbs first.
 
So, I had a chance to take it apart, and tried all the bulbs in the neutral indicator socket, and all the bulbs work there, but they are not working anywhere else. So now I am just going to check all the connections again, just to make sure i have good clean contacts. After that, I have no idea. Hopefully it works, or I'll be back on here for more advice.
 
On my bike, the 1,2,3,4,5 signal wires are reversed. They share a common (+) but each light has its own (-). Don't recall the other indicator light wiring.
 
Thanks man. I unfortunately think I will have to take the whole cluster off and get the tank off to unplug it and check all my wiring. Bummer.
 
Neutral indicator is a different ground than all the others (it grounds out through the neutral sensor switch). If that's working and the others aren't, I would check your primary ground.

EDIT: Nevermind, the oil pressure sensor is also a separate ground and fed by the same hot. Do turn signals work?
 
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Some of the newer LED replacement bulbs actually have two LEDs in them, so it doesn't matter which way you install them.

Now that you know that all of your LEDs work in the neutral position, see if you can reverse the leads to see if polarity matters.

Or you could just use some wires and a battery to do the same thing. :-k

.
 
Turn signals work, even though the turn signal indicator doesn't. Weird. Polarity doesn't matter. Think I just need to go through all the connections again.
 
Don't know what your budget is, but even on the tightest budget you can grab a voltmeter for often under $10.

https://amzn.com/B00TWTLWT8

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-multimeter-98025.html

One of the better investments you can make and will save you *tons* of time and money and frustation in the future!
 
ya, been meaning to for a while. things just keep coming up. had to drop 200 bucks to fix the air conditioner yesterday
 
Got the multimeter. Did some tinkering on the carbs and realized my throttle cable wasn't connected right. In the process of fixing it I looked at the connectors for the dash lights and realized I hade the wrong connectors together. Seems if you plug things in wrong they don't work right...huh...who would've thought...checked the headlight socket while I was in there, because I blew my low beam, and it was about 18v at 5k rpm. Wired the r/r ground directly to the battery and now it is normal. Cool.
 
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