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stupid electrical gremlins

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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Anonymous

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My 78 GS1000 has been running great up til yesterday. This first part may be unrelated but...it'd sat for, I dunno, 4 or 5 days. I went to start it yesterday and it took more cranking than normal, almost like it had lost prime. After 15 seconds or so it fired up and was fine except that the turn signals no longer worked. There was no clicking coming from the signal relay so I figured that was the problem. I put in a replacement this morning, turned the key, no joy. As I was fiddling with this and that I turned the headlight switch off then back on again, now no headlight or taillight. :x :x

So here's where things stand: turnsignals, headlight and taillight don't work nor do the lights behind the tach and speedo. None of the fuses are blown. The bike starts just fine. Neutral and oil lights on the dash are on. The horn works. Neither of my manuals are any real help for troubleshooting. I have a multimeter but I'm not sure where to start tracking down the problem. I'm guessing a short somewhere? Advice is greately appreciated.
 
check the main harness plug for the left switch pod, it is located under the fuel tank, the heat from the engine causes it to break down and crumble, and the contacts corrode shorting out.
 
I checked the plug and it looks okay. I opened up the control though and I found something interesting.
leftcontrol.jpg

The brown/yellow wire you see there was detached from whatever it'd been soldered to. I snipped off the little glod of solder.

leftcontrol_detail.jpg

According to the electrical diagram this wire is for the turn signal cancel switch. Thing is I'm not entirely sure where I'm supposed to solder it back on. The u-shaped cutout below the wire maybe? This assumes the wire was soldered to something in there to begin with. Could this also cause my headlight and taillight to be out. I've also just realized that even though the taillight isn't working the brake light is.
 
Could be in the ignition switch. Awhile back I had no lights and after some troubleshooting decided the problem was in the switch. Took it apart and lo and behold the problem was there. On mine there are contacts on the left and right of the switch. The contacts on each side are connected via two copper plates. Those plates each connect the contacts for only one side of the switch. After figuring out how the switch operates I decided the two plates had to make contact for everything to work right. I used something, don't remember what, to connect the two plates. Put it back together and everything works fine ever since.
 
I did take the ignition switch apart but honestly, I haven't a clue what I'm looking at. For lack of anything else I cleaned the contacts and put it back together. I'll go back to the manuals and see if I can't figure something out.
 
This sounds really familiar.

I had a similar problem the other day. It all started when I went to turn left at an intersection, hit the signal, and the engine died. I thought it might just be a fluke. The next time I went to turn left, the engine died again. Switched on my hi-beam, engine dies. I figured I'd just use hand signals and figure it out when I got home.

Later that day, when going to start the bike, I put in the key, turn it on, clutch, start button... nothing. Not a click. The oil and neutral lights were on and bright though.. So I checked the headlight. Not a glow. No side markers, horn, signals, or anything else electrical either. WHen I let off the clutch, I brushed the turn signal switch with my glove, and all of a sudden we have headlight. And everything else.

The problem ended up being bad grounding. When I had had the airbox off over the weekend, I had neglected to re-attach the small ground wire attaching with the airbox bolts. The small wire wasn't sufficient anyhow..

So, I connected a 12ga wire from the battery to the ground side (left on my bike) of the fuse box, and from there, another to the frame. I also put a new connector on the negative bat cable going to the engine, and SOLDERED ALL CONNECTORS. This helps alleviate corrosion problems in the future. Oh, and I hooked up the ground that had been to the airbox to the ground side of the fusebox too.

No more strange problems! :)
 
stupid electrical gremlins

Hi Bob

Just a note on fuses. You said your fuses are good. Did you check them with your meter or just look at them.
I lost my headlight,tailight and turn signals last year on my 79 GS850 about 20 miles from home. The fuses LOOKED good :? and I made my way home. When I pulled the light fuse the next day the end cap fell off the the glass body of the fuse :!: .
Just something else to check besides all the other suggestions.

Scott
77 GS550,79 GS850
 
ELEC

ELEC

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS ARE GREAT. I WISH YOU WOULD GO TO WORK FOR CLYMERS OR HAYNES.
 
condensr, thanks for the tip. That'll be the next thing I try.

scotto58, I popped in new fuses this morning on the off chance that was it but no dice.

wilmas2cool, ain't it the truth? Every time I open up a service manual I curse the publishers for letting a blind man with a broken disposable camera take their photos. :D
 
condensr said:
So, I connected a 12ga wire from the battery to the ground side (left on my bike) of the fuse box, and from there, another to the frame. I also put a new connector on the negative bat cable going to the engine, and SOLDERED ALL CONNECTORS. This helps alleviate corrosion problems in the future. Oh, and I hooked up the ground that had been to the airbox to the ground side of the fusebox too.
Click to expand...

Just so I understand, you ran a wire from the negative terminal on the battery to the ground connection on the fusebox correct? And with the ground wire from the fusebox to the frame, is that just connected to a conveniently located bolt? I'm not at all squared away on electrical stuff so I want to make sure I'm interpreting your advice correctly. :D

edited to add>>
I pulled off the fusebox and I think I get it but I've included this handy visual aid so there's no mistaking what I'm asking. :wink:
fusebox_rearview.jpg
 
looks to me like that is the B+ side of the fuse buss. you put a gound there you get fire or blown fuses
 
Ok, your fusebox is a lot different than mine .. 8O

Connect a ring connector on the end of your new ground wire and just connect it to the fusebox mounting screws..

My bike has an acessory power tap on the bottom of the fuse panel that has two connector screws: + (right side, from accessory fuse) and - (left side).

Sorry for the confusion. Long and short of it, just make sure your chassis, engine, battery box (seperate cause its on rubber mounts), and regulator/rect are adequately grounded..
 
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