Intermittent turn signals

[officerbill]

They work sometimes and then they don’t. Cleaned the switch, checked the bulbs (found a burnt one tonight), triple checked the connections, and yet the signals work when they want.
The bike is the 79 850 with a Vetter’s fairing, I’ve been in and out of all these cute little wires, and to my simple understanding of eceltricty the signals ought to be working.
What do you think I missed? It is inspection time, and the sticker is out of date. In Pa. I can get an antique tag and don’t need to pass inspections anymore, but I’d still like to have signals.
Bill

[Kcwiro]

Have you tried swapping your relay? Cheap part from any autoparts store

[officerbill]

Have not gone there yet. I was thinking maybe the self canceling device had gone south. Then the buggers work, then they stop. I'll see what I can scrounge up in the morning. Is there a way to test the relay?
Bill

[Kitten Tooth]

pull one out of your car or something. Any blinker relay will work. At least in the older cars they do. Pull the relay off and stick a piece of wiring in there to connect the two leads. Turn on the signals and see if they stay turned on without any problems. IF thats the case, just replace the relay, VERY cheap part, could get it at any auto parts store. If that does not fix the issue, remove the right hand controls with the switch for the blinkers and clean the contacts on the inside. Im almost certain that a new relay will fix the issue. disconnect and reconnect all the wires after getting a new relay to be sure thats its all good.

[850 Combat]

If you want self cancelling, it is a super expensive relay, and you need the controller too

I'm going to bite the bullet and buy the parts

My red 1000G does the same thing. Now even with a car relay

[Steve]

Would you believe that turn signals are supposed to be intermittent?

Yep, they go ON, OFF, ON, OFF, etc.



As others have mentioned, one possibility is the flasher unit itself, and a new one to replace it directly is EXPENSIVE.

How about a little more detail in how they don't work?
Do you flip the switch and nothing happens?
Do you flip the switch, the signal comes ON and stays ON?

If you flip the switch and nothing happens, try this:
In the connector that feeds the left handgrip switch, there are 6 or 7 wires. One should be O/R (orange, with red stripe), another should be LB (light blue). When the key is ON, the O/R wire should be live (12 volts). When you turn on either signal by pushing the selector to either extreme, the LB wire should be momentarily live while you hold the switch to either extreme. That is what turns on the control unit to start the signals flashing. If you don't have that signal, they won't work. It might be as simple as cleaning your switch to restore proper electrical function. PLEASE try spraying some electrical contact cleaner in there first, before you decide to take the switch apart. (Be sure to cover your tank and other parts with rags to prevent any cleaner getting onto your paint.) Radio Shack has a cleaner that is among the best, and somewhat readily available. Might be about $10 for the can, but it's really good stuff. If you decide to take the switch apart, be aware that there are LOTS of little, tiny parts in there, about half of them are spring-loaded in the blow-apart position.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

.

[officerbill]

Would you believe that turn signals are supposed to be intermittent?

Yep, they go ON, OFF, ON, OFF, etc.



As others have mentioned, one possibility is the flasher unit itself, and a new one to replace it directly is EXPENSIVE.

How about a little more detail in how they don't work?
Do you flip the switch and nothing happens?
Do you flip the switch, the signal comes ON and stays ON?

If you flip the switch and nothing happens, try this:
In the connector that feeds the left handgrip switch, there are 6 or 7 wires. One should be O/R (orange, with red stripe), another should be LB (light blue). When the key is ON, the O/R wire should be live (12 volts). When you turn on either signal by pushing the selector to either extreme, the LB wire should be momentarily live while you hold the switch to either extreme. That is what turns on the control unit to start the signals flashing. If you don't have that signal, they won't work. It might be as simple as cleaning your switch to restore proper electrical function. PLEASE try spraying some electrical contact cleaner in there first, before you decide to take the switch apart. (Be sure to cover your tank and other parts with rags to prevent any cleaner getting onto your paint.) Radio Shack has a cleaner that is among the best, and somewhat readily available. Might be about $10 for the can, but it's really good stuff. If you decide to take the switch apart, be aware that there are LOTS of little, tiny parts in there, about half of them are spring-loaded in the blow-apart position.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

.

Thanks Steve,
I've used the cleaner stuff in the switch, I've gently taken the control off the handle bars and used a bit of emory tape to work the parts of the switch I could get to, I have not tried the relays yet. I will get the old multi meter out and poke and prod a bit.
I'm coming to believe there is more than one lose connection on this bike, me being the largest one. On the ride in tonight the signals didn't work when I left home, on my last turn into work they worked again. I really dislike malfuctioning electrical stuff.
Bill

[Wallowgreen]

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news mate but my money's on the self cancelling unit under the right side cover. The behaviour you describe is typical of one on the fritz. Sadly with the '79 there's no "fail safe" mode like with the '80 and later set up. When I got my '79 850 I could only turn right most days!

[motman]

When I got my '79 850 I could only turn right most days!

haha that's great, some people here in colorado don't use blinkers at all,it's madness.

[Coady]

Have you checked the ground on the rear blinkers? Undone the nuts that hold them on and checked any corrosion there?

I replaced a flasher unit unnecessarily due to a bad ground that I missed. It would flash with fully charged battery or higher revs but sometimes wouldn't at idle.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Do you get 12v on the Orange/Green wire coming out of the turn signal controller when you turn on the blinker? If so, then your stock turn signal relay is dead. If not, then your controller (self-canceling unit) is dead. I disabled the auto-canceling feature when I installed an inexpensive turn signal relay when my stock on failed.

Turn Signal Relay Replacement

I've seen a $40 price just for the stock turn signal relay. The control unit is even more expensive.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff