Can't make the headlight or running lights work

[Redneck]

Okay I have gotten all the signals working the brake lights working and have verified that the running light filament is working and that the healight bulb is good in both hi and low beam, but for the life of me I can't get power to the headlight or running lights. Now the headlight/running light is suppose to be powered from the gray wire that comes from the ignition. It provides the 12V power for the headlight/running lights. Now my problem is this, I look at the wiring diagram of the ignition and it gives me three positions-On-off-p- what is the "p" i did continuity checks. red to orange when on is a short and brown to gray when on is a short. When in the "p" position red to gray is suppose to be short. (Red is the power from the battery) But my key only has two positions. On and Off. Can someone help me with this. Like I said everything else works the only thing left to fix is this headlight/running light issue and it has me stumped. Thanks in advance.

Paul

[mendomotox]

on my 1982 GS1100E the key has 'lock', 'off', 'on', and 'p'. i think p stands for park. on mine p'' locks the steering as if it were in 'lock'.

[Steve]

Would you believe that your switch actually has FOUR positions?

Yep, to the left of the OFF position is the LOCK position. The handlebars have to be turned all the way to either side and you might have to push the key in just a bit to turn to the LOCK, but that is how you can lock your handlebars.

If you do the same thing, but to the right, past the ON position, there is the "P" or PARK position. It will also lock your handlebars, but it also turns on the tail light, so don't use that position if you expect to come back to a bike that has enough 'juice' left in the battery to start the bike.

Now, for your headlight problem. Have you checked the fuse? You can't just look at it, use a test light or a meter to VERIFY that it's a good fuse. It might also be in the wiring behind the fuse or in any of the several connectors between the fuse and the headlight.

.

[Suzuki_Don]

The gray wire only powers the instrument panel lights.

The headlight is powered by the WHITE (Lo Beam) and YELLOW (Hi Beam) wires.

The way it works is like this:
Orange/Red wire from fuse to LH handlebar switch. This powers the dimmer switch.
From dimmer switch it is either a YELLOW or WHITE wire to HI or LO beam respectively

[Redneck]

Would you believe that your switch actually has FOUR positions?

Yep, to the left of the OFF position is the LOCK position. The handlebars have to be turned all the way to either side and you might have to push the key in just a bit to turn to the LOCK, but that is how you can lock your handlebars.

If you do the same thing, but to the right, past the ON position, there is the "P" or PARK position. It will also lock your handlebars, but it also turns on the tail light, so don't use that position if you expect to come back to a bike that has enough 'juice' left in the battery to start the bike.

Now, for your headlight problem. Have you checked the fuse? You can't just look at it, use a test light or a meter to VERIFY that it's a good fuse. It might also be in the wiring behind the fuse or in any of the several connectors between the fuse and the headlight.

.

WoW did not know that at all. I have checked my fuse panel, I have a multimeter so I know I had good voltage think it was 11.78 at the time but I had the key on for a while during this trouble shooting.

The gray wire only powers the instrument panel lights.

The headlight is powered by the WHITE (Lo Beam) and YELLOW (Hi Beam) wires.

The way it works is like this:
Orange/Red wire from fuse to LH handlebar switch. This powers the dimmer switch.
From dimmer switch it is either a YELLOW or WHITE wire to HI or LO beam respectively

Thanks Don, this is what you get when you try to work with schematics and wiring at 1 A.M. after you get home from work. I picked up my wiring diagram after reading your post and followed every line you were talking about. Need to go down now and check if I have power in that orange and red wire then trace it back to the fuse box and find out where I am loosing it at. Thanks again everyone.

Paul

[Steve]

I picked up my wiring diagram after reading your post and followed every line you were talking about.

Be careful following wiring diagrams. Some of them are WRONG.

Some of the Clymer diagrams have the gray and orange wires reversed at the ignition switch. If you follow the diagram, the red wire from the fuse panel to the ignition switch apparently goes to the gray wire when the key is ON. This is not correct. If you swap the gray and orange wires in the diagram, you will see that the red wire should be connected to the ORANGE wire.

Not sure if this is also happening in the diagram for your bike, but it just shows that not all the wiring diagrams are correct, so read them carefully.

.

[Suzuki_Don]

Be careful following wiring diagrams. Some of them are WRONG.

Even some of the Suzuki Factory Manual wiring diagrams are wrong. Andre (Matchless) and myself discovered part of a diagram in a GS650 Factory Manual that would have been impossible to work if the bike had been wired up that way.

[Redneck]

Be careful following wiring diagrams. Some of them are WRONG.

Some of the Clymer diagrams have the gray and orange wires reversed at the ignition switch. If you follow the diagram, the red wire from the fuse panel to the ignition switch apparently goes to the gray wire when the key is ON. This is not correct. If you swap the gray and orange wires in the diagram, you will see that the red wire should be connected to the ORANGE wire.

Not sure if this is also happening in the diagram for your bike, but it just shows that not all the wiring diagrams are correct, so read them carefully.

.

Did not know that but I did get it the problem figured out. It was the connection coming off the fuse box that was the problem. I have not done the full electrical removal and clean bit because I wanted to get the bike road ready and take my MSF course. This winter after the first good snow fall I am going to strip the bike down to the frame and engine, clean up all the wiring and connectors replace all the hardware with stainless, media blast the engine and repaint the frame. But for now I just want to get on the road and start riding. And now I can. All systems are go. I take the military exemption to the BMV tomorrow and hopefully get an inspection done tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning. Almost there.