lights/turn signals not working

[Guest]

Picked up a non running 1980 GL1000GL. Getting it back together with new battery. Main red wire from reg/rec goes to fuse box, battery and ignition switch. It is hot at the ignition switch with key on. The ORANGE wire that comes back and feeds the three main fused/switch circuits is hot at headlight and going into the fuse block and all circuits show 12VDC across the fuses. I don't have the horns hooked up yet but the coil wires (orange/white) are not hot with the key on and kill switch in run position and the headlight and turn signals don't work nor does the tail/brake light which pretty much takes in all three circuits fed by the orange wire. The red and green idiot lights on the dash are working but that is all.

Any tips or ideas as to why none of the other circuits work? I haven't messed with them or the connectors yet.

[OldVet66]

Look at the kill switch. When you say hot I take it you mean it has power. If it is hot as in warm, it indicates a high contact resistance. Normal electrical harness maintenance includes all connectors, plugs switches, grounds and fuse box. I'm going to go through mine again with Deoxit D5 and Deoxit gold, replace all the plugs with waterproof connectors and the fuse box with my SSPB if I catch a tail wind along the way. I also plan on a lot more riding this season, so that may delay some of the work. Be careful with the switches, a nice clear plastic bag to work inside of will save little parts and springs from being lost.

[geol]

When I say hot, I mean energized... not physically warm. I will check OUT of the kill switch but since I am not getting anything at the coils, this might be the right place. Also, the circuits coming out of the ignition switch going BACK to fuse box are about 2 volts low so I may eventually need a new ignition switch... I know this and am loathe to take that thing apart and try to clean it. Just hate to have to re-key everything else. A full lockset appears very expensive.

[OldVet66]

The ignition switch can be disassembled and cleaned without any problems from what I have read. Early on I had to solder a wire in my kill switch. It is very tight in there and by design I believe there is a bit too much strain on some of the wires. The first time I exposed it some strands were already broken and parted the rest of the way when opened up. I have procrastinated with mine because of the fairing and all the stuff I have to remove, but it is high time to clean my ignition switch. Once the green patina is cleaned from the switch I am sure the voltage will be restored. This is where the Deoxit and dielectric grease would be beneficial.

[geol]

You keep bragging on the benefits of Deoxit; will have to get some. Spray contact cleaner is about useless IMHO. Thanks.

And I did figure out the issue. Took battery box out and media blasted and painted. When reinstalled, I connected the two small ground wires with round terminals to one of the M6 screws that I used to reinstall the starter relay. NO GROUND as they didn't ground through the painted surface plus the battery box is pretty much insuslated anyway. I too these two grounds direct to the negative battery terminal and all is good.

[phydeauxmutt]

You mentioned you have your situation solved, but there were a few things in your first post that really need to be addressed to avoid some confusion.

I am pasting your post and adding my comments.

Picked up a non running 1980 GL1000GL. Getting it back together with new battery. Main red wire from reg/rec goes to fuse box, battery and ignition switch. It is hot at the ignition switch with key on.
The red wire should be 'hot' ALL the time, not just when the key is on.

The ORANGE wire that comes back and feeds the three main fused/switch circuits is hot at headlight and going into the fuse block and all circuits show 12VDC across the fuses.
The orange wire only feeds the fuse panel, it should not be "at the headlight".

I don't have the horns hooked up yet but the coil wires (orange/white) are not hot with the key on and kill switch in run position and the headlight and turn signals don't work nor does the tail/brake light which pretty much takes in all three circuits fed by the orange wire.
The three circuits are LIGHTS, SIGNALS and IGNITION. The LIGHTS fuse only does the headlight and instrument lights. The SIGNALS fuse does the turn signals, brake light, horn and warning lights. The IGNITION fuse does the coils and ignitor. The tail light is actually fed by the brown wire coming from the ignition switch. With the switch in the ON position, the brown wire is fed by the gray wire, which is fed by the LIGHTS fuse. With the switch in the PARK position, the brown wire is fed by the red wire, which comes from the battery via the MAIN fuse.

The red and green idiot lights on the dash are working but that is all.
As mentioned above, they are fed by the SIGNALS fuse.

Any tips or ideas as to why none of the other circuits work?
Verify (with a meter or a test light) that you have power on both sides of each fuse. Sometimes the fuse will appear to be good, but will be blown behind the metal cap, where you can't see it.

I haven't messed with them or the connectors yet.
It is HIGHLY recommended that you open each connector, clean the contacts the best you can, then apply some dielectric grease and put the connector back together. If you have a test light, verify your contacts as you go.

[geol]

"The ORANGE wire that comes back and feeds the three main fused/switch circuits is hot at headlight and going into the fuse block and all circuits show 12VDC across the fuses.
The orange wire only feeds the fuse panel, it should not be "at the headlight"."

The Orange wire goes through the ignition switch making the orange wire switched I think. I know it feeds the fuses for the other cicuits and that was my intent on saying it the way I did. You can take apart the connector and check the voltage inside the headlight shell and I verified it there and tested continuity AND voltage on both sides of each fuse as a first trouble shooting technique.Problem was lack of grounding. I had already taken apart the main connectors and cleaned/lubed with dielectric grease. You are right about the red wire hot as it is conencted with the battery... hope my rambling didn't confuse anyone.