Turn signal lamps not working

[Anonymous]

Hey folks, my electrical re-wire project is almost complete. I have the harness back in and everything is connected according to the wiring diagram.

I was having trouble with my signals last night, though. The front left was dim, front right and rear right were bright, and the rear left was off. The signal switch didn't do anything, though the high- and low-beam switch did.

I pulled the lamps out of the indicators and found that in the rear the two lamps are identical single-fillament lamps, but one of the front lamps is dual- and the other single-fillament. The front lamp sockets seem to be designed to hold the dual-fillament lamps properly, the knobs on the sides of the dual-fillament lamps fit into the sockets properly. The single-fillament lamp had been wedged into the socket with a piece of plastic.

Now, it was the duel-fillament lamp that was dim and the single-fillament lamp that was bright. But, after I removed the jammed-in single-fillament I couldn't get it to work again. I'm going to go buy another pair of seemingly-proper dual-fillament lamps today.

But, I wonder about the wiring. According to the diagram, two wires, if I'm reading it correctly, travel to each lamp. One ground and one that goes to the turn-signal switch/ turn signal indicator/ and the corrosponding rear turn signal. However, the socket itself is grounded, and when I wire the lamps according to the diagram they don't work. However, when I tie the spare ignition wire to the "ground" wires, they work.

Any ideas?

PS: how can I tell if my turn signal relay and turn signal control unit are working? I've got a volt-meter and I figure I should be able to test them somehow with it.

[Anonymous]

Electrical insomnia

Nothing? No one can even suggest a way to check the functionality of the turn signal relay and turn signal control unit with a volt meter?

[Jethro]

Man, I think you PM'd me about this, right? I wish I could help. I have found that the only way to get my signals to work right is to hook up all the wires in all the different configurations possible. As I remember, with my 81 there were two wires coming out of the turn signal stalk, both were hot and the mounting bolt was the ground. One of those wires was a continuous loop and the other was broken with the flasher.

Sorry I can't be more help...

Paging Doctor Earl....

[Jay Swan]

Turn signals

What bike are we talking about? On the dual filament bulbs vs single element, are the right side bulbs single element(both) or dual? You said they work, I would match up to them. Also, the socket for the single will have a single contact button in the middle of the fiber disk inside the socket. A dual filament socket, of course will have two contacts side by side on the little fiber disk inside the socket. I dont know why as dual element bulb would be in a turn signal though.

On the Turn signal controller, I can tell you on my 1979 GS1000 E, from the turn signal fuse in the fuse block the 12volt wire then goes to the flasher unit (that is in series) then goes to the controller where it feeds the circuit board mounted relays. Then the relays feed the turn signal bulbs. If one of the left side bulbs is turning on, the relay and 12 volt feed from the flasher is working. I can assume that there is not enough current flowing to make the flasher cycle on and off, like one dead bulb. If at least one bulb lights up on each side, then the relays are working and the switch circuitry (right and left signal switch on the bars) is working too.
It just seems that the problem is down to finding the correct bulb for the socket.
Let me know how you make out, I sent a bunch of time reparing mine. I mounted my controller upside down and it filled up with water. One relay went south, so I replaced both with some external relays. Not elegant, but darn it, it works!

Jay

[Anonymous]

It's a 1981 GS850. Both sockets have dual contacts so I went out and replaced both with new dual-fillament bulbs. Would the front signals be dual-fillament so that they stay on while running (weak fillament) and flash while signaling (strong fillament)? If so, then why are the rear sockets not dual?

With both new front dual-fillament bulbs in, the front signals turn on and stay on when I turn on the bike. The rear signals are completely off now. The signal switch still doesn't do anything at all. The rear bulbs are new single-fillament, too.

When I bought the bike the Signal Relay was missing and I went to Napa and bought a generic 12v one for autos- had the same plug even. That should work, no?

[Jay Swan]

Turn signals

I am a bit confused why there would be dual filament bulbs up front, so I will let other GS'ers more experienced answer that one. As to wether an auto flasher is Ok, I would think so as the bulbs we use are 1156's (single)
and 1157's (dual filament), same as in my truck. But, It will take two bulbs burning to start the flasher flashing. Guys, any info on the dual filament bulbs on a GS850??

Jay

[bill acamo]

auto flasher is ok sounds like someone was tring put make it have running lights but i could be wrong

Bill Acamo
bil366

[jonr]

J2x,

I'll take a stab at why you've got dual filament sockets in the front. Did that bike ever have a touring package on it? Maybe Suzuki wired duals in front to accomodate new bikes that went out with the a touring package? This is a real shot in the dark here...

I'm pretty sure that most GS signals use the mounting bolt as the ground (someone mentioned this earlier I believe) so wire one of the wires as constant hot (to the headlight switch probably) and wire the other one to your turn signal switch.

Hope this helps.
Jon

[Anonymous]

jonr- that's what I was thinking. I can now get all the signals to turn on at the same time, but I still can't get the signal switch to do a damn thing. I tried switching it to all positions and checking the wire cluster going into the turn signal control unit and none of the switch positions produced a single hot wire, other than the constant power line.

I'm also confused about the relay. shouldn't it produce an intermittant current with any of the switch positions (other than center)? With ALL positions (including center) the relay outputs a constant current.

argh...

[Anonymous]

and how does the distance center fit into the mix? I'm doing all this with my bike turned on, but not running and certainly not moving. I just noticed that when I switch the signal to the far right or left there's a wire going to the control unit that shows current. I still don't see the relay doing *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$...

[Anonymous]

My '82 GS850 had single filament bulbs front and rear with two wires going to each one, and they did not ground through the mounting bolts. You need a wiring diagram and voltmeter to see what's going on.

I converted my front ones to double filament units so I'd have running lights. A PO may have done the same thing to yours. I used an existing pair of wires in the headlight shell for the running light filaments. As I recall, they were brown. A wiring diagram will tell you which wires to connect for your blinkers.

[Anonymous]

F*CKING RELAY! **Problem Found**

Alright, folks, I found the culprit. It's not the questionable turn signal control unit, it's not a faulty ground. It's the $3 relay that I bought from Napa auto parts. I *thought* I had read on one of these threads that a typical 12v auto relay could replace the stock unit.

What I wonder, then, is what the f*ck I'm holding in my hand. Since there wasn't a stock relay in my bike when I bought it, I asked Napa simply for a generic 12v replay. Since I didn't know better, I took the package labled Thermal Flasher and believed it was what I wanted. When I got home my confidence increased when I saw that it's three prongs plugged directly into the stock connector.

So, I'm pooling your collective wisdom for where my fault is. The "relay" I'm no longer using, but holding in my hand, is of Tridon brand, part number F550. It's labled 12v - 32CP (?) - MAX4 (?) - Indonesia (of course). On the back of the package it's advertised as being For Hazard Warning - Variable Load - For Car/Truck Trailering.

So, WTF?!

Distilled, all I really want to know, is what part I want to specifically ask for.

PS: I just checked and saw that indeed my battery is putting out 11.6v (is that normal? I just charged it tonight), but that only 1.6v is making it to the relay. Is this normal? And, if so, is the "thermal" flasher not getting enough current to make it flash?

[Jay Swan]

turn signals

J2X,

I dont believe if you are measuring from the flasher to ground that 1.6 v is right, should be close to the battery voltage on one of the connectors. Does the plug on the bike have 2 prong sockets, or 3? and if there are 3, are the internal connections on the new NAPA unit the same as the bike plug connections, I wonder.......
I found a link to a BMW motorcycle support site,

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/electrical_and_ignition/electronic_flasher_relay.html

and it states:

"Get a 3 prong flasher unit with terminals marked "X," "P" and "L." There are different spec units available. Littlefuse makes a unit designated "EFL 300" that is appropriate- if you cross reference to that, you will get the right part. The X terminal is the +12V input, the P terminal output drives the flasher indicator in the instrument panel, and the L terminal drives the load (bulbs). "
does your flasher have these pin marked like this?
Hope this helps.

Jay

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info, Jay. Yes, it is a 3-prong unit with X, P, & L on it's prongs, though it is labled a "550", not a "300". What's the difference?

I just talked to a rider at Napa who said that my battery should be putting out 12.3v, and that 11.6 is basically dead, even though I told him all my other lights shined bright. He really sounded like he knew what he was talking about, but I can't believe that 11.6 is dead, since I had JUST charged the battery and everything else electrical was working great.

[jonr]

j2x,

11.6 is DEAD! Give her some charge and check your charging system with the stator papers (here on this site).

-Jon