All warning lights on - '83 GS1100E

[Joe Nardy]

While out on a ride today all my status indicators (oil pressure, side stand, head lamp, tail lamp, and stop lamp) came on. There is nothing wrong with the bike as far as I can tell. I rode for over an hour at 70+ mph after the lights came on and the bike ran perfectly. All my lights are working and my oil pressure must be good because it didn't blow up. I've checked the simple stuff like loose connectors and fuses. The charging system seems to be okay too, putting out 13.7 volts at 5k rpm. I'm tracing the wiring now to see if I can find something common between all the indicator lights.

Has anyone ever experienced this? I'd welcome any input you wise guys can provide. :-D I need a quick resolution because I'll be out of town through Thursday and scheduled to leave for Brown County early Friday morning.

Thanks,
Joe

[holydvr]

Maybe the headlamp control relay?? The black box under the tank with the load of wires coming out of it.. My 1100 has all the lights on as well..and I know it has oil pressure..The only one I can get to go off at times is the sidestand light..

[Joe Nardy]

Maybe the headlamp control relay?? The black box under the tank with the load of wires coming out of it.. My 1100 has all the lights on as well..and I know it has oil pressure..The only one I can get to go off at times is the sidestand light..

Very interesting observation about the oil pressure........... I think I can help.

I spent several hours trying to troubleshoot this problem tonight. It is nearly impossible to troubleshoot because the 'headlamp control relay' (per the parts schematic), also known as 'Check Panel Control Unit' on the wiring diagram, is just shown as a black box. I wasn't able to find a schematic of the inner workings of the unit. I traced every wire from the box to its destination and couldn't find anything wrong. I gave up and decided it must be the unit itself. I even entered a post asking if anyone had one they would sell me.

There were a couple confusing things I found in the wiring diagram. One was trying to figure out how the control unit knew if the bike was running. It is normal for all the lights to be on when the key is switched on but the engine isn't running. Again, it's a black box. I also couldn't figure out why the oil pressure switch had a direct path to the oil pressure indicator but also went to the control unit. Sooooo.....while I was taking a shower after giving up on troubleshooting a brilliant (to me at least) idea popped into my head! Maybe the control unit used the oil pressure switch to tell it the engine was running? This would explain why the oil pressure switch went directly to the sensor light and also to the control unit. I went back to the garage, turned the key on, and saw all the lights lit. I then unplugged the oil pressure switch. The lights went out! (all except for the sidestand light, which went out when I raised the side stand.)

So now I had either low oil pressure (not likely since I rode the bike 200 miles today, a good portion of which was pretty hard riding) or a defective switch. I removed the switch, sprayed some contact cleaner on it, checked it for smooth movement, and re-installed it. Turned the key on, all lights. Started the bike, no lights! I'm so proud of myself! Now I just have to find time to put the bike back together so I can take it out on a shakedown run and hopefully ride it to Brown County!!!

I think there's a good chance you have the same problem as I did. Just unplug the oil pressure switch and see if your lights go off. If so, try cleaning the switch or just replace it. Good luck and please let me know if this fixes your problem!


Thanks,
Joe

[denydog]

Good job on working that out. This is one to file away for future reference!

[Planecrazy]

All problems should be THAT serious, no??

See you Friday, Joe!

[earlfor]

That was some damn impressive deductive logic Joe. Cheers!!!!

E.


[quote=Joe Nardy
I think there's a good chance you have the same problem as I did. Just unplug the oil pressure switch and see if your lights go off. If so, try cleaning the switch or just replace it. Good luck and please let me know if this fixes your problem!


Thanks,
Joe[/quote]

[bonanzadave]

Nice ! Now what about the intermittent lights. My Stop and Tail indicators seem to go off and on alot. Ive always thought it may be a bad ground and now Im thinking that black box. Thoughts..........?

[chef1366]

So if your oil pressure is indeed low you have to troubleshoot all the things to figure out that one point? Wow.

[Joe Nardy]

That was some damn impressive deductive logic Joe. Cheers!!!!

E.

Thanks Earl! I was pretty proud of this one. I have a very logical mind and just can't stand to leave a problem unsolved.

Nice ! Now what about the intermittent lights. My Stop and Tail indicators seem to go off and on alot. Ive always thought it may be a bad ground and now Im thinking that black box. Thoughts..........?

I'm not sure about intermittent lights. For the past year or so I have had a very intermittent tail lamp indicator. It seems to happen when the weather is cold and humid, like when descending into a valley in cool weather. During my troubleshooting last night I reseated and applied dielectric grease to just about every connector on the bike. I'll try to post after the Brown County Rally and let you know if the intermittent indicator has disappeared.

So if your oil pressure is indeed low you have to troubleshoot all the things to figure out that one point? Wow.

It sure seems that way. Maybe there's something else wrong with my bike but I've pretty much proven (to myself at least) how the circuit works. I'm out of town and can't verify this but I believe if you disconnect the Check Panel Control Unit the oil pressure indicator will still function because it has a separate circuit to the indicator. I was pretty sure my oil pressure was okay but I had done an oil change the day before and I was worried I might have screwed something up.

Thanks,
Joe