Turn Signal Problems 79F

[Lettuceman]

1979 F w/Yamaha fairing, hard bags, the fuse box has been replaced with inline blade fuses (not pretty but it works). Battery is fully charged.

The left side signal works fine front and rear, the right side lights up front and rear but will not flash.

I rebuilt the left handle bar control and it seems to work fine. I have tested with a known good left control from a 1979 SF and get same test results.

I have tested the flasher relay on another bike and it seems fine and also used a known working flasher relay and left side works - right side does not. When holding the flasher relay in hand and activating the signal control I can feel the left side pulse and tick, when the right side is activated it clicks on but does not flash.

Voltage is 10 on the left and varies as the flasher works, voltage goes to 10 on the right and holds.

I unplugged the signal canceling unit and it has no effect on test.

I tested the ground on both rear lights and it ohms out good.

The faring running lights work fine both right and left.

I would appreciate any feedback – I am certainly not a DC electrician.

[TopCatGr58]

Sounds like you've done most of the testing already!

A bad ground can cause a problem, but you say that both front and rear light up, but don't flash. The flasher is a thermal unit, and requires a fair amount of current draw to heat it up to make it work. Sometimes PO's will put a slightly smaller watt rated bulb in the signals, will fit the plug, but won't create enough draw. I would check what bulbs you have, maybe even swap the bulbs from left to right and see if problem goes away or moves to left side?
T.C.

[wa407mpp]

Two plugs under the tank on the left side check and clean them. they don't have to be very corroded or unplugged very far to cause problems

[Lettuceman]

Signal problem solved

Thank-you for the advice.

I checked the bulbs and all connectors. I tracked the problem down to the connections between the wire harness and the fairing pigtail, it was a combination of loose connectors and worn shorting wires.

Problem solved!