Another turn signal problem.

[Yard Dogg]

I'm having issues with my turn signals. I've searched all the other threads I can find and all i see is clean the connections, and some voodoo.

I was first having trouble with my headlight and gauge lights not working, so I came on here and learned it was the headlight relay. Being a cheapo and not feeling that I need it, I bypassed it and got it working again. So I went for a ride and my turn signals have stopped working. I've had troubles with them before and have cleaned connections, bulb sockets, and the switch. The switch felt funny yet again for the 3rd time in a year so again I took it apart cleaned it up and put it back together. As it was hanging there before I bolted it to the handlebars, everything was working great. The ignition was on, left flashed, right flashed, hazards flashed. I started the bike and tried it all again, everything worked. So I screwed it to the handlebars, got my helmet ready to ride, started the bike, back to crap again.

The left one flashes, the right does nothing, but the flasher is buzzing, and the hazards do nothing but make some other things flash. Gotta be a bad connection from when I clamped it to the bars right? Something shifted? Took the switch off again, decided it must be the hazard switch slider thing cross connecting wrong cause it looks and feels worn out. So I decided I would get rid of it since I don't use it anyway. I soldered the wire over to the post that should normally be jumped across when the switch is not in use (I know it's right), tried the switch again and still have the same problem. I know it's all getting enough juice, I've done lots of cleaning and applied elec. grease to about every connection I can find on the bike.

Is it the flasher? I'm at a loss.

[dpotter58]

30 year old bike dogg. Get a multi meter and wiring diagram. Work your way through the wires, conections and sockets. Do you have the correct bulbs in the signals? Old school bike, old school troubleshooting.

[Yard Dogg]

No doubt. I had to take a moment away from it with 2 - 22oz. joose drinks at 9.9% alcohol and a trip to the top of the hill where I could scream some 10 syllable words at the top of my lungs in a raging wind storm, perfect for the occasion cause I'm feeling stormy. I've spent more time working on this bike than I ever will riding it.

I know I'll be at it and focused yet again tomorrow with a whole new tear down on my mind. I think I'm gonna do a real nice butcher job and get rid of all that Jap BS electrical garbage. 10 miles of extra wire, loads of tiny plastic parts and doodads and relays just for automatic turn signal cancelers, I don't think so. Hazard flashers, good bye. 20 miles of wiring tucked under my headlight, no way. Weak charging system, asta la vista! Another 100 miles of wiring for a stupid black box to switch from my low beam to my high beam in case of low beam failure, that's a great idea when I tell myself, "Sure, I think I'll wait to turn on my high beam, because I'd rather ride home in the dark and maybe hit an 18 wheeler on the ride home. Why? Because I don't want to figure out which 1,000 miles of wiring connected to 20 black boxes with a bunch of numbers on them is to blame for burning out my low beam."

I'm gonna do what I did with my Dodge, another vehicle notorious for faulty wiring, and rip out the wiring harness, check every connection, then pray.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Hi, Yard Dogg...

First, I understand your frustration!

Second, I offer a few things to think about that I've experienced with mine...

1) Most won't flash unless it's running, and rapped to at least 2000 rpm. (Thanks to the weak charging system and the archaic flasher design you've previously mentioned...)

2) If it's a bad flasher, it won't flash at all... either side. If it flashes on one side & not the other, the flasher's still good usually.

3) My alternator stator coil cracked, and it wasn't charging right. Mine would flash on the right side, but not the left. Replaced that, works great both sides now. Might check that? (How much voltage it's charging...)

4) Blown bulb, front or back, will cause it not to flash.

5) Switch may be fubarred, and grounding out when you fastened it back on...

6) Bad connection ANYWHERE in the headlight bucket...

7) Bad ground connections will cause a multitude of stupid, erratic behavior in anything electrical. Checked all the main grounding points?

8) As CBug asked... ya gotta watch the wattage of the bulbs placed in the circuits... too weak, and there's not enough draw on the flasher... (heat type flasher.)

Question: Have you noticed any flaring or dimming of the rest of the lights at night when riding? That's what mine was doing, which led me to check the stator coil. Found the epoxy was cracked up in several places around the coil.

I'm sure you've probably already checked all this, but thought I'd throw them out there. Sometimes, it's some little (usually obvious) thing overlooked that will usually bite ya in the butt...

Hang in there, electrical gremlins are the pits...

[crazy steve]

If it was all working right up until you mounted it on the bars, see if you have a damaged wire between the switch and where it goes. Worn insulation, partially broken wire, low grade short/ground, and the problem is probably hidden under the original wrap...

'78E original owner

[Yard Dogg]

Thanks Crazy Steve and xjok2play, your the man. If you were here, I'd probably give you one of those, " I love you man, beer drunk sloppy hugs." It's a good thing your not. I'm brooding.

I can't say it was all well before. I felt the electrical gremlins coming on. Believe it or not, I'm a pretty decent mechanic, I actually enjoy electrical troubles. I have not checked how much voltage my charging system is putting out. I have quite a bit of equip and tools but not the stuff for that. I need to pull my wiring harness and do a much more thorough check of things and everything it entails. The thing I'm most confused about, is I realize most systems will not blink at idle, and to blink with only the ignition is almost a thing unheard of, but mine did. When I fooled with the switch I got it all working again, perfectly, and damned bright too with only the ignition turned on. Then I screwed the switch back on and started the bike. It all went right bakc to where it was. I looked for a pinched wire on the switch when I screwed it back on, I know it wasn't that. I bypassed the hazard switch that didn't fix it.

Maybe I need to check out my voltage regulator. Do you think it's possible the battery may have been slightly over charged after my ride, then it got weaker after I sat and fooled with it turning the ignition on and off messing with things, then when I cranked the engine again it went back to weaker charge and screwed up what I had fixed?

[randy]

Unmounted (un-grounded) it works. Here's my WAG: one or more of your wires inside the clamshell is frayed/shorted to the case.

[Yard Dogg]

Randy, where's your pics of swamp thing? I'd like to know the story.

[psycoreefer]

hmm, tagging along, the 81 I just picked up does the same thing, only blinks on the left side, I haven't looked it over yet and I'm assuming its a bad bulb but I'm interested in hearing what you find.

[Yard Dogg]

I'll dig into it hear in a bit.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Morning YD,
I'm thinking Randy's got the problem id'd...

Sounds like the switch....

When mine was the stator acting up, it also had the other symptoms to go along with it... pilot box lights as well as headlight would surge & dim...

Voltmeter, DMM, or analog type's all you'd need to check voltage... at rest compared to when the bike's running... just check it at the battery...

That is amazing that they would actually work when the bike was not running! You don't see that very often.

Even my XJ, which has a stronger charging system than the XS, won't flash @ the 1200 rpm idle speed... have to increase it to 1500 to make them flash @ a stop light... so for yours to work with the bike turned off??

But, if they worked then quit after fastening the switch back in place sounds like maybe something's either tweaked when it tightened and is breaking the circuit, or like Randy's saying... grounding out. That's probably where you'll find the problem. Might need to find another good switch & swap it out.

[Yard Dogg]

Yeah I think some contacts are worn out in there. Maybe I can tweak things around in the switch or something. I think I'd like to take some components off that bike and straight wire some stuff. I really hate breaking factory protocol though. I'm suspecting the switch and some kind of strange short in the charging system playing together. Real strange things happening lately.

[bikerphil]

If you still have the old style glass fuse box, get rid of it and put a blade type box in. It'll save you a lot of grief down the road and you'll be surprised how many electrical gremlins will disappear.

[Yard Dogg]

I don't have a box at all, I have wires hanging out the side of my bike with chip fuses connected to them. I did find the inline fuse holders to be cruddy, so I cut em off, threw some flat female connectors on the end of the wires, and plugged the chips directly on to those.

[draketrumpet]

Maybe just a KISS???

I'm no electrical whiz, and you probably did this without telling us about it b/c it's so obvious. But don't forget to see if any fuses blew. My headlight and speedo light went out and it was just a blown fuse.

As for my blinkers, I had a bunch of loose wiring and a loose switch. My blinkers would come on steady, but not blink. I found a bunch of loose wires and started plugging until they worked right. On my switch I tightened the screw that controls the tension on the switch rod (?) and it all worked better.

Not sure how much that helps, but thought I'd throw it out there in case it sparks any ideas.

Good luck!