Headlight STILL not working...

[Cbass182]

I'm completely lost...I replaced my entire wiring harness, the RLU, the Relay, the handlebar switch...I still get NOTHING to the headlight...no power at all...(Yes i checked the fuse...)

What else could there be? I rode the bike with no headlight for a whole summer and never had a charging problem, so i know it's not the stator...The only other thing wrong with my bike is that the tach goes a little crazy after about 5000rpm...

Troubleshooting timeline:

Originally the bike only had a high beam, and low beam got nothing...I mended a couple of wires in the handlebar switch and then neither would light up...bought a different switch and still nothing.

I bought a couple RLU's and the first one I put on, the headlight worked, but got bright and dim with the rpm's of the engine. Then the RLU got REALLY warm and it just stopped working all together...

Replaced the wiring harness (needed it anyway...previous owner wasn't nice to it...) and now i still have nothing to the headlight.

I tried the little trick to bypass the RLU, again, nothing...

I just don't get it...

What all is involved in getting the headlight to light up?

-Chris-

[latexeses]

Maybe I missed something in a previous thread...

Do you have a burnt out headlight?

I know you said you have no power, but have you checked?

Sorry for asking the obvious but........

[gonzo]

I had similar issue. I tried everything and still couldnt find issue. The only thing I did not check was if I had feed from my stator. I jumped RLU and the relay following the advice on here and now I got a headlight --tada. I also added a toggle switch in the jumper for the relay and I now can shut off the headlight ifin I want. Everything works fine I even have high beam indicator. Charges fine too. hope it helps

Worked for me.

[Larrym]

Swaptronics Vs Point-to-Point Verification

Cbass182,

Well...looks like substituting fried components without determining why they smoked in the first place hasn't proven productive. This "swaptronics" is a valid troubleshooting method but in some cases isn't enough to get things working right.

I'd strongly suggest getting a repair manual at this point. I have/use the Clymers version in real paper. CatatonicBug, a member here, has a link in his signature which takes you to his web-page and you can download the manual onto your computer.

That manual has complete diagrams of the headlight circuitry and the interconnected components. For example, there is a headlight relay located under the fuel tank which is part of the headlamp circuit.

I would not continue to substitute known good parts for suspect ones without verifying that the wires/connections are in fact leading to and from the correct points as revealed by the schematic diagram. The fact that your "new" RLU got hot and failed is an indication that something is not routed correctly.

Also, as per the manual, there are different circuits for the standard, special, and XJ models. Without knowing what year/model your bike is I and you are like blind men feeling a painting.

Time to get out a multimeter if you have one or to buy one if you don't. It will come in handy for tracing where the wires come from and really go to.

[oldyam80sg]

I don't know what year the diode came into play but mine was non existent-a pulverized powdery mess.You can check the wiring diagram but that was my issue.

[Cbass182]

I have a manual...and I wasn't willy nilly just swapping parts. I read up and noticed that the RLU goes bad quite often. It was cheap from andreas so i got a couple...the original harness was shotty and the previous owner had cut and spliced here and there...and with a different harness i could go through each connector and make sure they were clean and had good continuity etc...

The previous owner had the same headlight problem and had run a wire from the battery to the headlight switch (like that would do him much good lol) and had hacked those wires pretty good inside the switch...hence the new switch...

The relay was cheap too...but didn't work either...

Checked to see if the yellow wire was getting power...it was...

Yesterday i went to my local salvage and bought two more relays...

First one...didn't work...d@mn...maybe it isn't the relay i thought...

The very last relay i tried, i fired up the bike...still nothing...two seconds later...BING...the headlight lit!!!

So it was a combination of a previous owners hack-job, and THREE bad relays! what are the chances...(well all three were 25+ years old...)

-Chris-

[DenyP]

Can be a little frustrating sometimes! Glad you licked it!

Deny

[brcree]

Headlight is not......

Hey Cbass....got the same thing goen on here. Luckily my harness hasn't been hacked up over the years. Looking for a good reserve light relay as well. Many years do make things elect. go spooky sometimes.

[cywelchjr]

I don't know what year the diode came into play but mine was non existent-a pulverized powdery mess.You can check the wiring diagram but that was my issue.

The diode was in all years, and in my experience was prone to failure due to being sized too small for the job (I base this on the failure rate). When mine went out on my 400 (exact same system, I believe it even uses the same headlight relay) I went to a replacement with about 3 times the wattage specs, and it's been working for years without and trouble.