1982 XJ1100 Light System

[piratepete]

Happy New Year All,

I have a few questions that hopefully someone may be able to help me with.

Just want to get some confirmation on how the lights system should be on a 1982 XJ1100.

On my bike, this is what is observed:

With main (power) switch on.

Head light is ON
Front left/right flasher lights ON
Rear left/right flasher lighs OFF

Should the rear flasher lights be off with main power?


Hazards:

I am getting various results here.

When the hazard switch is ON and with main power switch either OFF or ON:

a) sometimes everything work alright, that is both front and rear, left/right flashers work.

b) other times nothing flashes

c) and other times only the front and rear right flashers work

Anyone else experience similar porblems. Any ideas where to concentrate on, the hazard switch, relay, wiring?


Left/Right Turn signals:

Most of the time they don't work, on a rare occasion they will work properly.

Do the hazards use the same relays/circuits as the left/right turn signals?

Next to the fuse box (on the right hand side of the bike), there is a small electrical box and on it and says flasher system (or somthing like that). I don't know if this is a standard component on the 1982 XJ1100 or if it was added later on. I will try to get a picture of it and post it somehow (if I could).
There is electrical tape holding the connector to the unit, leading me to think that in the past it was loose and someone taped it to hold it together.


In order to test out the hazard and left/right turn switches, where is(are) the connector for these switches? Are they under the gas tank, or do I need to check the actual switches themselves, that is dismantle the switch.


Thanks for your time.
Peter

[mitch]

peter

I think your saying that the front signal lights are coming on as running lights . They were not set up that way originaly,but my friend Ed has his that way on his 84Xj, There are two flashers for the signal lights and they are seperate systems to a point. They both end up going to the lights naturally.The trouble your having is really just dirty connections and grounds . Most of us have had this trouble and there is lots of disscusion about fixing them . Try a few searches using flashers, signal lights,etc im sure you will find some help, also go to the maintenance and the repair section under electrial no doubt you will find help there HTH..................MITCH

[Jerry]

Mitch is correct; bad grounds / dirty contacts will give the results you have now. Does not hurt to take apart the switches, but ususaly this is the last resort, not first.

Rear lights are more likely to have bad connections, as the ground is supplied though the turn signal stem to the frame. This connection, and the little bar strap the provides the bulb to stem contact inside (underneath) the rear lens is a common culprit.

I have a Windjammer on my XJ, but seem to remember the front turn lights have a ground wire in the assembly so do not rely on the stem to provide ground.

The flasher near the fuse block is for the turn lights. It is a Yamaha part that provided automatic cancelling of the signals based on time/distance. Replacement OEM units are quite expensive $70 - $80 range. A standard 2-prong (or electronic) flasher will work fine but you loose the auto cancel. A couple people have taked the OEM unit apart and cleaned it, got lucky....

Plug the connector in to the center and left posts with the | _ | like this. Won't hurt if you plug it in wrong, just won't work.

A good cleaning of the lights, sockets, and grounds are in order. If that doesn't do the trick, then look at the switches.

[piratepete]

Mitch,

So if I undertsand you correctly, on your friend's bike, when he puts the key to ON (without engine running), his headlight comes on and only his front running lights but not his rear running lights.

The reason I am asking is when I first got the bike and connected the battery, I am not certain, but I think that maybe the rear running lights did come on mometarily (not certain though), so I just want to determine if they were meant to be off or there is a problem and are off.

I will start poking around and try to make sure that all contacts are good and clean.

Thanks all.

[mitch]

Factory XJ

When new the only lights that came on when the bike was running was the headlight and the tail light. Ed rigged his with 2 filiment bulbs and an extra wire so that his signal lights aka driving lights stay on as well. HTH.............MITCH

[mitch]

PS

Im not sure what happens before u start the bike i think they come on but go out when u engage the starter, but i could be wrong on this part. ..........MITCH

[piratepete]

I have noticed that my front signal light bulbs have 2 filaments and the rear only has 1 filament, is this the way it should be?

[mitch]

no

someone has rigged them for running lights that was not original.....mitch

[Jerry]

Ahhhhhh....

Acording the the XJ wiring diagram in the service manual, the XJ front turn lights come stock with 2 filament wires plus a ground. They should be on as running lights on one filament circuit and turn lights on the other. I had posted a wiring PDF file for another thread:

http://sopris.net\~fieldsj\e-mail\XJwireSM.PDF

Check the diagram in the upper right-hand corner to verify the 3-wire, 2 filament front bulb set-up is factory original on the XJ. The rear turn lights are a 2-wire, 1 bulb set-up. You can see these at the far right hand side of the diagram.

The parts microfiche confirms this, with the front bulbs rated at 12V-27/8W (dual wattage) and the rears ar 12V-27W (single wattage).

[piratepete]

Jerry,

I had seen the same wiring diagram but was having a bit of a problem trying to understand it.

So it is normal that the front lights come on simply with turning the switch to ON and the rear light remain off, is this correct?

Thanks
Peter

[Jerry]

Correct. The only time the rear lights should come on is as turn signals or when you turn the hazard light switch on. Early XS models did not have the hazard (4-way flashers) circuit; not sure when Yamaha added this but could have been in the '81 model year. (Hazzard switch is on right handlebar, bottom side of bar.)

Front 'running' lights will be on when the key is On, bike running or not, as will the headlight. Hazzard lights (front and back) should be ON whenever you turn the hazard switch on, main switch (key) either on or off. Hazzard lights are on an independent circuit, and use a 2nd flasher to operate. On the schematic this 2nd flsher is shown as the 2-prong Hazard relay on the schematic.

FWIW...one of the strangest problems I had was trying to trouble-shoot a light problem. One of the front bulbs (dual-filament) had broken a filament, and the broken part fell against the 2nd filament. Result was intermittent problems. I finally pulled all 4 bulbs as part of the cleaning/troubleshooting process, and noticed one support pin in one front bulb had no wire attached to it. Replaced the bulb and problems went away. Moral of this story: check the simple things first!

[piratepete]

Thanks.

So this is normal operation, great.

So after opening and cleaning the hazards and left/right turn switches, now everything works as it should, except for my neutral light not coming on.

I will verify to see if it is a sensor problem, wiring or light bulb.

And thanks to TheDjost who came by the other day, helped me get the bike running, I just need some fine tune cleaning of the carbs and I am almost ready to go.

All I need now is to bleed the brakes and clean the calipers and put on new pads, change oil and oil filter, change air filter filter, .... etc

Good thing I have at least 4 months before the weather gets nice and ready to ride, I'll need all that time.

Thanks
Peter

[mitch]

sorry

Pete sorry about misinforming you but my 82 Xj must of been screwed with and i have no wiring diagram i apoligise for surmising thats the way they were spouse to work. Hey maybe you can come down to my rally in august with Justin..........MITCH

[piratepete]

Mitch everything's cool, thanks for trying to help.

/Peter