Left turn signal not working, except...

[Danny Crawdad]

Haven't had any issues with my signals before, but this morning when I got on the bike to go to work, I noticed my left signal doesn't flash at all. The right one does fine, and I held the bike at 3500rpm, so I know it's not a low idle voltage problem. When I parked it Sunday, everything worked great.

If I switch the hazard switch on, turn the left signal on, and then turn the hazards off, the left signal flashes merrily away like nothing is wrong.

Any ideas, or am I going to have to tear into the switch? I don't like soldering

Sorry for the flood of posts lately, the gremlins are coming out .

[JeruelB]

it happen to me before,,,get a contact cleaner spray,,, spray on the turn signal switch and any electrical joints, hope this one helps.. remove the seat, at the top rear end fender there is a connection in there for the blinker, check the connection and spray it w/ the cleaner..

[CatatonicBug]

The switch would be the first place I would look. It is known to be a common point of failure, and definitely worth cleaning out and adding some dielectric grease to lubricate the mechanism. If you find lose solder joints, they aren't that hard to fix. Just keep track of all the tiny moving parts in there.

As JeruelB mentioned, check the electrical connections as well, but if you can get it to work after fiddling with the 4-way switch, I'd say the problem is most likely in the switch housing somewhere.

[GLoweVA]

I had a similar issue with my right front signal on my fairing.
It ended up being a crappy connection in the fairing.
Turned out I was only getting about 9volts to the light.
Enough to light it up, but the stock flasher didn't like the 'extra load' and therefore wouldn't flash.
The hazards don't have the issue of what the load of the circuit is, so for it, they flashed with the hazards just fine.
Try putting a volt meter on the bulb lead and see what kind of voltages you get there compared to the other side. They'll jump around as the 'flashing' occurs, but comparing it to the other side should give some idea of what's up.

Maybe for you after you 'warm up' the circuit by running your hazards, then the turn signal works okay. That makes me think that it's just a crappy connection in that light circuit. Maybe try an ohm/continuity check from the bulb backwards thru the harness and you'll find which connector needs some TLC.

Hope this helps a little.\

[Danny Crawdad]

Thanks for the advice, everyone -- I'll stop by the parts store on the way home and grab some contact cleaner and dielectric grease, and go see what's what. Is there a writeup on repairing the left side switch? I know it comes apart easily, but if I had some photos of the inside my at-work curiosity might be sated :P.

[Joab]

I may end up with pictures of my switch traveling at a high rate of speed through a wall, but that is probably as close I can come...

[Danny Crawdad]

Ha, mine might be right behind it. I absolutely hate electrical problems, to the point where I'm thinking real hard about spending the $51 for a switch assembly from MikesXS so I don't have to spend time screwing around with it . I guess I better give it the ol' college try first, though.

[Danny Crawdad]

And surprisingly, everything worked as normal this afternoon when I ran some errands, and when I rode home from work.

Looks like I have a project to do this weekend.

[Danny Crawdad]

Again, really sorry to bump my own thread, but I'm noticing a pattern. This morning it was doing the same thing again -- left signal wouldn't work, right signal works fine. I noticed that by merely touching or tapping the hazard switch on the bottom of the control, the left signal started blinking. My theory is that there is a loose connection somewhere that is making contact again when the bike sits out in the hot parking garage all afternoon.

Does that make sense?

I know, I know, I need to pull the switch apart, I just don't ever have time when I get home .

[Joab]

Again, really sorry to bump my own thread, but I'm noticing a pattern. This morning it was doing the same thing again -- left signal wouldn't work, right signal works fine. I noticed that by merely touching or tapping the hazard switch on the bottom of the control, the left signal started blinking. My theory is that there is a loose connection somewhere that is making contact again when the bike sits out in the hot parking garage all afternoon.

Does that make sense?

I know, I know, I need to pull the switch apart, I just don't ever have time when I get home .

*cough* swamp gas *cough*

[Danny Crawdad]

Not enough swamp gas, or too much?

[Brent]

turn signal connections

I had a similar issue with my right front signal on my fairing.
It ended up being a crappy connection in the fairing.
Turned out I was only getting about 9volts to the light.
Enough to light it up, but the stock flasher didn't like the 'extra load' and therefore wouldn't flash.
The hazards don't have the issue of what the load of the circuit is, so for it, they flashed with the hazards just fine.
Try putting a volt meter on the bulb lead and see what kind of voltages you get there compared to the other side. They'll jump around as the 'flashing' occurs, but comparing it to the other side should give some idea of what's up.

Maybe for you after you 'warm up' the circuit by running your hazards, then the turn signal works okay. That makes me think that it's just a crappy connection in that light circuit. Maybe try an ohm/continuity check from the bulb backwards thru the harness and you'll find which connector needs some TLC.

Hope this helps a little.\

A common point of failure in turn signal circuit is under small braided ground straps at each bulb socket. It gets dirty & corroded. Might not be only problem, but it would be worth the little time to check & clean that connection point. (and unlike the many small parts in turn signal switch...just one screw).

[Danny Crawdad]

For anyone curious, this ended up being the screw that goes through the middle of the switch. It was loose enough to cause the connection to not be made. The reason bumping the hazard switch made it work is because it moved the screw just enough to make connection and trigger the signal. I went ahead and cleaned everything with contact cleaner and a toothbrush, it's all pretty and shiny inside now, and the solder points all look good.

[Rasputin]

Good on ya for making your last post. Too many times members fix things but do not post how, why or etc. It is a good thing to see when someone figures a problem out and they solved it. Most members ask for help but do not post if the advice they recieved made a difference,or if someone helped them out. I do not know who's advice you followed but good on ya!