turn signal problem on a 79 sf

[tony7914]

hey there!
i have a 79 special and i'm having a problem with the right turn signal. when i turn it on it comes on and stays on, i suspected the flasher solinoid and replaced it and i still have the same problem any one out there have something like this happen? any help would be great!!
thanks!!

[Bud Manley]

mine does that when the front turn signal light doesn't come on. It needs the resistance from two bulbs to flash.

[tony7914]

all of my lights are working, that was one of the first things i looked for.

[pathfinder]

flashers

Is it front, rear, both or on pilot box or just plain not canceling. Does it flash or glow steady on the right only or does the left have any problems. I've got a standard with running lights, it takes an 1157 bulb I'm not sure about the special

[tony7914]

it's the right side, both lights (front and rear on the right) come on and glow steady, i don't have running lights hooked up on mine. the left side (front and rear) work just fine.

[rover]

Mine did that until I bought a new battery. The left would flash slow, and the right not at all. Now both flash a little faster

[pathfinder]

You either need a battery or have a bad connection. I'd take apart every ground and clean and reseat first. Sorry I can't tell you where your problem actually is.

[tony7914]

thanks! the batery is pretty new in my bike, i was hoping someone might have run into something like this in the past and could tell me where to look. i'll clean the grounds and see what that does.
thanks again!

[freebird01752]

Tony,

I just went through that on my 80 sg. It turned out to be the ground wire on the front connection inside the headlight. Check there and see if that helps.

Steve

[MartyA]

Tony, start with the thumb switch, clean that well. Mine start refusing to blink when the battery is low, and in the spring after hibernation. Usually cleaning the contacts in that switch does the trick, but I also take all the bulbs out and clean them and the contacts.

Check that battery anyway. Mine last 3 years, sometimes I can get another summer on one, but when my signals begin to get stubborn I plan on buying a new battery. Today they were stubborn for a few miles, and this is the 4th summer (HA I said summer, 22 degrees this morning) for this battery.

[tony7914]

thanks! i'll try those things and see what happens!

[dgreimel]

Flashers

Essentially the problem is that the right side flashers are not flowing enough electrons to heat the flasher. Unfortunately there are many possibilities. Anything that causes too much resistance in the circuit could be the culprit.
I would begin with ensuring that the bulbs are correct and the sockets are clean. Mine uses #1157 but you could check the right side against the left to make certain.
Grounding problems would be next on my list followed by switch contacts.
Round wire brushes made for cleaning sockets can be bought from tool suppliers.
Good luck
Don
`79 F

[John]

The 79 SF rear turn signal bulbs are of the one filiment type. #1156. They do not have running lights built into them, unless somebody has changed the socket along the way. There should only be two wires routed inside the turn signal stem. One power, and one ground. The socket can be removed from the t/s and the contact can be cleaned. Sounds like the ground may be suspectable.

[thumperjsa]

I'll chime in on this since I speant hours tracing wires to get mine working.

1) check the flasher unit. I put in a triple prong and one side flashed and clicked, other side clicked once and stayed on. I replaced the flasher with a two prong from auto parts store and all is well. Of course I lose auto turn off feature.

2) if you have 2 wire flashers, make sure one is not to hot (12v) and other run to ground. Previous owner did this and got me all confused. You can run 2 wire in the fron since you have the 2 blue wire connectors up there that can give you running lights. By the way, PO put 2 wire on the fron an back of my 80 G.

3) There is a 6 or 8 wire connector under the gas tank that many of the front electrics go through, try wiggling the wires on that connector to see if that makes a difference.


Now that I have my flashers running, I need to figure out the hazard lights. I have not tested it but I suspect the switch or wires running to switch because I know flasher is good and looking at the wiring Scematics, there is not much left.

-Jonathan

[chevy45412001]

i,m thinking wrong bulb in back also

1156 in rear,if the other side works i would not suspect flasher at least not first thing.clean the bulb holders ,also check were the wires actualy come out of the stem ,i've had them break there before from rubbing on the sharp stem when they eXit. just my two paso's,good luck.