Help trouble shooting turn signal problems

onavlis

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Hi all,

Could use some advice on a turn signal issue I am having. Yesterday I tried hardwiring led license plate lights. The previous owner had installed a fender eliminator kit and had the license plate lights wired and I figured it would have been easier to cut them off instead of disassembling the rear, and re-wire my new led license plate lights using the cut leads from the previous install. I must have done a crap job because the tail light fuse blew, so I cut the wires and wrapped them in electrical tape, replaced the fuse and got the directionals working for a while. Fast forward to today after I filled up the tank and went for a 20 minute right the directionals and hazards crapped out about 15 minutes in. I decided to make sure might cut wires werent shorting somehow so I unwrapped them and separated them, replaced the fuse and now only my right directional is working. If I try my hazards or left turn signal I can see my headlight dim for a split second and I sometimes blow a fuse and my right turn signal no longer works. If I don't blow a fuse, I can get the right turn signal working again by turning the key off and turning back on.

Any tips on where I should be looking? Is it definitely a short somewhere or is my relay in need of replacement? Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.
 

Motogiro

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If you're blowing a fuse you've got a bad path/short. Even though the directional is positive 12vdc when the flasher is in the the off state it paths to ground on the OEM flasher. This means at no time should a running light circuit (blue or blue with red tracer) wire be in contact with a green or brown turn signal wire. Obviously this is true regarding contact with the black or ground wire. Here is a list of associated color codes related to the running light circuit and directional circuits the 4 ways use the same flasher and the turn signals.

The fact that you are not blowing a fuse all the time or it make take time, suggests a harness wire is absorbing some of the high current a short would generate. This will generate heat and beak down insulation on that wire in the harness. A fuse will not repair the problem and should only be replacad after the problem has been found and repaired.

Note that the original front turn signal lamp assemblies had a dual filament incandescent lamp so any problem there has an effect on the rear.

Repost: https://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-electrical/53091-turn-signal-help.html#post586206


In the front of the bike the indicators originally had running light and directional filament in the same bulb. If it's LED there is only one filament and the blue/blue with red tracer wire are no longer used. Below are the color codes to run your indicators. There is also a good chance a fuse is blown. Get you wires sorted properly and then if you have no running light or directionals the fuse will probably be blown because a wire was shorted. Make sure the blue with red tracer or any wire that is not being used is taped off and insulated from shorting again. :)

When you turn the key on you should have a tail light filament lit. If not it's a good chance the fuse is blown. That same fuse powers the running/tail lights and the flashers. The 4 way flasher is the same circuit...

Left front turn signal with running light. That's two filament per bulb in the front.
Chocolate colored wire= turn signal filament.
Blue colored wire= running light filament.
Black wire= Ground or negative.

Right front turn signal with running light.
Dark green colored wire= turn signal filament.
Blue with a red tracer colored wire= running light filament.
Black wire= Ground or negative.

Left rear turn signal.
Chocolate colored wire= turn signal filament.
Black wire= Ground or negative.

Right rear turn signal.
Dark green colored wire= turn signal filament.
Black wire= Ground or negative.

Brake light
Yellow colored wire = brake light
Blue colored wire = running light
Black wire= Ground or negative.

Hope this helps!
 

onavlis

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Thanks for the information.

So I took apart my rear fender and cut some zip ties which seemed really tight, I stripped a little bit more of the outer insulation (two layers) of the leads for the license plate leds a spread them apart. I also have the whole wire loom (tail/brake light, directionals, licensplate leds) separated from the rear fairing. Now all turn signals are working. I left my hazards on and tried to massage the wires to see if there were any shorts and could not find any. Is it possible that running the bike had any effect? Is it safe to assume that there was a short/ground somewhere back there? Is there anything else I should look to trouble shoot before putting it back together?
 

Motogiro

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Thanks for the information.

So I took apart my rear fender and cut some zip ties which seemed really tight, I stripped a little bit more of the outer insulation (two layers) of the leads for the license plate leds a spread them apart. I also have the whole wire loom (tail/brake light, directionals, licensplate leds) separated from the rear fairing. Now all turn signals are working. I left my hazards on and tried to massage the wires to see if there were any shorts and could not find any. Is it possible that running the bike had any effect? Is it safe to assume that there was a short/ground somewhere back there? Is there anything else I should look to trouble shoot before putting it back together?
Running the bike might have an effect if the wires are against any part of the exhaust where the insulation would melt and short against the exhaust or each other.

Sent from Moto's Motorola
 

FinalImpact

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Running the bike might have an effect if the wires are against any part of the exhaust where the insulation would melt and short against the exhaust or each other.

Sent from Moto's Motorola

What if someone tapped into the headlight power to do some other job? If yes, it could change what is powered when the engine on and that fuse having a higher rating could compromise other components down stream.
 
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