[snx910]

I am looking for help with a problem I am having with my lights. They recently stopped working. No blown fuses, I have power to the switch (illuminated), I even installed a new switch, I ran a temp. power wire to the lower connector in cowling, no burned out bulbs, they light up, I feel the relay thump when I switch to high beam, assume it is working, but they do not light up when connected to the switch in the normal procedure. Any suggestions on what could be wrong, or any advice on how to hot wire (which wires) from the switch to keep them on at all times.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You

 

[twodogs1800]

Take a test light and start probing. You can hear the relay working, but make sure you have 12v going to it, and coming off it when the relay is activated. It could only be a couple things wrong. You sure the main power wire going to the relay from a 12v source doesnt have a blown fuse?

 

[kg5ie]

Above post is dead on. It can't be too many things. If they work by bypassing the relay and the relay thumps like it is engaging, it has to be a) power not getting to the relay or b) power not getting from the relay or c) the wire from the relay to the lights.

 

[snx910]

driving lights

I will check the power coming in and out of the relay, all prewired, I just used the plug and play wiring harness from Big Bike Parts. Not an electrical engineer, but will attempt checking it out, thanks for the help. I also didn't think it could be too much, but I did eliminate the switch possibility, and the burned out bulbs possibility, so what else, the relay, right?
Thanks again,Dave

 

[kg5ie]

Remember that the power illuminating the switch is the power operatin the relay. It is NOT the power that goes to the lights. That's why they run the relay, so that the switch and its' related wiring do not have to handle the current required by the lights. I would suspect you will find a bad relay or a bad fuse.

This will sound crazy but I have found more than one fuse that doesn't look blown, but it is. I have even found fuses that will pass voltage, but not current. That is they test good with an ohm meter or conductivity test with a beeper on a volt/ohm meter, but will not carry the current of the circuit.

Here is another thought. Go un-plug and re-plug all of the harnesses. Maybe the part of the connector carrying the current from the relay up to the lights has lost connection. I had the tail light go out on my Kaw...checked fuses, bulbs, wiring conductivity, etc....nothing. Un-plugged and re-plugged the connector running to the rear and ta-da!!! Fixed!

Maybe someone else can chime in and tell us what fuse the lights actually run off of. I have not installed my lights yet.

 

[Lewis/EC]

Remember that the power illuminating the switch is the power operatin the relay. It is NOT the power that goes to the lights. That's why they run the relay, so that the switch and its' related wiring do not have to handle the current required by the lights.

Actually, it is. The Honda/Show Chrome runs the power thru the switch. The relay only disconnects power when the high beams are turned on. It goes against all logic.

 

[kg5ie]

Remember that the power illuminating the switch is the power operatin the relay. It is NOT the power that goes to the lights. That's why they run the relay, so that the switch and its' related wiring do not have to handle the current required by the lights.

Actually, it is. The Honda/Show Chrome runs the power thru the switch. The relay only disconnects power when the high beams are turned on. It goes against all logic.

Boy, I'll say! If they are running the light current through the switch, why do they use a relay? To disconnect??? Wow! So the current coming from the high beam turns the relay off and kills the power or kills ground?

 

[snx910]

lights

I did check the fuses, and I am pretty sure there are no "in-line" fuses, so I thought I was good there. I also un-plugged and re-plugged in all the connectors, thought of that too. Does anyone know which wires I would have to "cross" to eliminate the relay, for the test, and maybe in the future, to eliminate the relay for high beams. I know, there are laws against more than four forward headlights being on at one time, I can get around that until I get caught, until I can figure out what is wrong.
Any help is appreciated, thanks for any info you might have, I am perplexed until I figure it out.

Thanks Dave

 

[twodogs1800]

SNX,
Let us know where you are and someone close might be able to help you if needed.

 

[Lewis/EC]

Boy, I'll say! If they are running the light current through the switch, why do they use a relay? To disconnect??? Wow! So the current coming from the high beam turns the relay off and kills the power or kills ground?

It disconnects power (+). Power in from the fuse box into switch, out from switch into relay, out from relay to lights. When the relay is "off", the current path allows power to lights. When relay is "on" (high beams on), power is removed. It has been the cause of death of many fog lights switches.

 

[Lewis/EC]

Re: lights

I did check the fuses, and I am pretty sure there are no "in-line" fuses, so I thought I was good there. I also un-plugged and re-plugged in all the connectors, thought of that too. Does anyone know which wires I would have to "cross" to eliminate the relay, for the test, and maybe in the future, to eliminate the relay for high beams. I know, there are laws against more than four forward headlights being on at one time, I can get around that until I get caught, until I can figure out what is wrong.
Any help is appreciated, thanks for any info you might have, I am perplexed until I figure it out.

Thanks Dave

If you feel the relay click when you turn on the high beams, thats probably not the issue. I am nowhere near my ETM so I can't tell you the fuse number to replace. This is one of those times that the service manual is well worth the investment.

Fred H where are you?

 

[bobkat 1]

i had the same problem with mind, there is a inline fuse, at least on mine,
it located to th left of the main fuse box,about 2 inchs, tried everything like you, and found that the fuse was blown....bobkat

 

[snx910]

driving lights

Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas. I will check for an in-line fuse (bobkat), but it would have been installed by Honda, because the plug and play harness just hooked up under the left fairing pocket. I will try to eliminate the relay and see if that is the problem, and look for any in-line fuses also. I will also start replacing fuses in case the earlier post has a point about working but not allowing current through it (kg5ie). I do have the service manual, and did check the appropriate fuses, but will replace just to eliminate that possibility. And if they are running the power thru the switch and only using the relay to disconnect when high beams on (lewis/EC), I should be able to eliminate it if I can be told which wires to jump. Any suggestions or knowledge on which wires, if not, thanks anyway, I will have a friend in the area come and look at it with me, another wing owner. Thanks for all the help. By the way I am in Waterford Wi. (twodogs1800)

 

[Lewis/EC]

The relay can be bypassed by unpluging the harness that plugs into the bike and then into the switch that the relay is connected to....you end up with the switch plugging right into the bike. I don't recommend leaving it that way...the relay can act as a secondary protection device in certain situations.

 

[snx910]

LewisE/C
Yours was the best info I had and it worked out. Thank you. I never thought of just unplugging the rest of the harness, I didn't look at the connections to see that they were the same, which they were. The relay was the problem, even though I felt it "thump" when changing from High to Low beams. I have it temporarily bypassed, why is this a problem, other than I have driving lights on with high beams. The original power current went through the switch, not the relay, all the realy did was cut out the power when the high beams were activated??, which does go against all logic for a relay. I will have to order another relay, just wondering if there might be a potential problem or not, any thoughts?
Thanks again for all the help guys.
Dave

 

[pshivers]

Re: lights

I know, there are laws against more than four forward headlights being on at one time, I can get around that until I get caught, until I can figure out what is wrong.

Just a side note here...

Having both low beams and both high beams on only counts as 2 lights illuminated legally, even though technically you do have 4 lights burning.

You can run your driving/fog light without a problem under the "4 light rule". BUT, There may be some individual state laws that dictate whether you can have Driving and/or Fog lights on with your Low beams or High beams.
:?

 

[Lewis/EC]

LewisE/C
Yours was the best info I had and it worked out. Thank you. I never thought of just unplugging the rest of the harness, I didn't look at the connections to see that they were the same, which they were. The relay was the problem, even though I felt it "thump" when changing from High to Low beams. I have it temporarily bypassed, why is this a problem, other than I have driving lights on with high beams. The original power current went through the switch, not the relay, all the realy did was cut out the power when the high beams were activated??, which does go against all logic for a relay. I will have to order another relay, just wondering if there might be a potential problem or not, any thoughts?
Thanks again for all the help guys.
Dave

When Bob Rada was the sales manager at Show Chrome, he told me that they had 3 confirmed reports of bikes letting the smoke out of the main harness by customers yanking that sub-harness. Now I completely understand that other than that relay, there is no other protection device in that sub-harness and it should make NO difference.

Consider this.....if you pull the sub-harness, and anything gets hurt or damaged and they can prove you altered the installation, good luck on getting warranty.

 

[snx910]

Understood. I am going to order the relay for that reason, if nothing else. Makes sense, and what is a few bucks to possibly protect a warranty issue down the road.
Thanks for the additional "push".
Dave