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Turn signal flasher relay issue?


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  • Member Contributer

My right turn flasher seems to be wonky. Last season it wouldn't flash when the right turn button was activated until the bike warmed up. At least that was my thoughts. I figured the signal activation switch must be dirty so I disassembled it, cleaned and lubed it. Nothing changed.

I was just messing with the signals and have noticed that when the left is activated the signal flashes and the relay can be heard doing it's tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock sound. When I activate the right signal I can hear the relay go tick-tock and stop, with no corresponding light flash.

Does this mean there is an issue with the flasher relay?

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  • Member Contributer

did you try after switching the bulbs if the problem moves to the LHS?

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  • Member Contributer

Your flasher unit doesn't know it's left from right, it just creates the flash. It's your turn switch that powers the flasher through the load of the left or right globes.

So if your flasher is working OK for the left side then it's probably OK. Assuming your turn switch is ok then the only issue that could effect the other side is generally globes, either blown or incorrect wattage installed. Check that all globes are O.K and are of the correct wattage. Other than that you may have a broken wire or bad ground.

Cheers.

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Never tried the bulbs. It was working intermittently last season that's why I assumed it was the switch or flasher. 

Would the relay not cycle if there was a break in the load circuit?

 

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1 hour ago, HughJebolzak said:

Would the relay not cycle if there was a break in the load circuit?

Correct!

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I believe that in a car the relay will cycle faster if there is a lamp out. That's why I didn't consider a lamp or loose/broken wire in the load circuit.

Thanks for the tip.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Member Contributer

Turns out there was a burned out lamp but...it didn't seem to cause the flasher issue.

One of the brake lamp elements was shot. I don't know if all of the lamps in the tail section are the same or not, but I swapped the brake/running lamp out with a signal lamp. It happened to be dual element the same as the brake/running lamp. It doesn't have to be but was. Perhaps the previous owner installed all the same style lamps in case of "on the road" lamp issues so he could swap out?

Anyway, while trouble shooting, I messed with the turn indicator switch and it seems that the flasher relay will function normally even if there is no lamp in the socket what so ever.

I think my issue is in the signal switch mechanism. It seems to cancel the right turn signal function immediately upon activation. As if I had pushed the button in to cancel the signaling. It does it only when cold.

More messing about required I guess.

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14 hours ago, HughJebolzak said:

Turns out there was a burned out lamp but...it didn't seem to cause the flasher issue.

One of the brake lamp elements was shot. I don't know if all of the lamps in the tail section are the same or not, but I swapped the brake/running lamp out with a signal lamp. It happened to be dual element the same as the brake/running lamp. It doesn't have to be but was. Perhaps the previous owner installed all the same style lamps in case of "on the road" lamp issues so he could swap out?

Anyway, while trouble shooting, I messed with the turn indicator switch and it seems that the flasher relay will function normally even if there is no lamp in the socket what so ever.

I think my issue is in the signal switch mechanism. It seems to cancel the right turn signal function immediately upon activation. As if I had pushed the button in to cancel the signaling. It does it only when cold.

More messing about required I guess.

Hi HughJebolzak.

"I don't know if all of the lamps in the tail section are the same or not," Are you working from a Circuit Diagram or the Service Manual? Do you have the Owners Manual? All the lamps in the tail section are not the same! Also your Front and Rear indicator lamps are not the same!

 

Your Brake/Tail Light are dual filament globes being 21/5watts and there are two of these. Your rear indicator lamps are single filament 21watt globes.

 

According to the circuit diagram for your bike, your Turn Switch is twofold. 1 - It Provides switched power (Left or Right) loads to the Turn Relay via the Globes to activate the Flashing. 2 - It controls the FRONT left and right Position lights. When nothing is selected BOTH Position lights are ON. When a turn is selected that side Position Light will be OFF and the other side will be ON. Does your bike have the Position Lights?

So the Front Indicator globes are like your Brake/Tail Lights they are dual filament 21/5watt globes.

 

Your Turn Relay might flash with only one globe but unlikely at the correct rate BUT if both Front and Rear globes are blown the Turn Relay will NOT flash for that side. (Unless there could possibly be enough current drawn from the Instrument Panel left/right turn globes - unlikely).

So as previously mentioned MAKE SURE all your front and rear indicator lamps as well as your Brake/Tail lamps are of the correct type and wattage, Then you can assess your switch for correct operation.

Cheers.

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Well...all four of the lamps in the tail section are dual filament 21w/5w.

When I took out the tail/brake lamp with the burned out 5w filament and swapped it with the lamp that was in the turn signal socket, all worked as per spec. The burned out 5w filament was then in the signal lamp socket. 

The previous owner was a bike mechanic. Perhaps this was done on purpose in order to make "on the road" lamp swap-outs easy. It appears as if the signal lamp sockets have two wires going to them and the brake/tail lamp sockets have three.

Good thinking if this was the plan.

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1 hour ago, HughJebolzak said:

Well...all four of the lamps in the tail section are dual filament 21w/5w.

When I took out the tail/brake lamp with the burned out 5w filament and swapped it with the lamp that was in the turn signal socket, all worked as per spec. The burned out 5w filament was then in the signal lamp socket. 

The previous owner was a bike mechanic. Perhaps this was done on purpose in order to make "on the road" lamp swap-outs easy. It appears as if the signal lamp sockets have two wires going to them and the brake/tail lamp sockets have three.

Good thinking if this was the plan.

O.K. So you now have all correct globes Yes? And your blinkers are working normally? Yes or No?

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I purchased what I think are the proper replacement lamps for my bike.

7440 are single filament rear signal lamps

7443 are dual filament running/brake lamps

The 7440 lamps will not fit in the signal lamp sockets, but the 7443 lamps will (slightly different glass bases). So I pretty much have to keep the dual filament lamps in the rear signal sockets as I found them. I did some searching and found an older thread here suggesting to folks that this is a good little trick to know.

Anyway...back to original problem. The right signal self cancelling as soon as its activated. It's still doing that when the bike is cold but stops after about five or ten minutes on the road.

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I'll say it again, make sure you have the correct globes as stated in your owners booklet OR per the circuit diagram.

If your LEFT side is working normally, then the Turn Relay is not at fault.

If you are confident the wiring at the Turn Switch and the switch itself is OK both mechanically and electrically, then you need to confirm the Right side Front and Rear sockets and wiring is good, make sure the socket Grounds are properly grounded and check the 12v blinking feed via the Lb wire.  

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