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99savage
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 - 06:24 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Somebody please make suggestions - Having cascading lighting problems.

Riding 06 Uly today, Right Turn Signal stops working - Had problem long ago & soldered the connection in the bundle, then installed the new, low strain gizmo that holds the wire bundle to the forks.

All Bulbs = OK
Fuse = OK

Things keep getting worse - After doing not much:
No Left Turn Signal
No Low Beam
No "Euro", "parking" light (keep a bulb in the socket)
No Tail Light (but have Brake Light)

HAVE:
Continuity between Black Wire @ connector & ground
12V to White Wire @ connector
0V to Yellow & Orange Wires @ connector

Hesitate to tear back into the wire bundle before getting some input from people that know what they are doing.

Please help an old man
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Ratbuell
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 - 07:33 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Yellow is low beam. Orange is marker light. White is high beam. Black is ground. (all in the headlight connector, I'm assuming that's what you're speaking of).

Does your turn signal relay click?

Do your rear signals work?

Have you done a wiggle test on the ignition switch plug?

Have you done anything with handlebars or grips lately? (thinking switch housing here...).
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99savage
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 - 07:51 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Does your turn signal relay click? - Not quite sure what you mean. Switch locks over & have to push button to release but no noise that I am aware of. - Not sure ever heard any noise, hard to hear anything when engine is on.

Do your rear signals work? - No. previous to my tweaking the Left Signal worked, fore & aft - Right did not work @ either end.

Have you done a wiggle test on the ignition switch plug? - Wiggled the key (lots of times). Will have to see what you mean by the "plug"

Have you done anything with handlebars or grips lately? (thinking switch housing here...). - No

Thanks for the input - Out to the garage
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Ratbuell
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 - 08:00 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Your turn signal relay is mounted behind the flyscreen. If you key-on and hit the signals you should be able to hear it clicking over, or put your finger on it and feel it switching.

The plug for the ignition switch is on the backside of the switch, accessible from inside the flyscreen. Sorta. Around a couple corners. If you have doublejointed fingers : )

Odd that it would take out the taillight, though...do you have a Ulysses wiring diagram? Service manual has one in it; if you don't, I do but its out in the garage.

I'm leaning towards ground, though. Something up there isn't tight or is broken, keeping stuff under the flyscreen from seeing ground. Might want to open up the bundle at the wireloom where it jumps from frame to forks; IIRC there's a ground splice in there that likes to come loose.
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Rfp52
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 - 09:41 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

The taillight, turn signals and the "Euro" light all run off the Aux circuit (Orange with white stripe). Have you tried turning the key past the "lock" to aux and checking the power?

The low beam is on the "ign" power (Orange with a red stripe) and so is most of the rest of the electrical on the bike.

The low beam is a mystery but the others sound like a problem in the ignition switch or aux circuit. I would start there and see if the switch is putting out Voltage to the Aux circuit. Check the Aux fuse socket in the fuse block for power.
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Rays
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 07:13 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I'm going to take a wild guess at the ignition switch being at least part of the problem.

There are two separate contacts in the ignition switch and when the switch is moved to the 'On' position pin 1 is connected to pin 3 and pin 2 is connected to pin 4 internally in the switch.

Power (+12v) is connected to pins 1 & 4 of the ignition switch. By the 'On' connections described above there are effectively 2 power circuits.

The connections to pin 3 include all of the main operational items but the connections to pin 2 only include the items that are on when the switch is in the 'Park' position.

That includes the taillight and Euro light and (wait for it) the blinkers. There was someone here who had issue that we were hunting around the ignition switch with and I ended up posting some detailed pictures.

http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/469719.html?1245280968

Of course that doesn't explain the low beam but is it possible that is just a bulb and all the other issues are clouding the issue?

When my ignition switch failed I had very similar symptoms to you and was thinking grounds and breaks etc (I've had them all on my old '06) - the clean-up described is still working and my new ignition switch is still sitting in the box. It is very easy to check if you read the info in that link.
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Debueller
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 09:26 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

There is a ground lug on my '08 that had a broken wire right where it goes into the lug. It is located on the front of the steering head on the frame, right behind the headlight. It grounds the headlight, turnsignals, and horn. It was intermintent and took a bit of effort to track it down.

When tracking down electrical problems, go for the easy fixes first, and this one was easy to check.
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Natexlh1000
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 11:49 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

+1 on the broken ground lug in the steering area.
Mine popped (Somewhere) I finally realized that it didn't matter WHERE the break in ground continuity was.
I KNEW that there had to be a wire between the frame and the steering area so I just put a 12AWG wire in there!

So somewhere in that spaghetti nightmare wiring harness, there is a broken wire and I'm leaving it in there!

Who cares! Ha ha ha ha!
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Xbimmer
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 12:20 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

+2. Mine broke there at least twice. Grouped them all to a 10awg wire bolted to the steering head, fixed.

I also had wires broken within unbroken insulation twice, where the harness used to be covered with that little poc plastic "guide". Eliminated the guide altogether now the harness swings with the steering instead of moving back and forth at one point.
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99savage
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 12:24 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Thanks for all the input guys.

Rays;
What you say makes sense.
Long ago swapped the Yellow & Orange wires in the Headlight Connector so that the LO Beam remained on when the HI Beam was turned on.

Further checking shows that Yellow & White Wires in Headlight Connector functioning normally, Black Wire is solid to ground (cleaned ground contact anyway) - BUT - no power to Orange Wire w/o respect to the position of the Ignition Key.

How to you get the Cap off of the Switch to check the Contacts?

My hands arn't real good anymore & I break a lot of things when trying to disassemble them - Want to be sure I know what I am doing before applying any force.

Thanks again to all.
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99savage
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 03:50 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Rays;
Got the Switch Connector apart w/o breaking anything.

Not sure how you number the Pins in your previous post.
With the curved side of the Connector to the right - & - calling the upper left Pin "#1", the one to its right "#2", the one on the right below #2 "#3", etc., working clockwise around.
Have;
Near 0 ohms between 1-2 & 3-4
Near infinity between other pins,
(My meter is analog.)

Would take the Ignition Switch off to check further but Wisconsin elf felt the necessity to retain it w/ anti tamper screws. Don't have the tools.

Keep making suggestions - It's great riding weather

p.s.: The instruments cycle normally & all lights in the cluster work. - Starts OK
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Rays
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 05:16 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

OK, that sounds like the contact resistance is low enough for that not to be the issue.
You haven't mentioned the fuses? The Accessory fuse supplies the power for the blinkers, taillights, number plate lamp, Euro light and power to the Aux relay.
Assuming the Accessory fuse isn't the issue then you might want to check the power supplied to the ignition switch. If you look at the socket where the ignition switch plugs in you can see there are two red wires that come from a splice that is located in the main loom right in line with that infamous guide mentioned above. In this photo you can see the set-up. One larger wire from the fuse block spliced to three - two to the ignition switch and one to the instruments (it is the back-up power that allows the instruments to retain the odometer readings, clock settings etc). I haven't seen one of the power wires break at the splice but it is certainly possible.
BTW - the splice in the Brown wires you can see is the R/H blinker circuit. I had this one break at one stage as well.



The cluster of ground wires is definitely a weak point on the Uly and these four provide grounds for the front power connector, the horn, the headlights and the blinkers. The failure mode is often confusing - the wire breaks internally and the insulation can remain in place giving the illusion of an intact wire. If you pull on each one gently (just near the ground lug) an internal break will be really obvious.
The taillight / numberplate light ground is not supplied from this point so my guess is that there is more to it than a ground (at least a single ground anyway).

A couple more things to check if nothing else!
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Ratbuell
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 05:19 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

You say the black wire is solid to ground...where? On the forks? Or the frame/battery?

I'd run a check all the way back to the battery terminal. If nothing there, start working your way back up front bit by bit until you get continuity again...
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99savage
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 08:34 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Thanks again to all.
Ratbuell;
Yeh checked ground to the forks, that was solid. Will check further in the AM

Rays;
Will recheck fuses. Blew the "Lights" Fuse today for no damn good reason that I can think of. Will Check the others again.

When cleaning up found what the problem is but still have no idea how to find & fix it.
By accident noticed that the Orange Wire to the Headlight Connector was @ ground potential w/o respect to the position of the Ignition Switch.
Suggests a short to ground but no idea where to look for it. Jiggling the wire bundle had no effect
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Rays
Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 08:56 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

If the Orange/White wire is shorted to ground then the Accessories fuse should be toast (assuming all the wires are intact).

The O/W wire should have continuity to the flasher relay socket, the taillight, the number plate light, the Accessories fuse and where pin 86 of the Aux relay is plugged.

Be careful with resistance measurements as some things can be very misleading around auto-electectics. For example a 55w H7 bulb only measures about 1 ohm with a multimeter so did you have the headlight disconnected when you measured the short?
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Ratbuell
Posted on Sunday, November 14, 2010 - 08:38 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Your orange wire will have ground potential - it's the bulb filament. Unplug the bulb before you check the circuit; that goes for ANY incandescent light circuit (LED's are "open" by nature though, no filaments).
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Etennuly
Posted on Sunday, November 14, 2010 - 01:21 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

On those triple splices in the steering neck bundle pictured above.....the wires can break and still feel fine within the heat shrink because it has a wax waterproofer in it. Cut the heat shrink away to look at the connectors.

I moved my steering neck wiring triple splices up into the flyscreen area. This made the bundle smaller and moved the connections into an area where they don't have to flex.
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99savage
Posted on Monday, November 15, 2010 - 08:47 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Thanks again for all the input.

Everything working now.

The reason I had no Lights was the the "Acc" Fuse was blown. - Silly me, I assumed that the Lights were on the "Lights" fuse.

Unable to duplicate the original no Right Turn Signal complaint. - Probably is in the splice I put in, even tho I did put some slack in it & applied a triple layer of heat shrink tube to the joints,
Hated that job, big time & not anxious to repeat but will do it the next time Right Signal fails.

Thanks again.
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Choyashi
Posted on Monday, November 15, 2010 - 06:40 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I hated tearing into my harness when my
right rear signal went out.
That's why I ride with no neutral light.
It started blinking off and on when I turned the bars.........but, wait till your rear rocker gasket starts leaking, and you have to rotate the engine to replace a $5 piece of rubber!
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