Turn Signal Problems

Hi guys, when I first got my bike 1982 550 maxim the turn signals would come on and not flash, I have now got new aftermarket turn signals that are halogen bulbs and not leds, I don`t know what the bulb type is because I can`t get my fat fingers in the bulb housings to turn and pull them out, but I knew that the stock turn signal relay wasn`t going to work because they are probably not the 27watt bulbs that the relay needs to make the flash cycle, so I bought a flasher with the 3 pin connection from superbrightleds.com the part number is CF13JL-AR LED Bulb Electronic Adjustable Rate Flasher, even though it says Led flasher will it still work on the halogen replacement turn signals, I have tried the new relay and it doesn`t turn on the lights weather its turn to the left or right or in the middle, I know the bulbs work because I tested them on the battery and the all light up great, the turn signals have 2 wires, 1 Black and 1 Black/White so I connected the black to black and the black/white to the colored connections just like the stock turn signals, and I have no lights, so I tried reversing the connection, same result, so then I tried to switch the connection at the relay and no result, I know that I have one wire disconnected at the turn signal switch witch is the right turn signal wire, what do I do guys? please help? oh the run signals are mini cateye turn signals off ebay and they do work I tested them

 

got any info on the turn signals?
did you check out your bulbs in the oem signals, or open the relay and clean it?

 

Pin Diagram

Legend

• L=Load
• B=12V IN
• E=Ground

Description
Electronic LED Flasher Relays have no minimum load-12VDC. Eliminates the need for load resistors, turn signals will flash at normal rate with or without LED bulbs.

did you install it as shown above?

use this wiring diagram
http://www.frankjohansson.com/stuff/xj550/XJ550ElectricalDiagram.html
or this one
1981-3 XJ550 Maxim WIRING DIAGRAM
http://members.tripod.com/dave_jack/wiringdiag/d1a.jpg
and
http://members.tripod.com/dave_jack/wiringdiag/d1b.jpg

B=12 volt in br wire brown wire comes from fuse to original relay
E goes to ground find one or run a wire to neg battery terminal

L =load goes to the turn signal switch br/w brown wire with white stripe

 

I do not have the bulb specs with the new turn signals, but I know there not leds, there halogen, but I will try to take them out, but the reflector case that the bulbs sit in are so small and my fat little fingers are too big to get them out but I will try again to get the numbers off the bulb, I did clean the contacts and the terminals on the factory flasher and it does work but does not flash at the normal rate, it jumps the gap very fast, it does stop when I cancel it at the switch and does stop when I turn to the other direction so I assume it works with the stock turn signals but I want to use the new ones because they are better looking and don`t stick out as far as the original ones, I`m going to get the specs on the bulbs that were in the old turn signals, I do have the wiring diagram its in my Haynes manual

 

Have you tried the relay on another vehicle to confirm that it works?

 

the specs say with or with out leds. it should flash it looks like and adjustment knob is on the relay have you tried it at different settings.ectrolitic
is there a capacitor and resistor on the original relay? the cap or resistor can fail it can be replaced. should be numbers on cap

you could try it with original directionals

 

where did you buy the signals lights?

i see bulbs are probaly 15 watt

 

hey xj550h that tip about wiring the e terminal to the battery worked, I`ve got my left flashers working great and I adjusted the flasher to a proper flash rate, about the stock rate and they are bright, i maybe in the future will change the bulbs to the best leds that superbrightleds.com sells for this bulb type, for the wire that goes to the battery I have to get some proper fittings so that i can put it in the stock relay connector, the only thing is though I won`t have the self cancelling unit, but thats ok I`ll just cancel them myself just like any other bike

 

I just have one question, on the inside of the turn signal switch there are five wires for the switch, three wires are soldered to the switch, the chocolate, brown/white, and dark green, and the black is bolted to the inside of the switch housing, but were does the red/yellow wire get soldered to, I can see leftover solder on the end of the wire but can`t figure out were it gets soldered to, does anybody have a picture of what it should like, please help

 

does this help

 

can you take a picture of the actual connection for the red/yellow wire, that pic doesn`t have the up close view of it, its hiding under the plate

 

its a rivet hole just like the 3 wires for the slide you have to hold it inplace and use a fine tip iron it is connected to a semi circle of copper

 

Looks pretty clear in that picture, just need to solder it as XJ550H said - maybe he can do a pic of the bottom?

Or, you could just put some heat shrink on it and tuck it back into the harness for future use as that wire is used for the self cancelling feature, which you are giving up with the new flasher relay.

 

self canceling unit is over rated, it takes to long for my own safety to cancel on its own

the photo i posted is from another thread by someone else. I will try to photo the connection on mine for you. this is mine

 

did you get the right signals to flash?
if not the little slid in the switch with 3 wires may need a solder touch up they come loose all the time just do the loose one.

the red yellow wire you need info on is what controls the original relay to latch it closed.

the 3 wire slide is what sends voltage to the side you want to flash

 

ok good news guys I got the turn signals working properly and the wire soldered to the plate, found out I messed up on the wiring, I cut the wires of the original turn signals and connected them to the new turn signals because the new ones has wires that couldn't reach the wiring harness, so I took the old wires off the new ones and connected them directly to the harness and they work perfect, the reason why i cut the old wires is because I want to mount them at the factory location, so I guess I`ll try to wire in some new wires that will work, guess its time to go through my dads pile of wires, he scraps metal on the side for money

 

bigger wire is better than smaller wire count the strands
it almost always pays to recheck the work you did when problems arise after the work. good job, good luck

 

Hang on, how critical is this 27W? I just changed the bulbs on my motorcycle on noticed one was 12V32W. So if it's above or below, it's not going to flash on idle @ 1400 RPM? I just changed it to GE NightHawk 1156 and it's 12V27W.

 

27W will flash just right, 32W will flash a little faster, much below 25W and it's slow or not at all

 

It's there for when you are old/tired and tend to forget things.

 

past old and tired just glad to wake up every morning

 

hey my lights are finally finished and working perfect!!!!!! YEAH all the lights work including the dash lights and brake / license plate lights, and the HID headlights work when the bike is started. thanks again guys for all your help, and that tip with the wiring was important and saved me from going to the mechanic to solve a simple problem that I can fix myself here at home., next spring I`ll be adding a link to a youtube page for everybody to see my bike when its done, its going to be purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrty!!!!!!!

 

I looked at the halagon bulbs. they look like 24watt. tried them in my XJ would not blink. Went back to 1156 27watt i think. Would the 32watt work better. Upgraded the the headlights and they draw a little more power. At a idle they bilnk very slow. 32watt be better?

 

The slow blinking at idle is probably due to the alternator brushes needing to be replaced, and the alternator slip ring needing to be cleaned (use a hard eraser) Higher wattage bulbs won't blink any faster than the correct wattage bulbs.

 

Were can i find these 32watt bulbs. Do you have a part number?

 

Did all that. The driving light is using a lot of power. Under normal headlight or high beam not to bad. LEDS in dash. Was wondering about 32watt turn signal bulbs someone talked about?

 

We really need you to ask this in your thread so we know what the baseline for your bike is.

Increasing the wattage demand isn't going to solve this for you, and might lead to burning out the voltage regulator or blowing fuses.

 

83 XJ750 seca. Rebulit bike about 2 years ago. OK will not go that way then. Thanks K-moe

 

I suppose I should say that the turn signals work fine with just a headlight on. With the high beam on the do slow down. With the auxiliary light which I bumped up to a 55 watt bulb. Great light output!.. I know it's drawing an excessive amount of power. I am going to try and H3 LED for the driving light. I love the spotlight effect it has on the road.

 

I added a pair of LED spots for driving lights. The Aux light is really meant to be a fog lamp (The lens focuses the light down and toward the curb).
I'd suggest going back to stock for that bulb and doing something LED-wise to drop your total load down so the signals can work correctly.
The pair of 10W spots I have are more than sufficient for rural riding at night. I could despense with the headlight and still have plenty of visibility (but not without endangering oncoming traffic).

 

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the slow blinking turn signal has been cured. I can still use all my accessories auxiliary light high-beam and it works great. 2 years ago I had to replace one turn signal. Think I got it from K&S. Well came with Dual filament bulb and socket 1157. That turn signal has worked perfectly ever since I installed it. So I had a thought. Take a 1157 duel filament bulb and put it in a single filament socket that uses 1156. The one that blinks very slow or not at all. I filed off one of those little alignment tabs the one in the middle. Left the lower one on so that it would screw in and stay. And it works perfectly. Consistent blinking just like the other side. I was a little surprised to say the least. The fuse box has been replaced and the alternator brushes have been replaced. The commentator Rings were cleaned. the bulbs in the signals were replaced. Any bad wires or connections were replaced or repaired. That was for the Baseline info.