Turn Signal Relay

I tried a search, but seems the search brings up just about everything and anything.

Turn signal relay - mine went south. Is this a dealer only part? Does dealer usually have to order it? And if so, how long does it usually take? Is it available anywhere else?

 

I was hunting one for a 86 gsxr about a month ago.Went to a repair shop and the guy had one for $10.Before that I called suzuki it was $46 dollars.The guy I got the $10 part from told me they have them at pepboys or auto zone for 3-4$ but I wanted a orignal part.I later need a pilot relay for the headlites looks very similar to turnsignal relay didn't want to pay the $40 something special order price for that and got ti autozone looked the same but the amps were a bit higher,but it seems to work.

 

If you have any electronic skills I would try a 10 dollar flasher relay first. My replacement Yamaha relay was $75 (CAN).

 

You can use a cheap auto parts store relay with just 2 contacts or one with 3 contacts if you ground the 3rd terminal instead of the expensive original equipment part but then it won't self cancel and you'll have to turn it off manually everytime. The $4 part is OK if you have a new, fully charged battery but will stop blinking at idle if your battery is weak since they won't work below 12 volts. It's best to get the more expensive electronic ones with a relay inside that cost around $9, they will blink more reliably with lower voltage and last a lot longer.

 

Well, maybe it's not the relay after all. I got another relay at a local small cycle shop for $15, but it doesn't seem to be the problem, as the old relay started working again AFTER I figured out that the new relay wasn't working, THEN they both worked! :roll:

So it seems that I may have a grounding issue somewhere, as on rare occasion when I try the turn signals the entire electrical system dies.

But the good news is that I found this place to go! Very friendly guy there, loved my bike, said it was the best bike made in the 80's, seemed to know all about it, listened to it run, and said there were several things he'd like to "get started on" with it, but he said the weather was too nice, so ride it now, and come back when it turns cold and he'd dive in and start doing all these things he wanted to do (whatever they are lol). One thing he noticed was that it had the wrong battery (which may cause some signal issues).

So it was great (and worth more than mentionable) to find a local, independant source that is knowledgeable, doesn't charge the dealer rates, and had interest in the bike's nostalic and sentimental value! Now I'm not so fearful of owning an antique machine!

 

You're a lucky man to find a willing shop - my Star snob seemed really great then I opened up the headlight and found all the huge blue splice connectors. I was not pleased. I had to run new grounds for my horn and both front signals or the flashers wouldn't work right at all.

After the new ground lines - no trouble at all.

Get yourself a 16/18 gauge length of wire and a couple of alligator clips. Kill power, then clip one end to the engine. Use the other end to temporarily replace the ground line on the flasher and see if it helps!

I jumped a foot when I clipped to the 'broken' horn that the dealer passed on fixing...

 

Problem Solved!

Turns out it's not the battery or a faulty ground, but the fuses. Over the years someone took out the little round glass fuses, crimped female spade connectors on each wire, and just stuck them onto the various colored plastic fuses, shoved it all back under the plastic cover, and called it done. This may have worked for some time, however after some riding and jostling around, they ended up rubbing against each other, and shorted, and melted, and blew - lucky me I was 2 miles from home when this happened (and all uphill). But I got it rigged to make it home without pushing, and got some mini fuse holders, wired them in place with shrinkwrap, and got the correct fuses installed, under a fabbed plastic cover to protect them from the seat clip. Now the turn signals, along with everything else, seems to be better than ever.

After this experience, I decided to then pack extra fuses, a few lengths of wire, and a few solderless connectors into my emergency tool bag.

 

http://www.xjbikes.com/coppermine/displ ... pos=7.html

Here's a pic of the upgrade I made to my fuse box.

 

That's nice work jdrich48 - even a spare ready for action.

I have a similar setup under my seat, but since it's from the PO and the stealer had his big blue splice hands in there I had better take a look again soon.

 

Eeek! Crimps are a temporary fix only! Should you have occasion to use one, get home and solder the connection right away, then seal with heat shrink or similar material. Long term peace of mind folks!