1982 XJ 650 L.E.D lighting trouble

How is everyone doing? I'm currently in the process of an update on my lighting on my 82 maxim 650. The flasher relay would not work with the LED (due to too low voltage running to the lights. They only pull about a half volt.) so i had ordered a LED flasher relay and have ran into a mess of problems. Once the LED flasher relay is plugged in, non of the lights will light up. They flash, very dimly, for a second then go completely out. I put the original flasher relay in and they all come on but will not flash. Should i take a go at purchasing a normal 12v flasher relay and seeing if that fixes the issue or am i going to be looking further into diagnosing a wiring issue? any and all suggestions, questions or answers will help. Thank you

 

First off, the original flasher not being triggered is not due to low voltage; it's due to low WATTAGE. The original unit needs a pair of 27W bulbs per side to flash properly. Your LEDs are also probably 12V LEDs, but as you've discovered, not drawing enough current to trip the flasher.

It does sound as though a different relay may be in order, however-

You're also going to lose the self-cancelling feature unless you do some re-engineering, electrical-wise.

 

check out this thread for info to get you rolling.

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=1 ... gnals.html

CN

 

An aftermarket LED flasher usually wont plug straight into the OEM connector. You can however pull the pins or brass blades of the stock connector and reroute the wires to make it work.

The brass blades are locked to the connector by very small tabs (a small flat bladed screwdriver might work, but you can get a the right tool). I think Pico is the brand I have, comes as a kit of three and you can pull apart any pin/blade connector with them...inexpensive and worth the hassle reduction). Like these:
Summit Racing - Pico pin extractors

Once the blades are out you need to solder up and run a new ground wire. Check the schematic on the side of the LED flasher. That ground wire goes into the respective slot on the OEM connector. Now connect the left and right respectively. As mentioned you will loose the self-cancelling, so you can dump the unit.

I did this mod and it does work. Over the winter I think I will fab up something with a solid state timer to replace the self-cancelling unit. I'll post my progress.