XJ550H Turn Signal Woes

Hey,

First off, my apologies about all the recent threads. I've been slowly chipping away at this bike how I can, and wanted to save up my questions for when I was close to being able to actually do something about those issues/when I had time to really dig in to my bike.

My turn signal worked fine, then I, in my infinite wisdom, cracked it open and cleaned it with contact cleaner because "my turn signal lever feels gummy". Now my turn signal won't function at all, I can get the occasional blip out of them if I use a screwdriver to push the plastic "y" block slightly farther to one side than the lever will.

I feel like the answer should be obvious, but I'm tentative to rip the switch completely apart as electrics are definitely NOT my strong suit (dirt, water, and mechanical work, different story), so are there some first troubleshooting steps I should take to pinpoint the problem? How does the switch actually work? What's that "y" block for? How far can I disassemble the switch without going into the no-no zone with it?

I'd prefer to not be asking these questions, but I couldn't find anything in the factory service manual that I could make heads or tails of. Sorry about that

Thanks in advance!

 

When I pulled mine apart I followed the wiring diagram...wiggling wires while testing points. I found a broken solder joint that was the cause of the intermittent issue in my case.

A multimeter (crappy tire sells them for about $20) is a necessity IMHO for electrical troubleshooting...otherwise your just guessing.
Not all contact cleaners are plastic safe...best to read the label.
Dielectric grease should be used on contact points on reassembly as well.

Cheers.

 

I have a multimeter, just wasn't too sure. The contact cleaner I used was the gentlest I could find , and I tested it with a q-tip on a small patch of plastic before I coated everything in it.

I'll do some digging with the multimeter. Thank you!

 

Check the contacts from inside the indicator unit to your switch for continuity with your multimeter. Chances are the problem is in your switch as it was working before.


Have you checked all your fuses?

 

Yup, all the fuses are still operational. I figured it's probably something within the switch itself also, as the only thing which occurred between my lights working and not working was a good soaking with contact cleaner (with the battery disconnected) and the removal of the signal lever.

 

The "Y" block is for resetting the auto cancel unit, and if you don't reset it the turn signals will never illuminate.

Here is a picture of an XJ750 left control, not exactly the same but same principal.



The auto cancel unit can be disconnected as a troubleshooting aid. With the auto cancel disconnected the turn signals should illuminate and start flashing when the key is switched to on if the left control is placed in the left or right turn position, and not the center.

 

could be the three wires under the lever assembly need to be resoldered to the little pc board they solder joints fail and the wire pops off of the eyelet it is soldered to.
one is the hot from flasher relay the other 2 are feeds to left and right side.

you also need to lubracate the assembly to make it smooth

 

Could be as simple as the BULB look at contacts on bottom of the buld is it dimpled ? You can put a drop of solder if this is dimpled to fill it in this usually help bulb make better contact with the bulb contacts .

 

From this point forward please keep all questions in this thread. It helps us to make sure that we are giving you the best help possible, and aren't missing the little details that can help to solve issues that may be caused by more than one system.

 

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the late response, been dealing with a ton of school and life things, and working on some other components on the bike. First of all, thanks everyone for giving me ideas for what could be wrong! For some reason, the turn signal assembly was really intimidating for me to take apart, but I found the source of the problem.

XJ550H, you were right. Of the 3 wires soldered into that board, the left 2 (when sitting on the bike) had popped off. I have the switch torn apart right now, and am cleaning it thoroughly before resoldering the wires.

I'm having some battery troubles, but need to go through the process of isolating whether my battery is bad, or whether my starter motor is an issue. I'll keep y'all updated.

 

Also, here are some pics of the current situation:

 

And some more pics. I'm in the process of slowly polishing all the parts I can on the bike, but won't be getting to the forks since I just had them off to replace the seals and REALLY don't feel like taking them off again.

I also replaced the old spark plug caps with new NGK caps, put fresh tires on, and finished my valve clearances recently, among a host of other things.

 

Hey everyone, I might need some advice.

I'm waiting for warmer weather so I can sync and tune the engine, so I figured I'd look into the electrical system as that, at this point, is the only thing I haven't touched on the bike yet apart from the starter motor. And, of course, the one thing that's messed up is the one thing my FSM doesn't mention - the generator.

I tested the resistance between green-brown wires behind the toolkit space under the seat: spec. Is 4.5 ohm +/- 10%, my value was..... 12.4 ohms.

Resistance between all 3 white wires, spec is stated to be 0.5 ohm +/- 10%, my values were between 0.7 and 0.9 ohms.

My problem is that the FSM doesn't mention anything about generator maintenance, nor have I been able to find much info on it in the forums. Does anyone have any advice or experience working on 550 generators, and some advice to give?

 

Check the brushes for wear. The minimum length is 10mm. There is a line on the brushes that indicates the minimum length.
Clean the copper traces on the rotor with a hard art eraser, and blow out any carbon dust.
Look for oil in the housing. If you find any there is an o-ring and bearing seal that need to be replaced. We have a writeup on that in the DYI forum.

Keep in mind that most (but certainly not all) of the DYI writeups contain information and procedures that are the same for many of the XJ models. I've found it worthwhile to read through them all, even though I only have the one XJ.

 

I had similar numbers when I checked the rotor/stator on my 650. 0.8 ohm across all whites, 12.1 ohm at green/brown and 4.8 ohm at slip rings (rotor). I replaced the brushes and cleaned the slip rings.

I found that the brushes were at the wear marks and replaced them. You can measure them and see if they are in spec (length will be in your FSM).
The slip rings may just need some cleaning. Have a look at them...they should be smooth and shinny. Measure resistance at the rings. To clean I gently used 1500 grit sandpaper...I've read on here somewhere that a hard eraser also works.

Before taking measurements confirm your multimeter shows 0 ohms when touching leads together. Most inexpensive multimeters don't show accurate numbers below 1.0 ohm. I wouldn't concern myself with the whites showing 0.7-0.9 ohms...

When you remove the generator cover, check for oil...you shouldn't see any. The gasket on there is just to keep the dust out.

Lastly ensure that your connectors are clean then dielectric grease.

Let us know how it went.

Cheers.

 

this thread has specs and info
The Ultimate Relay, Switch, Sensor, and Diodes Guide

you will also find info in the Information overload thread
The Information Overload Hour

fsm does not mention generator because it is an alternator. and there is a charging system section in there.

with your meter touch the probes together see if it reads zero.
it is hard to measure the 3 white wires with a DMM due to the small amount of resistance you are trying to measure.

when you remove alternator cover the rotor will have 2 copper rings that will need to be cleaned.
and p the brushes will have a wear mark on them check that too .

the voltage regulator can be checked with a diode check with your meter .

 

550 grounds to clean find the ring terminal on the ignition coil bolt clean ring and contact points of the ring.
there is a ground that comes from motor to frame it is under the battery box screw is accessable through battery box clean all contact points.
clean battery terminals too and where the battery negitive wire connects to motor( that end is part of the battery box wire).

 

An eraser is preferable. The grit from the paper can (potentially) become imbedded in the copper and cause the brushes to wear faster.

 

So I tried to take apart my alternator, but may have hit a roadblock. When I removed the cover, the coils were stuck in the main case for the alternator. I don't believe there's oil leaking into the alternator case, just graphite/carbon deposits. However, I can't get the coils out of the case to check, and I'm iffy on using hand tools to pry on the coils for fear of breaking them or connecting wires. Should I just polish the cover, clean up the copper rings as best I can, and seal 'er back up? Any advice is welcome.

I should also add, I'm fairly sure my alternator works, but have not tested it's real-world charging. I took it apart solely on the basis of the resistance values being out of spec, as mentioned earlier in the thread. If the weather stays in the positive temps for more than a week, I may be able to take it for a ride around the block a couple times and sync/tune it, as well as check the alternator health.

 

No oil...good news!
Measure resistance between the two slip rings.
Looks like the brushes are above the wear lines (hard to tell from pic)...measure them also.

If both the brushes and slip rings are in spec then clean the slip rings and button back up. Measure resistance again at the wires.

Not a bad idea to add some thread locker to the brush holder screws.