900xj secca turn signals not working

The left hand turn signal on my 1983 xj900 seca is not activating. That is I can turn it on, however it does cause the flashers to activate. I am not sure where I should begin the trouble shooting? I have checked both the front and the rear bulbs they are both good. So if someone has some suggestions I would greatly appreciate the help.

WD

 

If you have a Stock Fuse Panel, ... get rid of for an ATC Fuse Holder.

Signal Lights which do not Flash when the component parts ALL test good is a SYMPTOM that you need to Replace the Alternator Contact Brushes.

 

When you activate the left side, do both of the lamps light, or only one, or neither? If both are lighting, but not flashing, you may have the wrong bulbs in there. The stock flasher unit needs 27W 1156's in order to flash properly. Also, if they're lighting but not flashing, is this the same situation if it's running and you rev it up a bit?

Cheers,
Paul

 

I do have the original glass fuse setup. I have checked the fuses all of them just to be sure and they are all working properly.

I have checked all four light bulbs (via my Ohm meter) in the turns signals, and they are all good.

The situation is this:

1. the right side flasher front/back both work properly when activated.

2. the left side flasher front iluminates and stays iluminated it does not flash.

3. the left side flasher rear does not get any voltage, and thus does not iluminate or of course flash.

4. I have taken the the swicth assembly appart on the handle bar cleaned all the connenctions and checked the solder spots - good.

I am begining to think that the cancelor relay thinks that the bulb is burned out in the rear and thus is not allow voltage to flow. so there you go any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

W. D.

 

Get one of these:

http://www.rjtool.com/p-1354-circuit-so ... an-72.aspx

And one of these from Radio Shack:



Put 9V to the Wiring close to the Lamp
Trace the Wire back to the Flasher ... looking for a Short.
Keep the Tip of the Probe Light SHARP.
Cut the Handle of a Plastic Spoon and tape the Spoon part to your finger so the Troubleshooting isn't torture.

This Cal Van Probe ... "Lights" and "Beeps"

You are invited to a "Test Light Festival"
Have fun storming the castle.

With this wonderful Probe Light ... you will find the short.
You'll feel better knowing that while you are hunting-down what's not plugged-in or connected ... you're saving the money somebody else would be charging you to so the same thing.

 

This is the key. Your problem has nothing to do with the switch, the flasher, or the auto-cancel module. The problem is in the LR bulb, its socket, or its wiring.

My bet would be the socket. Most of these sockets use a wire soldered to a spring, which then makes contact with a conductive disc. The spring and/or the disc oxidizes a bit, and you lose conductivity within the socket.

First, of course, verify that the bulb is really good (by swapping it with the LF).

Second, I'd probably pull the socket apart and see how it looks inside.

Paul

 

Okay I will that a try tomorrow when can see better. I did take the RR lamp assembly apart once before but I do not remember what condition it was in. So as you suggest I will try it again in the day light tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes.

Regards,

W. D.

 

OK. But I thought you said LR was the problem.

 

Sorry I just was not paying attention when I wrote the posting. It is the LR lamp that is not working.

 

If you are going to use a Test Light to Probe the Contacts of a Light Bulb Socket ... either apply a wrap of Electrical Tape on the Test Lights Metal Probe ... or, just place a length of Shrink Wrap on the Probe leaving just the end (tip) exposed.

Remove ALL the Bulbs and look-in to see if a Service Tech or a PO treated the Bulb Socket with Grease.
Greasing the Sockets on early Jap bikes was a common preventative maintenance measure to combat the Bulb's metal base from oxidizing and seizing to the Socket.

Also, the Contact Base of the Bulb Socket is Spring Loaded.
If anyone Yanked on the wire ... the Base may have been pulled back and NOT returned to its correct position.

 

Unplug your RH indicator and plug it into your LH one (or vice versa) to check the indicator/bulb wiring.

 

Hillsy, that's not neccessary. The symptoms already narrow down the problem to the LR bulb, socket, or wiring. What's needed now is to dig further to see which one of these is the specific cause of the failure.

 

So how do you know it's not a fault with the wiring BEFORE the connector? You don't. Pulling the indicator apart without checking that could have you chasing your tail.

 

Just wanted to say thanks all. I have finally found the problem with the turn signals. It was a broken wire just inside the wire harness assembly that is apart of the front fairing. I will permanently repair it tomorrow at work where I have the tools to do this. So again thanks to one and all.

W. D.

 

Right. But swapping left and right, when you already know that the problem is PART of left doesn't help... it'll show you exactly the same behavior but with left and right action on the switch reversed. I don't know if it's different on the 900, but on the 650's and 750's it's a single connector from the turn signal switch with one wire for left and one for right... it's after this connector that front and rear branch directly off of the harness. In this case, a fault before the connector would bring down both front and rear.

Cheers,
Paul

 

He said it was the LR lamp that wasn't working. So, to check this you unplug it and plug it into the RR side that is working. If the fault stays with the same indicator, then you know you have a problem with that indicator unit / bulb / wiring. If the fault stays on the same side of the bike, you have a problem somewhere further up the line. Which is what happened here (correct?).

 

Ahhh... I see what you're saying now. When you originally said LH and RH, I thought you were suggesting to swap the two sides up at the switch end of the system. Yes, unplugging and swapping the connections at the tail end would have helped isolate this.