High beam not working...

Hey there guys,

Is the high beam a separate light bulb? When i switch to high beam nothing happens. Any ideas?

 

Sounds like the hi beam filament is toast. Only one bulb unless you have a sealed beam headlight. Just install a new bulb.

 

High beam is a separate filament in the same bulb as the low beam. If you have a stock sealed beam lamp, it could have become damaged, replacement is $15-20 for 7'' round lamp at the auto parts store. Or you could search for an H4 conversion.

Of course, your problem could also be wiring or fuse related. Time to do some testing with the multimeter!

 

Hopefully not fuse related as there isn't a fuse box in my bike. Someone before me hard wired everything with fuses... Not sure if that make sense, I'll have to take a pic and post it. If I can remember to do it tomorrow morning I'll post it up when I get to work.

 

It does not matter whether you have an original fuse box or aftermarket inline fuses, you still need to verify all connections are secure.

Did you lose the high beam recently or has it ever worked?

 

It didn't work when I bought it. Not sure what an inline fuse is ( I know nothing about electricity) but they are just wires connected to fuses. no fuse box, no original or aftermarket fuse box...

 

What you have is inline fuse (aka wire -> fuse -> wire) in a line. Get it?

 

If the Low Beam works, ... the Fuse is OK.

99.9% of the time ... it's a High Beam Filament issue.
You can Test the Bulb easy enough.
Meter each Supply Terminal to the Ground.
The High Beam Terminal should so no continuity.

When my Bulb died, ... I replaced it with a Sylvania SilverStar.
Brighter Bulb.

 

So it's just a matter of changing a bulb? I have a multimeter I got a long time ago for guitar work. I really have no idea how to use it except for one single setting lol.

Is it a PITA to change the bulb? I've read the manual but man, the pictures in this thing SUCK!

 

You might have stock sealed beam light, if so you will need to replace the whole unit, not just a bulb. Change the blinker fluid while you're there lol

 

Lol blinker fluid. How do I know if I have a sealed beam or not?

 

Take the housing apart and look or compare from the front:

Sealed beam:



H4 bulb housing:

 

Thanks man, I think it's a sealed beam. I'll have to confirm when I leave for work....

 

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Ha, I get it. I thought it was shoddy work but I guess it's good to have it set up that way?

 

It's not a bad way to do things, it's just not viewed as being "consumer friendly". It also costs a lot more to wire things that way on a production basis, which is why it's typically only done when there is no room for a fuse block. So long as the fuses have the correct rating, are labeled, and the fuse holders were installed correctly, there isn't any reason to change to a fuse block.

 

Lol nothing is labeled at all... That's why I'm worried!

 

When you say nothing happens, do you mean the lights go out or the low beam stays on and NOTHING happens. Cause, that would be the switch wouldn't it?

 

No the lights don't go out. The low beam stays on, but doesnt engage the high beam.

 

OK, so I haven't ridden the bike in low light yet until today. Seems like there is no backlighting on the speedometer or the tach. Is there supposed to be? Also, when I flip the switch to go to brights, even if the bulb is burnt/not working, shouldn't the blue 'high beam' light go off??

 

Yes, you should have back lighting. And yes, the blue light is supposed to eliminate. It sounds like, the hi beam switch is not operating properly or the wiring in between has been messed with.

If I was in your shoes, I'd start getting friendly with the multimeter!

In my state the bike would not pass inspection in this condition 8O

 

Nor in mine..........have to show both low and high beam during inspection.

Sounds like your switch has been bypassed................

Dave F

 

But the turn signals are on the same switch no? Those work just OK...

The backlighting on the speedo and tach, you think those are just bulbs or do I have to look into this wiring? It's all inline fuses and NOTHING is labeled....

PS, so the blue 'high beam' light should go on regardless if the high beam light actually works? am i understanding that correctly?

 

any suggestions guys?

 

"But the turn signals are on the same switch no?".....no. turn signal switch goes lefty, righty, high beam goes upy, downy.
the back lighting wiring is probably hosed, chances of all the bulbs being bad are kind of slim.
forget the blue light, in the daytime it doesn't matter, at night if you cant tell the high beam is on you should park it.
the wiring diagram is in the back of your book, identify the fuses and the wires in the switch plug by color.
make a few copies of the diagram to write on as you trace the wires

 

Here is a question. When you turn the ignition "on", does the headlight come on? Or does the headlight only come on AFTER you start the motor?

For some reason, I have a funny feeling the PO bypassed the switch because the headlight relay might have been faulty.

 

Possible!

On the 650 maxim, the headlight SHOULD come on after the engine fires. The 85/86 700 (and others) have the headlight come on as the key is turned on.

Dave F

 

Hey guys, my headlight comes on when I turn the key to ON. How does that change things? And how the heck do I open this switch without dissembling the handlebars and choke? Time to see what Mr. Haynes has to say.....

 

Back of the control block has screws, it comes apart in 2 pieces, then you can see the wire contacts. From there you can use your meter to test continuity ( disconnect battery would be a good idea ). Or, if you're adventurous, like me, you can leave the battery hooked up and test for 12v all along it's path, checking for voltage at every point you can.

This is where the wiring diagram, and a high comfort level with your meter comes in to play.

If your wiring has been re-done, then you may have the grand task of MAKING your own wiring diagram. Hopefully the PO used different colored wires, not like some vehicle companies.

 

Thanks pjk.

Nope, all orange wires. So how do i check for continuity on my multimeter?

Control block you mean the switch on the left handlebar? Not near the bike so I cant look... and wiring diagram, man I don't have a CLUE what I'm looking at when I look at those things. This will be a fun one...

 

That's what I feared. Looks like you'll have to do a lot of wire tracing on your bike. I would get a good wiring diagram and trace where each wires goes on your bike. Use colored pencils to mark the wires you trace on the wiring diagram. Then you can systematically figure out what was rewired by the PO and "FIX" his lack of knowledge of proper electrical repairs.

Also, on the repaired wires, you can use tape to label the correct wire colors (if they're weren't repaired with the right colors). Or, get another wire harness from a donor bike (junkyard, ebay, private seller) and just replace the bad harness.

 

harness, trace wires, diagrams... I'm lost brother!

Soooo all this stuff is fixable somehow? So if I trace wires, then what? Not sure why the tach/speedo lights don't work and no brights. It's all inline fuses right now.

 

If you can read wiring diagrams, it will make sense to you as to why your lighting doesn't work. All of your dash illumination and headlight power comes from a headlight relay under your tank. If that unit has failed, the the PO more than likely just bypassed the relay (and the high/low switch on your left bar switch assembly) and hardwired the headlight directly to the circuit that comes from the fuse block.

That is my assumption. And the only way to fix this is to verify what wires go to what components. And if the wires are not going to the right parts first, then you get issues that you're seeing with your bike right now.

Definately get a good wiring diagram and understand what components are on your bike. Then you can use the wiring diagram to follow the different colored wires between certain components on the bike. If those wires don't connect the two parts, then you know that the wire harness has been altered. You will have to figure out what was altered and fix it the right way.

If that is way too much for you to do. Then I highly recommend you start searching for a good wiring harness for your bike.

 

Thanks Wink. So if I find a wiring harness, it'll be a quick fix?

man, those diagrams scare the crap out of me. I literally have no idea what I'm looking at.... I'll probably trace some wires this weekend just to have an idea, but yea, this seems WAY over my head. More so than the carb rebuild I just did.

 

If this is what I'm supposed to be looking at I am royally screwed I believe.

 

yup, that's it.

Only other way is to pay a trusted mechanic to fix your wiring issues for you. You'll have to dig deep into your wallet for that though.

 

Yea and I don't know any mechanics out here, so that's out of the question. Good lord man, this kinda blows. So a harness will do what exactly? Will i need to solder stuff?

 

FJ xj550 diagram

This is for the 550 but might help show you where to look for certain components, (headlight relay, switch, and possibly even wire colors). I cant remember what the guys name is that made the file and don't know if made one for any other bikes. You just simply put your mouse on the part in question and it shows you a picture of the bike with a box around it. Hope this helps

 

The picture you posted is indeed the WIRING diagram for your bike. If you look closely at it, you'll see that every component is labeled, as are the connectors that are associated with those components, how many wires IN those connectors/in what positions PLUS there is a chart there to "decode" the wire color indicators in the diagram.

Elsewhere in the manual you will find a CIRCUIT diagram. You really need both to solve your problem, especially if the wires you're finding no longer match the wiring diagram.

The idea of a whole new harness makes a lot of sense if there has been a lot of cutting/rewiring/bypassing done. A replacement harness (provided it also hasn't been hacked and is in good condition) is simply a matter of installation and then plugging in ALL of those components into the right connectors. REPLACING the harness won't require much in the way of soldering, if at all; but it will require being very careful and organized about what you're doing. Otherwise it'll go from "plug-n-play" to "plug-n-pray" REAL quick.

There are also individual circuit fault isolation diagrams in the electrical section of the factory book that may help figure out, within the context of each circuit, what has been hacked.

If Haynes didn't bother with any circuit diagrams (I don't look in my Haynes that often) PM me with your email address and I'll "fill in the blanks" for you with diagrams from the factory book.

My advice would be to study the situation carefully; determine WHAT has been hacked/modified; and then decide whether repair or a new harness is the better choice. If PO used the wiring mods to eliminate relays, replacing the harness would also mean sourcing those relays.

 

Fitz, thanks for the offer and tips. I'll check the Hayne's at work tomorrow to see if there are circuit diagrams. (forgot it there today).

 

OK so I plan on waking up early tomorrow to take a look at this problem in depth. Here's the problem, I'm armed with diagrams and a multi meter but that's where my knowledge stops.

When I get in there, what do I test to see why the blue light doesnt illuminate when I go to 'high beam' and what do i test to see why my high beam doesnt actually turn on. Also the tach adn speedo lights? What setting on the multi?

Once again, I'm in over my head!!

 

Just went out there. I have NO idea what I'm doing. Diagram or not. I feel like an idiot. What I can surmise however is I think he just ran inline fuses,everything else looks stock. Other than that I just sat down there staring with my multimeter. Guess I won't be riding at night.

 

So start at the bulbs and work backward. It IS entirely possible that the bulb(s) are simply burned out, or the filament broke (same end result.) I've bought numerous instrument clusters off eBay with multiple burnt-out indicator bulbs in them.

Your multimeter is called that because it can both read voltage (DCV) and also check continuity (using one of the Ohm scales or you may even have a "continuity" position on it, usually indicated by a "diode" icon.)

Start with this: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/ho ... multimeter you are mainly interested in "continuity" and "voltage" at this point.

 

Thanks Fitz. I'll have to see how to get to the indicator and tach/speedo bulbs and head to autozone to swap them out. Hopefully that's it. We'll see!

Thanks for the link too. Gonna pour over that one in a bit.

 

So I just went down there. I've read the factory repair manual, it doesn't say where the tach/speedo/high beam lights are located or how to access them. Any suggestions?

Where are they located and how do I get to them?

 

Pretty sure they are in the front cluster under the covers of your instrument pods.

 

Yea I figured they'd be in there, thing is, I cant unscrew the 2 screws holding the back plates of the pods, there's no room. Do you really have to remove the whole headlight assembly to get to them?

I think I'll be doing that tonight anyways so no big deal I guess

 

OK just went out and took the 2 screws out to see the headlight bucket. Noticed that 3 pronged plug wasn't in back of light (it may have pulled off when I pulled headlight) anyways, I plugged it back in, turned on electricity, NO headlight. It would turn on when i turned the key. So I started the bike. Still no headlight. No low or high beam now.

I noticed the prong was bent so I went to bend it back with a flathead and I accidentally nicked that glass nipple and heard gas escape. Now what?

First question, why do I have no headlights when reconnecting that three prong plug? Second, if the gas escaped that means I can't use this headlight now? I have to order a new one and then figure out why I all of a sudden lost my headlight. I took 2 screws out guys. I'm really kinda pissed right now as I had my first invite to a group ride in the mountains tomorrow. I was REALLY excited for that.. ugh....

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

Did you figure out if you have a sealed beam or H4 headlight? Like I posted earlier the 7'' sealed beams can be had for $15 at the local auto parts store.

 

Ok so in all my rage I went and picked up a new sealed beam because the gasses escaped on the one I was working on. Installed it (a job in and of itself) and went back downstairs. Still no headlight. What struck me as very odd is I had headlights 5 minutes ago, i took it out and all of a sudden nothing?

So that three prong plug that's supposed to go into the headlight is dead. I found three stray wires with terminals on them and figured what the hell. plugged em up and my headlight came on. when i turn on the key the light turns on (which is NOT supposed to happen on an xj650)

What did this PO do? Is all I need is that 3 inch run of wire with the 3 prong on one side and the connector on the other to fix this?

Anyways, at least I'm back to having some sort of light, but whatever was done, isn't right.... Also, will this ghetto setup this guy has affect my tach and speedo lights? I want to tackle those tomorrow hopefully.

 

Are the speedo and tach backlights red by chance?? Got stuck in rain up in the mountains today and it sure looked like my tach lights magically started working.. or that was the first time I was in low light?

How 'obvious' are the tach/speedo lights during the day?