some electrical questions, Help!!

Thanks to a lot of you for your posts and Len’s great service my 82 XJ750 Seca is up and running, took her for her first ride today. Thank you
Question #1 the new battery does not have a hole big enough or deep enough to accommodate the battery probe, what can I do to trick the warning control into thinking it is hooked up and the level is fine?
Question #2 my turn signals only blink when I have the RPM’s above 1500, they are on but don’t blink under 1500.
Thanks again for all your help and the great info in the forums.
Ethan

 

Hello there Ethan,
#1, look in my gallery for a bypass.
#2, this is fairly common. It takes some rpm to get the rectifier diodes to saturate, supplying sufficient current to operate the machine (this means you are on battery at rpm below this).

 

Thanks Robert, I will go look right now for the bypass info. Ethan

 

For #2, the flasher should work at lower voltages. At idle, your electrical system should be at about 11.50V or so.

If it's lower than that, check your battery.

If it's at or above 11.50V, then your problem is probably lower wattage than standard bulbs in the turn signals. You can either switch them to standard bulbs or switch to an electrnic flasher. If you just swap out the flasher itself with a 2-pin electronic (connected between the Br and Br/W wires) any wattage bulbs will work, even LEDs, but you'll lose the auto-cancel feature. If you want to keep auto-cancel and flash the lower wattage bulbs at idle you'll need to make a custom flasher circuit, as shown here: http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14068.html

Cheers,
Paul

 

I agree SQL, it SHOULD work but in practice typically doesn't below 1.5-1.2Krpm. I've got the correct wattage bulbs in and still have the issue. I've also installed the two pin electronic flasher and eliminated the problem.

 

It takes a STRONG battery to run the stock turn signals at idle; you may simply need to go through your harness and CLEAN all the connectors, etc.

 

Guys, you've got to be kidding me!

How do you think Yamaha was able to get a bike past DOT if the turn signals wouldn't work when stopped at a light?

If your stock turn signals with stock bulbs don't work at idle, you have problems that need to be addressed. First thing to try in this case is measure the battery voltage, as I mentioned. Second is to jumper battery + to flasher Br and see whether things start flashing. If they do, you're dropping voltage in your fuse box or ignition switch.

 

I think you are dead on SQL, I've just gotten complacent about this quirk and simply accepted this behavior rather than fuss with it (that is until last year). Everything else works just fine so I chose to ride rather than mess with it. It is on my to-do list to build a new harness (I've got the peripherals done already) to bring my Seca up to 21st century technology. I figure this issue will become moot upon that upgrade.

 

Like I said, it simply requires a strong battery and clean connections. Both of my Secas with the stock signal system blink fine at idle, but I have already addressed the above issues.

Quick test: With the bike OFF, switch the key to "on" and hit a turn signal.

It should work; test them all. If not, either your battery is getting "soggy" or you need to go through the harness and clean some connections. In the above state there is no load on the system except the signals (if your headlight relay is functioning correctly.)

 

UPDATE: Thank you everyone who helped me figure this out, after testing and checking half of the connections on the bike I decided it had to be lower than standard wattage bulbs in the turn signals and got the LED 2 pin signal relay SQLGuy mentioned and the problem is fixed.