Signal Help

[Yusiro]

Hey all,

Well I did it. My 1982 XS400 Heritage Special is finished! I took her out for her first ride today, just to get some practice before using it to go anywhere.

I noticed one issue though, and hope that someone could help. It's the signals. The left signal will work 100% of the time, no matter what.

The right signal, however, will not work after I start the bike UNLESS I hit the left signal first. After that, it's about 60% of the time it will go, 30% it will only go if I hit the left first, and 10% it just won't go at all. Does anyone know what to do with this? I have not touched anything electrical on the bike, so don't really know what I'm doing there.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Yusiro

 

[drewpy]

I'd check the earths (ground) first on the indicator stalks

 

[Yusiro]

Because I'm a (self proclaimed) newbie to anything that's not as simple as a wrench and bolt, could you give me an idea of where those are?

I will also add that it kindof sounds like it's "sticking" a little bit sometimes - and the light will stay on. Perhaps it's sticking on or off?

 

[drewpy]

trace the black wire out of the stems and where it bolts on, that's where you clean and check it!

 

[Yusiro]

I will go try that - thanks very much Drewpy!

If anyone else has any ideas, please feel free to share them.

 

[bcware]

I think drewpy has the right idea. You have confirmed all the bulbs are good and that the blinkers work sometimes. With these two bits of information a loose wire or poor connection somewhere sounds reasonable.

Perhaps by moving the steering stem left and right you are jiggling the wires causing the intermittent failure. The blinkers in the rear do not really move at all, so I would start at the front blinkers. Unfortunately this probably requires that you remove the head lamp, but it really is very simple to get off.

 

[63-Coupe]

Had a similar problem with my 82. The right turn signal would only come on if I played around with the switch. Dismantled the switch itself which was very straightforward, cleaned out about half a beach worth of sand, and it has worked fine ever since.

In most cases we just don't know where thses bikes have been or what they have been dumped into.

 

[Unknownz24]

Had a similar problem with my 82. The right turn signal would only come on if I played around with the switch. Dismantled the switch itself which was very straightforward, cleaned out about half a beach worth of sand, and it has worked fine ever since.

In most cases we just don't know where thses bikes have been or what they have been dumped into.

This happened to me too. The actual switch mechanism had some surface corrosion on the leads. Dismantled it, which as 63-coupe said, was pretty straightforward. Put it all back together and works perfectly.

 

[Yusiro]

I'm going to dismantle it and clean off the connections then out it back together and hope for the best. All of the connections elsewhere seem tight and clean so hopefully thats what it is.

Thanks guys!!

 

[lhaolpa]

As other guys have said,check the grounds[earth],and remember that there's no rule that says that you can't add a ground wire if you're in doubt.Just make up a wire with solderless connections,then solder them.Hook one side to a good,clean bolt that goes to the chassis.I made a trip to Harbor freight,got a crimping tool [then found the one I've had for 15 years] and some di-electric grease and some wire brushes.They had a pkg of 6 brushes,cheap.I clean the area well,put grease on the frame,connector and bolt,tighten,then wipe clean so it won't attract dirt.The switch can be cleaned with electronics cleaner,then daubed with di-electric grease.If that doesn't fix it ,then you,re stuck looking for a short. 99 percent of these problems are simple loose wires,corrosion,etc. lha

 

[Yusiro]

Okay so I did all of the suggested clean outs. There were two spiders nests inside the switch on the bars, but still didn't help. I checked inside the headlight assembly and everything was fine. I then traces the problem back to the little box under the tank just in front of the battery. It seemed as though it was getting stuck on or off (hence the slow blink sometimes, or being stuck on. I took that box apart and it was just a simple electromagnet with a solenoid to switch the light on and off. I cleaned all of the contacts of everything but it didn't seem to help.

Then my phone rang, so without thinking I put the box down (bike still on) sparks flew and I blew the fuse. Luckily had a couple of spare fuses. I put the new fuse in and now, although I still have to press the signal to the left once first before the right will work, both signals now blink at a strong steady pace. I'm not sure how or why that mostly fixed it, but I'll take it!

Thanks for the help all.

 

[isigt]

Ok, here is an idea.

What if when you push to the right, the selfcancelling unit doesn't engage. This means you don't get any power to the indicators. When you push left and then right you already engaged the scu, and therefore it will blink. It would explain your problem.

But this is only if you have one. Try unplugging it and see if it works, if it does you either can run without it, or trace the broken wire.

 

[Yusiro]

What does the self canceling unit look like? My bike is supposed to have one, but I've noticed the signals need to be cancelled manually

 

[isigt]

It sits under the seat/tank. (under the frame)
it's a little black box.

It's easy to spot if you check the wires going in.
They are
white/green
yellow/green
yellow/red
Black
Brown

as in the pic below.

The yellow/red goes from the handlebar switch, so it's that one you should look at if it is this problem.

Good luck!

View attachment 4628

 

[dangolang]

I had the same issue but switched. I found that when i took apart the turn swith assembley there was a wire that came disconnected from under the switch selector. i just re-soldered it and it was good as new.