TURN SIGNAL FRUSRTATION (cont from no headlight no taillight)

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dangolang

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Hello everybody names Dan still kinda new here mainly been reading previouse threads and learning about my bike. I got a 1980 xs400 special from a buddy of mine for $100. it didnt take much to get her running but it has been hair pulling getting it to a good overall working condition . I ll post up some picks later. After a 20 min ride i noticed my left turn signal was not working at all not even showing up on the indicator as being powered on while turning. When I got home I tried it again while it was not running. The right side works no problem at all. The left front and rear will not come on at all and the flasher goes from a nice steady click on the right side, but when I try to use the left side it goes crazy and sound like it is clicking 100xs faster. This would tell me there is a faulty ground somewhere or so I think. I have spent the past week going through the harness and grounds and I think I may have narrowed it down to the front half of the bike. I have tested resistance from where the left hand control connects to the harness to the grounds in the head light. I have gotten a couple of different readings. the turn signal ground reads perfect 00.00 ohms the headlight reads 5.3 ohms I know that any resistance is telling me that is the problem, but I traced that entire wire and checked and re soldered all connections back to where i put my Positive test lead no cracks or splits I even bent the wire while the multi meter was on to see if i could narrow the area of bad wire and there was no fluctuation and I am still reading 5.3 ohms. I have replaced the bars to clubman bars but i sanded away the pain where the left hand control goes to ensure a good ground. I am completely stumped. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Have you ever dismantled and cleaned the turn signal switch? It is pretty straightforward and was the solution to my turn signal problems.
 
Great minds think alike! I have indeed. it was what I thought was the original fault wheIi got it apart I saw that a solder joint had popped off and upon further inspection I found that the little black plastic piece that has the 3 terminals was in fact broken hence the solder point popping off. So I got a new control on ebay and when I got it took it apart and ensured everything was in good order and all was good, i was really impressed with the quality of the piece being 30+ years old. when i got it all hooked up same thing happened (except for the control piece braking) the flasher relay control was going a mile a minute. Just yesterday i took apart the 2 lights on the left and ensured that there were no wires coming through in tight joints and re insulated both the grounds and live wires, and surprise surprise still left turn signal still going a mile a minute. This has really got me stumped and i am on the verge of taking it to the local shop but i cant swallow my pride enough, I rarely give in and pay somebody to fix anything for me. but thanks for the suggestion.Any suggestions are encouraged and welcomed.
 
I had the same basic issue. My left side worked fine, but the right front stays solid and the back one won't go on. While messing around with it, I unscrewed the right rear signal from the mount, when I put it back on I left it loose and found that if I jiggled it around, sometimes it would click at warp speed, other times nothing, and other times it would work. When I put it all together, I left it slightly loose and it seems to work. It's not a perfect fix, but it'll band-aid it for now. When I've got some time I'll put in a better ground.
 
Wow that makes sense! I swear when you concentrate so much on one thing you tend to over look something like that. Thank you very much. For a lil while I was beginning to think I was the only person to ever has this happen to them. Lol. I will try that tomorrow for sure or find a better ground all together. Thanks again. cheers
 
hey guys. im pretty new to this forum and ive had a few questions that have been answered and so far all my problems have been solved. i have a new one now. i bought this bike with no turn signals mounted. i have all of them, just have to put them on. but when i went to do this i noticed im not getting any power to any signals at all. none of them. tested with a voltmeter, its all i have. now also my headlight and horn wasnt working. but im getting power to the horn and headlight. just have a bad horn and bulb im guessing. but i cant figure out where to go from here on these damn signals. i need it inspected soon and theyre the only thing holding me up. any suggestions? thanks, Branden
 
Sry, its a 1980. Ive basically just taken a voltmeter to the wires on the signals. No voltage at all. Bike on, off, running. The grounds are good. But idk. The headlamp and horn are getting power when I tested them. I was thinking it wouldnt be the switch if they worked. I want to see if im getting power to the switch but the screws are so badly rusted, they wont budge. I can get the switch open and ive sprayed the crap out of the insside with cleaner. But theres no much room for me to get a tester on anything in there...
 
Have you looked at the fuse box and blades and fuses? Have you taken the the headlight rim off and looked at the connections inside the bucket? Does your tail light come on? Flasher relay tight? Have you revved engine with turn signals on? BTW, is your bike charging ok? About 14 to 14.5V to the battery?
 
I've removed my wiring harness, and I don't remember exactly where the flasher is, but look around the battery box.
Look on page 25 of the pdf for the manual, page 1287 of the manual, for troubleshooting of the turn signals. You can test the circuits without removing the left hand control.
View attachment 3882
Jayels's colored wiring diagram
View attachment 4786
 
welcome to the forum hmusket, The flasher relay is located under the seat above the carbarators. should be a smaller rectangular box with a three prong terminal on it. If that checks out ok i would suggest tracing the power wires on each of the turn signals back to there power source.
 

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