Turn Signal Troubleshooting

[RazeOrion]

Finally, a return to posting and working on my bike. It's been a couple months, which is a couple months too long.

1980 XS400SG

I've gone through the trouble of testing all the wiring that has anything to do with the turn signals. From end to end, the small gauge wiring has connection.

I'm thinking that my Flasher Relay may be faulty, which is a pretty simple and cheap fix ($40+ shipping).

If the flasher relay isn't the issue, does anyone know where I would start after that?

 

[tstidham]

I had similar issues and was able to disassemble the factory flasher and clean the contact points. This way you retain the auto-cancel function.
https://www.xs400.com/threads/fixing-the-factory-turn-signal-flasher.20885/
I later had one of the wires break loose inside the handle bar controls switch and was able to resolder it back in place.

 

[avemachina]

What kind of symptoms are you experiencing? I had to fight my turn signal flashers quite a bit. It's more than likely related to your relay, but my own experience might help--I'm running a generic aftermarket flasher with incandescent bulbs in the indicators and an LED cluster bulb.

Part of the signal circuit includes the cluster bulb (where Neutral, Oil lights are) so if that bulb is out, or the wrong voltage, or an LED flipped the wrong way, you're gonna get weirdness.

When I had everything with LEDs and a special relay, the left signal would flash, but also faintly illuminate the right signal. The right signal would work correctly. When I had an incandescent in the cluster bulb, it would blast all the lights when any turn signal was active. It was a balancing act I didn't like, but the moral of the story is that the load of the signals is important. If you're experiencing lights going on when they shouldn't, it could be the wrong bulb, or corrosion on the bulb contacts raising the load.

If you're experiencing no turn signals, I'd check your fuse, your switch (make sure it's not full of crud or corrosion, and that the metals are making good contact), and making sure your bulbs are all there, and try swapping for a generic relay from Autozone or whatever if you can: the pattern you want on it is 12v, 3 pin, with this layout (usually printed on the relay):
.......................
........ L .......
B+ | ..... | -E
........................

 

[RazeOrion]

What kind of symptoms are you experiencing? I had to fight my turn signal flashers quite a bit. It's more than likely related to your relay, but my own experience might help--I'm running a generic aftermarket flasher with incandescent bulbs in the indicators and an LED cluster bulb.

Part of the signal circuit includes the cluster bulb (where Neutral, Oil lights are) so if that bulb is out, or the wrong voltage, or an LED flipped the wrong way, you're gonna get weirdness.

When I had everything with LEDs and a special relay, the left signal would flash, but also faintly illuminate the right signal. The right signal would work correctly. When I had an incandescent in the cluster bulb, it would blast all the lights when any turn signal was active. It was a balancing act I didn't like, but the moral of the story is that the load of the signals is important. If you're experiencing lights going on when they shouldn't, it could be the wrong bulb, or corrosion on the bulb contacts raising the load.

If you're experiencing no turn signals, I'd check your fuse, your switch (make sure it's not full of crud or corrosion, and that the metals are making good contact), and making sure your bulbs are all there, and try swapping for a generic relay from Autozone or whatever if you can: the pattern you want on it is 12v, 3 pin, with this layout (usually printed on the relay):
.......................
........ L .......
B+ | ..... | -E
........................

I'm getting no blinkers at all. My fuses and wires seem to be good and have connection everywhere, but I haven't tested my actual flasher relay just yet.

If everything is testing fine, I'm likely going to fully replace my turn signals and go from there.

 

[avemachina]

I'm betting either an open circuit (bad bulb) or bad flasher--check your bulbs first, they're the cheapest and most prone to failure. Especially the pilot light.

 

[RazeOrion]

I'm betting either an open circuit (bad bulb) or bad flasher--check your bulbs first, they're the cheapest and most prone to failure. Especially the pilot light.

I've tested the bulbs since this posting, so it looks like it's the flasher relay