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Headlight and gauge cluster lights not working, plus fuel gauge wires clipped...

  • Thread starter Thread starter jtolbert
  • Start date Start date
J

jtolbert

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So, after getting my '83 GS1100GL's tail/brake light and turn signals to work again (just needed bulb replacement and the left light needed to be plugged back in to the wiring harness), I decided to tackle the headlight and the gauge lights.

The headlight doesn't work at all. Also, the high beam indicator doesn't light up when I switch to high beams. I'm guessing the bulb is bad...How do I remove the bulb and change it? I pulled out the screw on the front of the bezel...Hopefully I didn't screw something up, cause I can't get it back in. :)

Gauge lights...I'm not even sure where to start diagnosing these. The neutral and turn signal lights work, but the gauges themselves don't light up. I think the cluster on the bike is from an '82. What should I start looking at?

Finally, the gauge cluster I have has a fuel gauge. While it's not something I really need, it's there and I'd like it to work. The wires from the sending unit on the bottom of the tank appear to have been clipped, and I'm not sure where the wires from the wiring harness are coming from. Can anyone give me a general location where these wires should be sprouting from the harness at?

Thanks again.
 
On the headlight, if it is like mine, there should be some screws on the side of the ring that holds the ring to the bucket. The headlight is fixed inside this ring. The screw you removed was probably the aiming screw, used to adjust where the light points. It usually has a spring around it inside the ring, so be careful when you take it apart.

As to the rest, I have no experience with the later models, so I don't want to speculate.
 
Changed the headlight bulb. Just used a GE 9003. Seems to work fine. The high/low beam switch works, but the speedo/tach/other gauge lights are still dark and the high-beam indicator doesn't work.

There's disconnected wires inside the headlight bucket. Anyone else seen that before? There's a big, six-pin plug and a three-pin header that looks like they'd go together, but I have no idea where the other three-pin header went. Seems like someone did a number on the wiring inside the headlight bucket.

Is there any way to get a picture of what it should look like in there? Anyone have a wiring diagram for that mess?

Thanks again.
 
Changing bulbs in the cluster...

Changing bulbs in the cluster...

Can I safely remove the screws on the back of the central cluster and the nuts on the back of the gauges? I'm guessing the bulbs are just burned out, cause the wiring in the headlight for the cluster seems to be all there.
 
So I just tried removing the screws on the back of the gauges...They come apart fairly easily and the light socket just pulls out of the back of the gauge itself. Great. No biggie. Tested them out with 12v power and the lights work. Go tracing them back...They run inside the headlight bucket. Both of them have one black wire with a white stripe and one grey wire. I pulled them out of the headlight bucket just to clean things up for now. They weren't hooked up to anything. :)

We start checking around and can't find much to hook them to. While probing around we must have either unplugged something crucial or popped a fuse somewhere, cause now none of the lights work, the horn doesn't work, but the starter will turn over the engine.

We checked the fuses, but none appear to be blown. Is there a fusible link somewhere else in the system we need to look at?

The wiring under the headlight is an absolute mess. There's several wires that aren't connected to anything, one plug and one receptacle that aren't connected (but don't go together), etc. The cluster is supposedly from an '82, which doesn't help things, either.


Any ideas on the stuff just not working any more? :( Also, is there anywhere to get a wiring diagram online?
 
No ideas? I'm stuck.

The carbs will be finished up tonight, but it looks like I won't be taking it for a spin after all. :(
 
Do you have a Clymer manual? If not, you may want to seek one out. They have color wiring diagrams that can be a great help. You may be able to check one out at the library if you're in a hurry, or see if someone here can scan and send it to you. You may even want to google for a wiring diagram for your bike.

Brad bt
 
Brad: thanks. A friend of mine got frustrated and sold his GS850 a few years ago. He still has the Clymer book that covers his bike and mine, so he's selling it to me. That will help a lot.

Anyone know if there was much difference between the '82 and '83 clusters? Mine treats the oil light as the neutral light. Also, did the '83 E and GL use the same cluster?

Thanks again.
 
jtolbert said:
Anyone know if there was much difference between the '82 and '83 clusters? Mine treats the oil light as the neutral light. Also, did the '83 E and GL use the same cluster?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

You may run into some conflict between the E and G. Though the manual may cover both models. Hopefully someone can add some insight, because I honestly cannot.

Brad bt

BTW, I'll do a quick search and get back to you.

*EDIT* I'm coming up with nothing. Sorry.
 
Last edited:
So, yeah, I'm an idiot.

So, yeah, I'm an idiot.

I re-checked my fuses today...Found one that I somehow missed last night. It was bad. All previously-working circuits are working fine again. This still leaves me with the gauge-wiring mess, but I'll get that sorted out with help from the wiring diagram.
 
Naaah, just an overachiever! ;)

As for the fuel guage problem. Try and reconnect the wires and see what happens. It could be a problem with the sending unit on the tank. I believe Jethro made a great rebuild series on it. You may want to PM him if it isn't functioning properly.

Brad bt
 
That's the thing...I'm not sure where the fuel tank wires come out of the harness at. I'm also going to have to solder up my own connectors, cause the fuel tank wires were clipped at the sending unit.

I'm more worried about the gauge lights, getting the neutral light to light instead of the oil light when I'm in neutral, the high-beam indicator to work, etc.
 
Found the fuel tank wires. They were cut close to the tank, so I can probably just solder them back on to the tank and plug them back in right near the battery, where they come out of the harness.

The gauge cluster I have is from an '82 and it only goes up to 85MPH. I'm not going to bother putting in too much more effort trying to get its wiring sorted out; instead I'm just going to find a proper '83 GS1100GL cluster.
 
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