Headlight/signals just stopped working. Were working a few minutes ago!

[defwack]

I just picked up a GS 850G the other day. It seemed to be working fine when I've ridden, but today when I went for a ride the headlight and signal lights all died.

The lights were working fine, but when I started riding through my parking lot, I put on the turn signal and all the lights went out including the gear/neutral/beam lights. I turned off the bike, and then went to turn it back on and it wouldn't even crank. I looked around under the left panel where the fuses are and didn't see anything blown.

After a few minutes of wiggling wires, I tried again and the bike did start with no problem, but the headlight/signals were still not working. The gear/neutral/beam lights ARE working fine now though.

I opened the right panel and can hear a single "click" noise from in there when I turn the ignition key to the on position. There are two little black boxes with wires going into them, and the "click" seems to be coming from the little box on the left.

I have no idea what those boxes are, so if anyone has any idea about what happened to the lights, please let me know.

Thanks.

 

[defwack]

Also, I did check all of the signals/lights today and they were working fine. The bike does have a Windjammer faring on there, but everything was working earlier today.

 

[tconroy]

Also, I did check all of the signals/lights today and they were working fine. The bike does have a Windjammer faring on there, but everything was working earlier today.

Time to go thru all the wires and clean them 1by1.Check all ground wires Clean and spray all connections with wd40 after connecting them back togheter so they dont corrode.Check the batery and you should be fine!!!Still dont know what to say about that white smoke stuff!!!!!!!!!

 

[defwack]

Ugh... I'm very wary of electrical stuff. I'll start the wire checkout tomorrow though. Anybody know of somewhere to get a electrical schematic or plan or something that I can follow so I know what I'm looking at?

 

[tconroy]

Ugh... I'm very wary of electrical stuff. I'll start the wire checkout tomorrow though. Anybody know of somewhere to get a electrical schematic or plan or something that I can follow so I know what I'm looking at?

just take your tank off and start there.Unplug the connections one by one and sand them off a little then plug it back in and spray some wd 40 in the plastic connector and wipe of the exess.

 

[defwack]

Hopefully I'll be able to start doing that this afternoon sometime. The battery seems good in terms of power... it cranks and starts fine, but there does seem to be some goo/corrosion on the top. The guy I bought it from had the overflow tube kinked up in a knot, so it's probably just some pressure backed up out of the holes.

For a second today the signal came on again (without me doing anything special at the time), but by the time I'd walked up front to check the headlight, it had gone back off again. Probably indicative of a short somewhere.

 

[Redman]

80 GS850G.
Yep, I have a color schematic scanned that I can email to you. I will try that here in a minute or two.

Sounds like it could be a bad connection in a connector, or possibly a bad/corroded connection on back side of fuse panel.

You said you loose hedlight and tail light at same time, those are differernt fuses, so first focus your attention on the main fuse circuit.

 

[katoranger]

Check you main power wires first. Start by cleaning the battery connections and ground wires. Sounds like one of the main power connections after the starter circuit.

Allen

 

[defwack]

Yeah, I got the power schematic from Redman, so I'll be heading out into the yard to take a look at everything on Monday. I will, no doubt, be back on here afterward with a bunch more questions! Thanks everyone for your input. It's kind of a crummy feeling to get a new bike and have something go wrong two days later, but your insight is helping put me at ease. Thanks!

 

[defwack]

And the winner is REDMAN! Turns out you were right (in the email you sent me) about the connection of the wires to the Windjammer. The main plug seems to have something wrong with it, but I managed to get the lights working again.

It's odd because I must have unplugged, replugged, and wiggled that connection a few dozen times to be sure, and it never seemed to fix it. Also, since the back lights were out too, I figured it was a wiring thing in with the fuses or something. Guess the faring lights going out brought the rest of the lights out with it.

I gave that plug one more good going-over tonight, and what do you know!

Thanks everyone for your help and input!

 

[snowbeard]

dielectric silicone grease will help keep them well connected too, and contact cleaner in the can.

glad you found it, but there'll likely be other gremlins. you can easily go thru the connections you can find and spray and goo them. may save time on the road ;-)

 

[defwack]

Good advice. I plan on taking a big trip in a few months, so I got the bike ahead of time so I'd have the time to go through and do just that sort of thing before I hit the road.

 

[BRycraft]

wiring print

wiring print

Send me your email address and I will send you a print of the wiring diagram. I copied it into my computer and blew it up and then printed the pages and taped them together. This way I can see the diagram from 3 feet away and not need a magnifier. I rewired my entire bike, pulled it out and rewired every connector, cleaned every pin, replaced every bad connection. Everything is perfect and works great. I know it like the back of my hand.
There is a specific blue connector that connects the left hand control of turn signals as well as the high and low beam. That control has small springs in it and brass connectors that corrode. I took mine apart and foud all kinds of corrosion. Very carefully I cleaned everything and lubricated the springs. There is no diagram on how it goes together so be very carefull there are 2 very small bb's that work with the springs that hold tension on things, they will go flying if you are not careful. That control has a blue connector on the end that connects to the main harness, as well as a a couple single wires with connectors that are not part of the blue molex connector. My guess is the left hand switch is in need of service or the connector came loose that you should find up near the front of the frame on the left side under the fuel tank, that is about the biggest thing that would take out all your service lights and horn, that is the common demoninator.
Good Luck Bill