turn signals won't flash anymore

[phaentom]

So I am in the end stages of a total rebuild of my 1982 GS1100E. I purchased a new wiring harness and have put everything back together. I have stumbled onto an issue I cannot figure out and have looked for answers but don't have the time to search through every possible thread. So here goes, any help is very much appreciated.

When the headlight is unplugged, I can get the turn signals to flash. The left seems slightly slower than expected and the right is obviously slower. When I plug the headlight back in, the turn signals stay solid when turned on. I also noticed the dash dims when the turn signals flash. Not a lot but noticeably.

Any help? I thought maybe a bad ground, but I have checked all of them. I also pulled the relay apart and it looks to be working mechanically fine. I have the shop manual but it doesn't tell me how to test the relay so I don't really know if it is good, all I know is it was fine before I stripped the bike apart. And this is all with the engine not running.

Thanks for any input.

Marc

BTW, I live in Rochester, NY and if anyone is let me know. It would be nice to know there are other GS lovers in my town.

 

[Steve]

I learned long time ago, if you are getting strange results from your electrics, it's probably a bad ground. I suspect that here, too.

Since you have just had everything apart, I would guess that something is not quite right when you put it back together.

Don't just check color-to-color wiring, check actual function and location.

.

 

[surviverguy]

Time to get out the multimeter and start checking voltages and voltage drops.

 

[robertbarr]

Time to get out the multimeter and start checking voltages and voltage drops.

Absolutely. Inadequate voltage (to the bulbs) to draw the current needed to make the flasher operate like it should.

 

[Redman]

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When the headlight is unplugged, I can get the turn signals to flash. The left seems slightly slower than expected and the right is obviously slower. When I plug the headlight back in, the turn signals stay solid when turned on. I also noticed the dash dims when the turn signals flash. Not a lot but noticeably.....
.......

Bad grounds do often cause unexplaianble sysmptoms.

But in this case what you describe are symptoms of low voltage, either battery is bad or just not well charged becuse charging system isnt working properly.

THe flasher requires a certain amount of current to be flowing (which is why it will not flash if one blulb is burnt out), and if voltage is low then will not get enough current flow to make flasher flash.
When you unplug the headlight, that reduxces the load on the battery which allows the voltage to be a little heigher.

I suspect before too long you are going to say that flasher doesnt work anymore even with headlight unplugged. And then a little later are going to say that is hard to start. ANd then a little later say that you are stranded somewhere.

Turnsignals flashing slow or not flashing is often first sign of charging system problems.

You need to check the charging system.
Do you have a volt-ohm multi meter?
You have a 30 year old bike, so you could have need for one from time to time. You have a 30 year old Suzuki GS so you will need one from time to time.

Tell us more what you find.

>>>later note<<<<
and while I was typing two others same same thing.

.

 

[Redman]

You mentioned "all this without engine running".

You mean about flasher not flashing but will if unplug headlight... with engine not running.

Or Do you also mean that engine will not run?

If engine has not been running... maybe you just need to charge the battery. Do you have a battery charger? A small one 3/4 amp or 1 amp or 1 1/4 amp?


.

 

[airbornespud]

i think Redman's got it. fire that sucker up! i've had bikes that wouldn't flash when the motor wasn't running, or when the battery was bad, not at idle. i would bring the bike up to a high idle to get the voltage up enough to make the flasher work. pretty normal on these older bikes. connections aren't great any more, components get old, things don't work they way they should.

 

[Reaper0001]

Ground it bro ground it
i mounted my lights to the tail and had to ground them out

 

[Guest]

The '82 GS1100E has running lights for the front integrated into the turn signals. Could it be your running lights are on solid when you plug in your headlight? if that's the case, then it is as should be, but still your turn signals should flash, I'd doublecheck the wiring of your turn signals.

 

[Jethro309]

Hello to all. The other day my turn signals on my GS1100G stopped working, all of them. Running lights are out, too. ALL OTHER electrics work. Fuses on bulbs are good. High/low switch for the headlight works. Swapped out turn signal relay with another used NOS relay, no difference. Bike starts, idles, and runs perfectly all day. If, for example, there is contact corrosion on one of bulbs would that affect all of them? Has anyone else experienced this ENTIRE problem? Thanks for your time.

 

[LAB3]

I've had the exact same thing happen and it was a pretty simple fix. On my bike there is no ground up near the headlight where a lot of the electrics live, the ground runs through the wiring harness where it terminates into a ring that's bolted to top of my voltage regulator. This makes the entire plate where the regulator, starter relay, spark box and flasher unit live but that plate is mounted to the airbox which is made of plastic and obviously not a ground! There's another ground wire running through the wiring harness which is bolted to the frame on the opposite side of the bike, this one was badly corroded. The fix for me was to obviously clean up the corrosion and following the suggestions I found on this forum I ran another wire directly from the ground ring on the regulator to the battery.

There's a good chance my bike is different from yours wiring wise but the concept remains the same, check out your grounds for cleanliness and add that extra wire to your battery negative.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

The other day during a pre-ride check, I noticed that when I put the right turn signal on, the cluster light stayed lit and did not flash. Right front was staying lit, right rear bulb was apparently out. After removing both rear covers and swapping bulbs to see if the bulb was bad, same problem, right rear would not flash, but the left (formerly right) did flash, so bulb was good. There was a fair bit of corrosion in the bulb socket so I took it out, cleaned it with electronic cleaner spray and wire brush, than a good coating of deoxit on everything and make sure the spring loaded plate at the bottom of the socket moved freely. Dried it all and reinstalled the bulb. All flashers then worked great. So, yes, one bulb out or corroded bulb base/socket will cause at least that side to not flash. I probably should have cleaned all the sockets while I was at it but the weather was beautiful and I needed to ride.