Low beam trouble…

[audiomick]

1 hour ago, Weegie said:

..

Could the backfeed not find a path to ground on the Hi Beam Relay through the Hi Beam bulb?

...

I don't see how it could. The incorrectly connected green wire was on one end of the coil in the relay. The wires out to the headlights have no connection to there.

[audiomick]

1 hour ago, Weegie said:

... low level fuel warning ... the lamp glows before full brightness.

Now that you mention it, it occurs to me that the fuel level lamp nearly always glows a tiny bit, doesn't it? Even when the tank is full?

I'm more and more convinced that the fuel level sensor was providing the path to earth.

[audiomick]

11 hours ago, audiomick said:

I'm more and more convinced that the fuel level sensor was providing the path to earth.

Another penny dropped a couple of hours ago, probably the last one on this topic.

Initially, it was the low beam playing funny buggers, then @Tennitragic swapped the green wires on the relays. After that, it was the high beam with the peculiar behavior.

As long as it was the low beam playing up, it was likely the fuel sensor providing the path back to the battery minus.

In the high beam part of the wiring loom, between the high/low switch and the headlight, or the way the wiring is now the new relays, there is also a connection to earth through the high beam indicator on the dashboard. With the green wires on the relays swapped so that the high beam was playing up, both the fuel sensor and the high beam indicator provide a potential path to "earth".

I'm now content to believe that there is no fault as such in the wiring, but merely "weak spots" that only showed up because of the incorrect connection of that one green wire to plus instead of minus.

Edited Friday at 11:47 PM by audiomick

[Tennitragic]

Thanks audiomick…will be busy next week checking/cleaning (Bt DeOxit!) electrical connections while waiting for the tachometer fix and a few other parts to arrive from your side of the planet!

The green wire error you guys found for me opened “good to do” tasks…. Including relays…
Ordering a pack of 10 relays from Digikey….but the Aussie supplier can’t help with Bosch relay 0332019150. Should I stick to this exact Bosch or look for an alternative brand?

Regards, tennitragic

[Weegie]

Lots of different flavours available, not only manufacturer but type.

I have a similar mod on one of mine, now redundant as a H4 LED bulb is installed.

I just used some spare Panasonic mini relays I had to hand (similar in size and form factor as the OEM relays on the bike).

As long as they are 12V and 20A or greater current capacity with a normally open contact they'll be more than up to the job. Diodes on the relay coils shouldn't be necessary for the application.

What I would do is what @audiomick already suggested and purchase not only relays but also bases. Makes the job neater, the terminals more secure and if anything went wrong a damm site easier to change out.

[gstallons]

Make sure you are using the wiring diagram supplied w/your owner's manual. 

[audiomick]

On 2/14/2025 at 11:30 AM, Weegie said:

Could the backfeed not find a path to ground on the Hi Beam Relay through the Hi Beam bulb?

 

On 2/14/2025 at 12:42 PM, audiomick said:

I don't see how it could.

I feel I should pull those two posts up again.

If what @Weegie meant with "high beam bulb" was the high beam indicator in the dashboard, the answer is of course "Yes, it could".

As I read that post, I still had the original problem as being with the low beam in my mind, as described in the opening post. After Tennigtragic swapped the green wires on the relays and the problem moved to the high beam, the high beam indicato light became part of the circuit and provided, of course, a path to earth.

[audiomick]

12 hours ago, Weegie said:

... (similar in size and form factor as the OEM relays on the bike).

That's an important point. The relays don't have much clearance to the seat base. I did some looking a while back, and discovered that a lot of the available relays on the market might be a couple of millimetres too high for the available space.

[Tennitragic]

Besides the great relay tips above, I should clarify for you audiomick….low beam was not working as delivered.
Recommended that I swap Pin 86 relay wires. With ignition off, high beam was permanently on. With ignition on, only the flasher (pass to flash) extinguished high beam.

When green wire swapped from positive to negative, all lights started working as they should with ignition on. I realise there may be other faults - and will get to these - but at least I have a shot at registering the bike for the road now thanks to you guys…

Sorry for any confusion caused….remembering all stages/steps not easy - my notes were pages worth! ha!

Regards, tennitragic

[audiomick]

10 minutes ago, Tennitragic said:

... I should clarify for you audiomick….

Yeah, no worries mate. The main thing is, the obvious problems are sorted, and you can get rego on it. There is no doubt some more cleaning up to do, but getting it on the road is the first priority, and it looks like you're well on the way to that.

[audiomick]

15 minutes ago, Tennitragic said:

... With ignition on, only the flasher (pass to flash) extinguished high beam.....

That's interesting.

Certainly not a problem that needs sorting because it was happening with the incorrect wiring, but interesting. Food for thought for the next few days, at least. Hmmm....

[audiomick]

After a night's sleep and a look at the wiring diagramm, that actually makes sense.

With the high / low beam switch on low,

the coil in the high beam relay was getting 12 V through the incorrectly connected green wire, and finding it's earth through the high beam indicator lamp, thereby closing the relay and allowing high beam to light up.

Pressing the "flash to pass" closed the connection to put 12V on the other end of the coil in the relay. 12 V at both ends = no potential difference across the coil, so the relay opened, extinguishing the light.

[Tennitragic]

Pleasing to hear this makes sense!…..Ha!

Thankyou audiomick, Weegie and others for the tips regarding potential trouble spots being relay bases under the seat.
And suggesting alternative spares for the Bosch headlight relays. Adjusted my order at Digikey.

Regards, tennitragic

 

 

[audiomick]

On 2/15/2025 at 12:39 AM, audiomick said:

As long as it was the low beam playing up, it was likely the fuel sensor providing the path back to the battery minus.

 

For the sake of completeness:

 

A further inspection of the wiring diagram has revealed that, parallel to the fuel level sensor, there are also connections to

The oil pressure warning light, and through that to the oil pressure switch

The generator warning light, and through that to the regulator.

The tachometer. Not the backlight, a + input that must have something to do with the internal works.

I don't expect that the oil pressure warning light was a "leak". The oil pressure switch is, as far as I know, exactly that: a switch that is on or off.

I don't however know what goes on in the regulator or the tachometer, so maybe there is a path to earth in one or both of them that is not a fault as such.

Whatever, the point is there are enough explanations for how the 12 V on the wrongly connected green wire were finding a path to earth sufficient to activate the relay for the lights without having to worry that there might be an actual fault in the wiring somewhere.

[gstallons]

17 hours ago, audiomick said:

For the sake of completeness:

 

A further inspection of the wiring diagram has revealed that, parallel to the fuel level sensor, there are also connections to

The oil pressure warning light, and through that to the oil pressure switch

The generator warning light, and through that to the regulator.

The tachometer. Not the backlight, a + input that must have something to do with the internal works.

I don't expect that the oil pressure warning light was a "leak". The oil pressure switch is, as far as I know, exactly that: a switch that is on or off.

I don't however know what goes on in the regulator or the tachometer, so maybe there is a path to earth in one or both of them that is not a fault as such.

Whatever, the point is there are enough explanations for how the 12 V on the wrongly connected green wire were finding a path to earth sufficient to activate the relay for the lights without having to worry that there might be an actual fault in the wiring somewhere.

The oil press. sw. , fuel level sw. , tach. and N light (along w/more devices) all share 12v from the lights relay. # 34 in the wiring diagram .