Headlight Problem

[JunoAF]

hey all, i have a new problem but this time its electrical. My headlight just stopped working about a week ago. I thought maybe it was a blown bulb so i replaced it and still have nothing. I noticed that my rear blinker lights arent on anymore either, except when i signal. I think they are supposed to stay on because the front ones are on all the time, wouldnt make sense if one did and one didnt. brake lights work fine, rear tailight works fine. are these related? fuses are still good too. what do you guys think? thanks!

nate

[noxin]

If your rear turnsignals are amber, they're not supposed to be on all the time.

If they're red, they are. It something to do with the Federal regs regarding running lights (amber forward, red rear).

In terms of your headlight, did you check all your fuses? check the wiring. There may be a break or a short in the line somewhere. A good test is to take your Multimeter and check the plug the bulb goes into and make sure you get 12v on both normal and high beam.

[The Snowman]

Both of our 97 Hondas have only the front directionals as running lights. THe rear only light when turning.

Just look at the wiring. If the fronts have 3 wires and the rear only 2, then the rear are not supposed to be on.

[JunoAF]

ok that makes sense. maybe the back were never on and i just didnt notice. they are amber so they most likely havent been on. ill have to check the wiring when i get back home. Oh and i forgot to ask.. the light on my bike only turns on when its running, does that mean i have to shoot the wires with it running? or does it send a current through with battery prior to ignition? thanks!

[JunoAF]

bump

[Awesome]

What kind of bike?

[Kitt]

What kind of bike?

x2

[stoinkythepig]

IRRC, he has an 80s vintage Ninja 600. It has a feature that only turns he headlight on after the starter button is pressed and released. There's two or three relays in the junction box. One of them is probably bad, or the junction box has an open circuit on the printed wiring board. Check the blue wire coming out of the junction box for +12 v after the starter button has been cycled. If there's no power, open the junction box and see if you can find a crack (or burn) in the board. Those can be easily fixed by soldering a wire across the crack.

If you need new relays, repalce them all while the thing is apart. They are probably this part:

Aromat: JS1E-12V
or
NTE: R46-5D3-12

They are very cheap. I may have a few somewhere... but try http://www.mouser.com

[JunoAF]

wow, ill definetly be checking that out... I was worried id have to replace the wiring from the head light to the main wiring harness. thanks Stoickythepig. Oh and its a 1988 Ninja 600R. this might be a stupid question but what and where is the junction box? thats not the fuse box is it?

[stoinkythepig]

wow, ill definetly be checking that out... I was worried id have to replace the wiring from the head light to the main wiring harness. thanks Stoickythepig. Oh and its a 1988 Ninja 600R. this might be a stupid question but what and where is the junction box? thats not the fuse box is it?

It is the fuse box. "Junction box" is Kawasaki's term.

[JunoAF]

ok good, now i dont feel so bad lol. ill check it out, thanks Stoink

[JunoAF]

ok so i just checked the voltage with a multimeter and i found that there is a very very low charge coming from what looks like the ground wire going into the headlight assembly (black and yellow wire). it reads fluxuating 2v-4v where as the right and top connectors read about 20v-25v. this mean the connectors bad? i checked the fuse box too, i wasnt getting a reading but i think its because there was no charge once the fuse is pulled? lol should i check it while its in? what do you guys think?

Nate

[JunoAF]

bump

[stoinkythepig]

I think that you did not use the volt meter correctly, but that's moot because we've already concluded that your headlight does not work and a new bulb did not help. The new bulb makes an excellent 12V tester, so you need to look elsewhere. Like at your J-box.

[JunoAF]

hmmm.... that sucks. i talked to a guy at the kawi dealer and he said its no doubt a bad ground, given the year of the bike. oh and i probably didnt use it right lol, ive used a multimeter a total of 1 time before. i suck at electrics

[stoinkythepig]

Turn the ignition switch on and stab the starter button once to trigger the headlight relay. The headlight connector has three wires. Measure DC volts from the battery negative terminal to all three wires. If you never see 10 to 14 volts, it's not the ground wire. If you do see 10 to 14 volts, it could be the ground wire. Let us know.

[noxin]

If you see anything over 14V there's a problem somewhere.

[JunoAF]

ok i checked the fuse box and its checking fine, i even replaced it with another used one for 8 bucks. thought why not? very inexpensive... still no light

[stoinkythepig]

The volt meter readings are what?

[JunoAF]

wow, I'm so sorry it took me this long to respond. I got wicked busy and forgot about the bike for the season. I found a spot where a mouse chewed through a wire bundle. Havent fixed it yet but am getting around to it this weekend.