Turn signals even more buggy now???

[Fonzie]

OK.........Week & half /400 miles since I put new battery in. Rode all afternoon yesterday, about 200 miles.....down to Honda dealer in Troy for shits & giggles. Very hot/humid here yesterday.

Anyways........I'm almost home & going over a bouncy section of I-75, & notice that now my LEFT turn signal isn't working at all. Dash indicator is completely blank.......no fast flash like on the right side. Never had any problems with that one after switching to the chrome bulbs. Right side will work very sporadically now, though it had been working either normal, or giving me the fast flash all day. Now.....either the indicator stays dark, or works once in awhile.

Front running lights are working fine, but go dark when I hit the turn signal button for whichever side.

Not sure if this has any importance/relevance, but I noticed when I pulled in garage that the bike felt VERY hot. Temp guage was about halfway, which it hardly EVER strays off C on the bottom. Fans kicked on as I was shutting her down. Went out 'bout hour later, and could still feel the heat radiating off her.......especially around the fairing vents, and inside the gas tank/fork area. Yoke was still hot to the touch, even though she'd been in shade for 45 minutes to hour now???

Never had a lick of trouble in the last 2 years with my signals 'til I switched to the chrome bulbs. And if it does have to do with the chrome bulbs, why would the left one just now start acting up a month later???

Edited to add: Just went out to check 'em again this morning. Situation the same. Just noticed the rear running lights/turn signals aren't working at all. If it was the rear bulbs causing all this, I'd still get a fast flash, right??? Plus it'd be a major coincidence that both bulbs took a puke at the same time

[FiXXation]

To state the obvious, the rear lights (1156) are single-filament turn signals only, no running/parking light filaments.

After my chrome bulbs went dark and came back on by themselves a couple of times, I went with the Sylvania Silver Stars (1157A ST front and 1156A ST rear). They're a little pricy, but they fit in the sockets cleanly with no fiddling necessary to get the contacts made up. They give off more light than the chrome bulbs, but don't look quite as good with the clear lenses, since they have a blueish tint when off.

I wouldn't think the chrome bulbs would have anything to do with over-heating unless you have a short somewhere in your wiring or light switch, causing the stator to be burning at maximum amps to try to keep up.

Edited to add: I just looked back at your previous post and see that you had already picked up some Silver Stars, but you didn't say whether you had tried them or not after getting some replacement bulbs from Clear Alternatives.

[Fast Eddy]

Hey Fonzie, did ya check the obvious... the connections were you plug the mirrors in up front.

I know it sound silly but you thought you had your battery reconnected proper when you looped the lake.

[Fonzie]

No.......never tried the Silver Stars after Clear Alternatives sent me some replacements. Took them back in fact, but was definately thinking about picking a pair up again yesterday. Will try some of the other chrome bulbs CA sent as first step though.

Actually......glad you reminded me rear bulbs don't come on as running lights. Why would they not be working at all, all the sudden now though????

Wasn't thinking the bulbs caused the overheating. Just the opposite.......was brainstorming if the hot day/longer ride/excessive engine heat yesterday may have fried something in the electrical system (though I can't really believe high 90's & 200 miles are very extreme, to have caused that)???

Hey Fonzie, did ya check the obvious... the connections were you plug the mirrors in up front.

I know it sound silly but you thought you had your battery reconnected proper when you looped the lake.

Negative terminal had just worked it's way loose IIRC

Haven't checked the connections since lights were working OK before yesterday. When I say OK.......Left one worked perfectly fine, Right dash indicator would either flash normal, or fast.......but never not at all

[Fast Eddy]

ya OK worked it's way whatever.

Ok proper answer, If the relay is going both sides would do it soooo, me thinks you have a bad bulb.

when the filament seperates the relay will flash faster than it should, sometimes a filament will flop around and reconnect(ever have a headlight out on a car and tap on it like Auther Fonzerelli and it relights) same thing. when it touchs it works, when its not touching it flashes fast. I'd try new bulbs.

Of course I am a hack so I am kinda :icon_duh:

[porterb123]

To state the obvious, the rear lights (1056) are single-filament turn signals only, no running/parking light filaments.

Are the rears single filament type?? I just went out and turned mine on and the front and rears are running as well as turn.

[John01XX]

I can verify that the US spec Birds are suppose to all be running 1156 single element bulbs in the rear signals

1157 dual element in the front signals

[porterb123]

I can verify that the US spec Birds are suppose to all be running 1156 single element bulbs in the rear signals

1157 dual element in the front signals

Thanks John,

I just pulled my rear bulb, it is a dual filament type in a stock rear housing. The previous owner had shortened the stems so maybe he did a socket swap while there.

[Fonzie]

Soooooo........rear signals aren't working at all.......dash indicators aren't working at all (except for right one VERY infrequently).......front signals/running lights go dark when I hit turn signal switch for either side, and don't come back on 'til I release the button.

Is there a concensus on what all this adds up to???

[FiXXation]

If the bulbs are actually making contact like they should, then it sounds like it could be a bad ground. That could cause the current from one bulb to try to find a ground path through another bulb filament. But, from the wiring diagram, it looks like the turn signal grounds are common with the headlight and tail light, so if they aren't giving any problems the bad ground doesn't make any sense.

The turn signal switch would be another place where either the front or rear could fail, but it appears that the switch is redundant internally with separate contacts for front and rear, so that switch failing for both front and rear at the same time would seem remote.

Perhaps you have hammered the contacts in the relay if you have been rapid-flashing for a while.

You've got me. Time for disassembly and checking with a volt meter.

[Mekanix]

FWIW

My 99 had some really crappy turn signal issues, chased my tail for about 6 months before I ended up doing the ground wire job for 99/00 birds. It fixed it right up, haven't had an issue since.

It started acting up after running it in the rain for about 4 days straight, and would act up when it was humid.

Just a thought, since the harness is related to the FI light, not blinkers and I only had a FI light flicker a few times about 6 months before the blinkers went stupid on me. I'd say check your ground, just for the hel of it.