Lost the Headlight On My 86'VR!?!?

[skydoc_17]

Boy Guys and Gals, I could really use some help on this one! I am an IDIOT when it comes to electric problems!

I had the 86'VR in the garage to replace the starter solenoid and after the work, the headlight will not come on when I turn on the key. No low beam or high beam. So far I have checked the fuse (good) and sprayed contact cleaner in the ignition switch with no good results. PLEASE help me!!!

Earl

[IH Truck Guy]

Boy Guys and Gals, I could really use some help on this one! I am an IDIOT when it comes to electric problems!

I had the 86'VR in the garage to replace the starter solenoid and after the work, the headlight will not come on when I turn on the key. No low beam or high beam. So far I have checked the fuse (good) and sprayed contact cleaner in the ignition switch with no good results. PLEASE help me!!!

Earl

 

I'm also electricly challenged,but I would check the fuse..Maybe you grounded a wire while working on the starter...Test the fuse to make sure it's good..The old glass fuses sometimes look good,but in fact are blown.

Spray some contact cleaner in the Hi/lo switch and work the switch back and forth...

My light went out and it was a dirty switch..Contact cleaner did the trick...

Did ya swap headlites with the '87.??????????

See,this wouldn't have happened if Jean would just let you use a lift table.. :crackup::crackup::crackup:

[Squidley]

Spray some electric cleaner in the starter switch Earl. That could be sticking, and as stupid as this sounds...check the bulb, we'll help you get it figured out.

[bongobobny]

Squid beat me to it! There is a set of contacts on the start switch that disconnects the headlight when you press the start button...

 

What you need to do is look for 12 volts from ground at the fuse and work forward to the ign switch, dimmer switch, etc.

[GeorgeS]

Is the headlight the only thing that don't work ??

 

Maby you blew the 40 AMP Main fuse. Its connected to the Solinoid--

 

The gismom with red wires, and the Rubber holder, open the fuse holder. 2 small screws to remove the fuse element.

 

There should be 2 spare fuse elements inside the fuse holder.

 

 

check the left side of the main block, for 12 Volts. ( light brown wires, each fuse on the left side, with Key in the ON position

[sgn]

On my 83 the headlight was also dead - high and low beam.

 

Cold soilder joints inside the CMS was the main problem - the headlight circuit runs through the CMS.

 

Just a thought ....

 

Steve

[Squeeze]

5 Bucks on the Starter Button Contacts or the button is stuck

Edited March 11, 2009 by Squeeze

[Guest Swifty]

5 Bucks on the Starter Button Contacts

I might put another five on the wires near the plug or the actual plug that the headlight plugs into. Did you check there? Happened to me...all melted (for some reason), had to cut off a plug from another bike and spliced it in. Been checking it every winter since and this one isn't melting.

[Gene-b]

Maybe it's as simple as the bulb burned out:doh:, It's 20 years old. The say the eyes are one of the 1st things to go.

[GeorgeS]

Well, I just assumed he had allready checked the bulb !!! silly me

[skydoc_17]

Boy, If it makes you guys feel any better, I have taken a section of wiring harness and have been flogging myself, chanting "electricity is my friend, electricity is my friend,

 

Now, here is what I know and have done so far,

1- Contact Cleaner in ignition switch...twice

2- Contact cleaner in Starter Button...twice

3- Contact Cleaner in HI/LO switch ...twice

4- Ohmed Light Bulb...Good

5- Using tester, there was 12.8 volts on "Hot" side of fuse

6- Ohmed fuse...good

7- With Ignition Switch on, 2.2 volts to LO beam circuit at plug, 1.2 volts to HI beam circuit at plug.

8- Visual Inspection of plug, Looks in very good condition, plug housing not melted at all, wires look excellent,

9- Ohmed Negative leg of plug to groung...Good

 

Other than the flogging, what else should I do to track this problem down now?

 

I would be grateful for any help,

Earl

[greg_in_london]

What Squeeze said, check the starter motor switch isn't sticking - mine can stick half way - enough to disconnect the headlight, but not enough to spin the starter motor.

 

(It's not the contacts, it's whether it comes back out smoothly.)

[lonestarmedic]

Earl- Place a dab of dielectric grease on your forehead and you will be ok. Here is an excerpt from an article on how to remove the reserve lighting device. I am putting it up because it shows where the magic volts run. Look for the various plugs and test for voltage. I have seen one of these die and leave a bike without a headlight. Also, as folks have mentioned find the circuit on the start switch and check it our headlight is shut off by the start switch to momentarily reduce the load on the battery during cranking. When I get home this evening I will try and find which color wires you can check. In the meantime take a look at this article. I wish I could remember who wrote it so I could give credit.

 

 

How to remove your Reserve Lighting Unit

and still have proper headlight operation

Yamaha included a silly device called a Reserve Lighting Unit that will automatically switch your headlight to Hi-beam if your lo-beam burns out. It also lights up an idiot light to tell you that your headlight is out. If this unit fails you won't have either lo-beam or hi-beam and your idiot light won't even work.

Look at the connector in the wiring harness and find the blue/black and blue/yellow wires. Strip a small section of insulation from those two wires and twist them together and solder. Or, if you are serious about this, just cut the wires right off the connector and splice the blue/black to the blue/yellow. Now you have headlights again.

The indicator for the high beam has two wires coming from it, a r/y and y. (red/yellow and yellow) the r/y goes to a 9 pin plug. The yellow goes to the connector where the RSU was. The easiest fix is: before cutting the rest of the wires from the connector (other than the ones you are going to short together to bypass the RSU), connect the yellow/green to the yellow ( I built a jumper from the old wires). Then remove the r/y wire on the lamp side of the 9 pin connector, and connect it to the black wire in the middle of the 9 pin connector. (Ground). Originally, the yellow wire was pulled low by the RSU to indicate high beam. If you are very technical, you could build a transistor switch (called an invertor) to do the same, but the wire fix is simple enough. The indicator is actually a bit brighter than the original. BTW, the Venture Royale has a 'computer monitor' that also tells you if your headlight is burned out.

The reserve lighting unit is self checking the system for an open circuit (infinite resistance) in the headlight bulb by comparing voltage on opposing circuits. If you have excessive voltage drop due to a higher than normal resistance between the headlight and the reserve lighting unit the light should start to glow because the reserve lighting unit is essentially reading a partial failure. Pay special attention to the high/low beam switch. In many older bikes (even very clean ones in good condition) corrosion builds up over time on the internal contacts of the switches. Start with the switch. Take a fine grit sand paper or emery cloth to the contact surfaces. You do not want to take away any significant material but you do want to make these surfaces bright and shiny once again. Apply a light coat of dielectric grease to the contact surfaces. Reassemble the switch and test the continuity of the contacts through the switch's multi pin connector. Ideally your readings should be under .2 ohms but up to .5 ohms is acceptable. Then clean and reapply dielectric grease to the multi pin connectors at the headlight and at the reserve lighting unit and the switch. Re-test the continuity of the switch contacts by testing the circuit from the headlight connector to the reserve lighting connector. The reading for the entire circuit will ideally be less than .5 ohms but acceptable up to .9 ohms. Then connect the reserve lighting unit and the headlight. Retest the contacts of the switch by probing the back of the multi pin connectors at the reserve lighting unit and the headlight connector with your meter set on VDC. This is looking for a voltage drop. The voltage drop must be less than 1.0VDC. Test battery voltage. Then test the connector at the headlight with the meter set on VDC and the negative meter lead on frame ground. The voltage at the headlight should be no less than 1.0VDC less than battery voltage. If it is then you are having too much resistance due to corrosion at your connectors and switches beyond the reserve lighting unit ... clean contacts and retest until you can bring resistance and voltage drop level into specifications.

[sgn]

Took me two days to track mine down.

 

If you have the wiring diagram you will see that all the power for the headlight must past through the CMS, it has input and output for the headlight.

 

I too thought the reserve unit was at fault, RandyA had one and was kind enough to even deliver it. After tearing the right side (sitting on bike) fairing open just to find the unit, I found the easy way. Pull the right side front turn light, loosen the top fairing bolt and it will give almost enough play to remove the air tunnel, with a light look in the hole and you will see a black encased unit about 3" lond and 2" square - that is the reserve unit. Now that you have gone to the trouble to pull it out, unless you have a known good one to check it with you still do not have lights unless you bypass the reserve unit.

 

Once you do the bypass my bet is you will still be going into the CMS to resolder the "cold" joints ( this is eaiser than getting to the reserve unit so why not try that first?

 

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

 

Let us know because we can all learn more!

 

Steve

[Venturous Randy]

I agree with Steve on the CMS being the usual culprit on light problems. The only reservation I have on this situation is loseing both the high and low beam at the same time. Granted, I have lost both the low and high beams relating to the CMS, but not at the same time.

RandyA

[sgn]

who has a good reserve unit !

[skydoc_17]

Thanks Guys, for all the help! I feel like a duck outta' water! OK, here is my list of stupid questions!

 

1- Is the CMS in the dash unit? (don't laugh, this is REALLY humbling!)

2- If it is, my Neutral LCD (Big "N" on dash) blinks "N" then dissapears

3- Does anyone know or have pics of the pins to solder? (Someone had a great pic of the Air Ride Controller, and I was able to do that repair myself...WHOOO HOOO!)

4- Because the starter solenoid recently went bad, I was jumping across the two main terminals to start the bike (before the replacment) did I do some damage during that time?

Finally, When you electrical types reach the point of frustration, is it better to slice across the wrist..or up and down?!?!

Thanks guys,

Earl

[sgn]

Yes the CMS is the thing in the middle of the dash with the blinking red light.

 

Remove trim, windshield, and top cover for gauges.

 

There are 4 nuts/washers that secure the gauge housing to the bike, you may need to remove the headlight trim and bulb, to remove these. Tie off with a piece of wire the cable for the speedo, it will try to drop down and disappear, unplug the large wire connector in the center of the dash. You now can seperate the dash from the bike.

 

Right in the center of the backside of the dash you will see 4 phillips screws holding the CMS unit in the dash - remove these (outer set of four)

 

Now the entire CMS unit will left out of the dash, go easy mine had part of the internal wire harness sticking out from the side and had to wiggle it around to get it out.

 

Lay the CMS unit face down and remove the 4 phillips screws, the unit will now seperate into two halves by lifting the piece off.

 

Now guess what you are almost to the point of beginning the repair!

 

4 more phillips screws to remove and the second level of the CMS will lift off, this is the board you are trying to get to.

 

With good light and maybe a magnifying glass take a very close look at the solder point on the back of this board - any that look like you can see even a partial circle around the solder joint you need to resolder. Using a pencil type solder gun is best - it allows you to go slow and careful. If you do not know how to solder thats okay search the web for basic ideas.

 

My bet is you will see circles around your connections - which isn't that bad when you think of the age of these bikes.

 

Both my High and Low beam where out - the previous owner did all kinds of crazy things getting power for the headlight high beam.

 

My number is in my profile, call if you feel you need to

 

Steve

[Squidley]

 

 

How to remove your Reserve Lighting Unit

and still have proper headlight operationffice:office" />

 

Yamaha included a silly device called a Reserve Lighting Unit that will automatically switch your headlight to Hi-beam if your lo-beam burns out. It also lights up an idiot light to tell you that your headlight is out. If this unit fails you won't have either lo-beam or hi-beam and your idiot light won't even work.

Look at the connector in the wiring harness and find the blue/black and blue/yellow wires. Strip a small section of insulation from those two wires and twist them together and solder. Or, if you are serious about this, just cut the wires right off the connector and splice the blue/black to the blue/yellow. Now you have headlights again.

 

JB,

Do you have any other detailed info on this fix? I am looking at Dave P's bike right now and there is no Blue/Yellow wire in the set. Did it give any info as to what was being cancelled out, dont want to start jumping things without knowing 1st....Squid

[GeorgeS]

As all above, either your CMS, or the Reserve lighting Unit.

 

Have you pulled up page 7-1, block diagram, to follow out the wireing to the headlight? Its pretty straight forward, Except, the Inerds, of the CMS, and Reserve lighting unit are not shown.

 

OK, if all else fails, this is what I did, Just in case what happened to your bike happens to mine.

 

I installed a Double Pole, double throw Toggle switch. The Stock wire to the low beam goes thru one set of contacts. When I throw the Switch, the normal contacts, " Open " and the second set close.

 

The second set of contacts, then sends voltage to the Low Beam, from a New IN-LINE Fuse, wired directly to the Input side of the fuse block.

 

In other words, the New Circuit completly By-Pass's the Stock wireing to the Low Beam. Yes, the warning light comes on, Yes, the High beam may not be powered, but at least I have a Low Beam, if all the B.S. stuff Yamaha put in there does not work.

 

I've never had to use it, but its there !!!