Help a dumb carpenter with wiring... please?

[SilveradoCA]

Since last summer, I've had no low beam, and no passing lamps. Was going to fix it, and just... didn't. Because depression.

 

I've read (and commented in) this thread already: https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?48075-Headlight-problem-Please-help&highlight=beam

 

Here's what I can tell you, after splitting the fairing, and replacing the headlamp bulb - I just wrote a long post, then went back and did some more messing around, and here's what I THINK I know::

 

1. It's not the headlamp fuse, unless there is a separate fuse for the low and hi beams? The manual doesn't say this is so.

2. It's not the headlamp bulb. I bought a 2-pack and tried them both. Hi beam, no low beam.

3. The power for the passing lamps seems to be tapped into the power for the low beam, using some splitter connectors. One end goes to a rubber button next to the 12V aux plug in the fairing. I honestly thought this was a reset for that aux plug, but I've confirmed it's a switch for the passing lamps.

4. It's not the 10A inline fuse that's behind that reset button.

5. I can get the passing lamps to light by jumping the power supply to them (red wire downstream of the 10A inline fuse) to the yellow/3 silver dashes (HI beam power) wire, or the power for the running lights.

 

I have a multi-meter, and have poked around trying to find a broken circuit, but honestly I have NO IDEA what I'm doing.

 

Wires to the back of the headlamp socket are yellow/3 silver dashes (HI beam power), green/3 silver dashes (LOW beam power?), and black.

 

I really don't understand 12V DC wiring very well... I had assumed the green was the ground.

 

I SEEM to have no voltage or continuity at the green/3 silver dashes wire, inside the blue connector from whence it comes. I think this means there is no power to the low beam circuit, broken someplace upstream of that connector?

 

I CAN make both the low beam and passing lamps light by jumping the split connector that feeds them, to the yellow/3 silver dash pin inside that blue connector, with the headlight switch in the HI beam position. Jumping to the green/3 silver dash pin in the same connector, with the switch in the LOW beam position, delivers nothing.

 

With everything plugged back in where it belongs, I've tried squeezing, probing, pinching etc. on the 2 inches of exposed wires entering the back side of the blue cube connector, and the wiring harness/loom as far up and around as I can reach. Nada.

 

Now what? Do I have to rip apart everything in the fairing to find the problem? I'm working in front of my house, which is a tiny RV in a campground.

 

Is it the headlight switch on the bars? How do I test this? How do I even get it apart? There seems to be only 1 screw, at the bottom and facing forward. I've undone that, and the switch assembly is loose on the bars, but doesn't want to easily come apart. I don't want to force it.

 

EDIT: I've reviewed the RSV wiring diagram here on the site, and it seems the problem can ONLY be either the green wire between the switch and that blue cube connector, that connector itself, or the HI/LOW switch on the bars. Can someone double check my fuzzy logic here?

 

Any help you can give is dearly appreciated.

Edited September 1, 2019 by SilveradoCA

[Flyinfool]

I would start by figuring out how to take the Hi/Lo switch apart and clean the contacts. then using the ohm meter check from the switch contact to the green wire at the bulb, should be near zero ohms. if it is infinity, the check at the blue connector. by using the ohm meter you can narrow the foult down till you find it. I have seen a bad crimp at a connector cause issues.

 

I have had fuses that looked good but tested as bad. Don't just go by what looks to be an intact element, check it with a meter or a test light.

[M61A1MECH]

Since last summer, I've had no low beam, and no passing lamps. Was going to fix it, and just... didn't. Because depression.

 

I've read (and commented in) this thread already: https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?48075-Headlight-problem-Please-help&highlight=beam

 

Here's what I can tell you, after splitting the fairing, and replacing the headlamp bulb - I just wrote a long post, then went back and did some more messing around, and here's what I THINK I know::

 

1. It's not the headlamp fuse, unless there is a separate fuse for the low and hi beams? The manual doesn't say this is so.

2. It's not the headlamp bulb. I bought a 2-pack and tried them both. Hi beam, no low beam.

3. The power for the passing lamps seems to be tapped into the power for the low beam, using some splitter connectors. One end goes to a rubber button next to the 12V aux plug in the fairing. I honestly thought this was a reset for that aux plug, but I've confirmed it's a switch for the passing lamps.

4. It's not the 10A inline fuse that's behind that reset button.

5. I can get the passing lamps to light by jumping the power supply to them (red wire downstream of the 10A inline fuse) to the yellow/3 silver dashes (HI beam power) wire, or the power for the running lights.

 

I have a multi-meter, and have poked around trying to find a broken circuit, but honestly I have NO IDEA what I'm doing.

 

Wires to the back of the headlamp socket are yellow/3 silver dashes (HI beam power), green/3 silver dashes (LOW beam power?), and black.

 

I really don't understand 12V DC wiring very well... I had assumed the green was the ground.

 

I SEEM to have no voltage or continuity at the green/3 silver dashes wire, inside the blue connector from whence it comes. I think this means there is no power to the low beam circuit, broken someplace upstream of that connector?

 

I CAN make both the low beam and passing lamps light by jumping the split connector that feeds them, to the yellow/3 silver dash pin inside that blue connector, with the headlight switch in the HI beam position. Jumping to the green/3 silver dash pin in the same connector, with the switch in the LOW beam position, delivers nothing.

 

With everything plugged back in where it belongs, I've tried squeezing, probing, pinching etc. on the 2 inches of exposed wires entering the back side of the blue cube connector, and the wiring harness/loom as far up and around as I can reach. Nada.

 

Now what? Do I have to rip apart everything in the fairing to find the problem? I'm working in front of my house, which is a tiny RV in a campground.

 

Is it the headlight switch on the bars? How do I test this? How do I even get it apart? There seems to be only 1 screw, at the bottom and facing forward. I've undone that, and the switch assembly is loose on the bars, but doesn't want to easily come apart. I don't want to force it.

 

EDIT: I've reviewed the RSV wiring diagram here on the site, and it seems the problem can ONLY be either the green wire between the switch and that blue cube connector, that connector itself, or the HI/LOW switch on the bars. Can someone double check my fuzzy logic here?

 

Any help you can give is dearly appreciated.

 

Your diagnosis seems to be right on,

The red wire is the hot feed to the switch, fused at 15 amps.

The green wire is the low beam feed wire from the switch.

The Yellow wire is for the high beam and the high beam indicator.

The black wire is the ground for the circuits.

My Venture is long gone and I never had a reason to tear into the dimmer switch, so I do not have any advice on getting it apart or testing of that particular switch, but I have attached the switch testing instruction page from the repair manual, maybe that will help a bit as well as the lighting system troubleshooting guide from the repair manual.

Hope this helps a bit, but it does sound like your switch is bad, could be just dirty or corroded, maybe some good contact cleaner sprayed into the connector will help along with multiple actuations of the switch while the contact cleaner is still wet indise the switch will help clean the contacts.

LIGHTING SYSTEM TROUBLESHOOTING.pdfTESTING SWITCHES.pdf

[SilveradoCA]

Your diagnosis seems to be right on,

The red wire is the hot feed to the switch, fused at 15 amps.

The green wire is the low beam feed wire from the switch.

The Yellow wire is for the high beam and the high beam indicator.

The black wire is the ground for the circuits.

My Venture is long gone and I never had a reason to tear into the dimmer switch, so I do not have any advice on getting it apart or testing of that particular switch, but I have attached the switch testing instruction page from the repair manual, maybe that will help a bit as well as the lighting system troubleshooting guide from the repair manual.

Hope this helps a bit, but it does sound like your switch is bad, could be just dirty or corroded, maybe some good contact cleaner sprayed into the connector will help along with multiple actuations of the switch while the contact cleaner is still wet indise the switch will help clean the contacts.

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=117569https://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=117568

 

Thanks a million for this Steve. After reading the procedure and a quick review of what I've done, the diagnosis is the switch. I'd still like to get into that switch housing to check the condition, and also to test from the switch to the blue connector for continuity, in case that wire is broken somewhere along its run. Depending on what the switch contacts look like, maybe the fault can be repaired easily.

[djh3]

Be careful when taking the switch apart. There is some small bits in there. Contact nubbs, springs etc. Could be it has some corrosion in there.

[M61A1MECH]

Be careful when taking the switch apart. There is some small bits in there. Contact nubbs, springs etc. Could be it has some corrosion in there.

 

That reminds me of some good advice I got from the Goldwing forum about taking switch clusters apart, try to fit a large clear zip-lock type bag over the switch and work inside the bag when taking them apart, if springs or parts go flying they will be contained in the bag and not shoot out all over the work area.

[Rafterd]

Before you take the switch apart, you can test it with an ohm meter, or volt meter, to see if it’s working. If it is, no need to take it apart.

[XV1100SE]

Your issue is probably related to the way the installation of the passing lights were done. The documentation from Yamaha for the passing lights will give you the "key" to what is going on. From the read only tech section, look at this link.

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?43898-Passing-Lamp-Installation

 

The Yamaha installation instructions are :

https://www.venturerider.org/passinglamps/passinglamps.pdf

 

From this you'll see that the passing lights can be wired in to either be on all the time, with high beam, or with low beam. You'll see that connected to the low beam the passing light ties into the green wire. If you've lost connectivity on the green wire, then it would explain why passing lights and low beam are not working.

 

Most of us have hooked up the passing lights using a relay. See this link for the diagram. It removes a lot of power going thru the ignition switch. The switch shown in the diagram is the push button switch on the back of the fairing beside the accessory outlet. This button switch is also prone to failure.

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?525-Standard-Passing-Light-Relay-Wiring

 

Based on your description and symptoms, your green wire is cut somewhere. When they spliced in the passing light to the green wire they probably damaged it and the wire connection has broken.

[SilveradoCA]

Your issue is probably related to the way the installation of the passing lights were done. The documentation from Yamaha for the passing lights will give you the "key" to what is going on. From the read only tech section, look at this link.

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?43898-Passing-Lamp-Installation

 

The Yamaha installation instructions are :

https://www.venturerider.org/passinglamps/passinglamps.pdf

 

From this you'll see that the passing lights can be wired in to either be on all the time, with high beam, or with low beam. You'll see that connected to the low beam the passing light ties into the green wire. If you've lost connectivity on the green wire, then it would explain why passing lights and low beam are not working.

 

Most of us have hooked up the passing lights using a relay. See this link for the diagram. It removes a lot of power going thru the ignition switch. The switch shown in the diagram is the push button switch on the back of the fairing beside the accessory outlet. This button switch is also prone to failure.

https://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?525-Standard-Passing-Light-Relay-Wiring

 

Based on your description and symptoms, your green wire is cut somewhere. When they spliced in the passing light to the green wire they probably damaged it and the wire connection has broken.

 

Hi Don,

 

I've determined that everything 'downstream' of the splice/install of the passing lights is intact and functional. The problem is either the green wire from the headlight switch assembly on the bars to the first factory connector, or the headlight switch itself.

 

I'll look into the relay wiring link you showed me, thanks.