92 Yamaha Venture Royale Headlight Warning

[donens]

Need Help! Recently bought used 92 Venture Royale. Having issues with the headlight warning. The bulb tests fine so not sure why the Red Warning light (not flashing; just stays lit), and display indicator stay on. I've checked wiring, cleaned terminal blocks. I did redo the driving lights that were on it since one was halogen and other was LED. The display problem was there before redoing driving lights. When I got the bike the battery also showed but installed the resistor inline, since the battery was maintenance free type. The diagram shows the wiring for the driving lights. What am I missing?

[cimmer]

Have you check the reserve lighting unit to see if the terminal are clean on that. I don't see it listed in your wiring diagram so I am not sure what this is for. If you check some of the older treads on here you will find some information about removing the reserve lighting unit with some jumpers and that should remove your light issue if it is due to the reserve lighting unit.

 

Hope this help.

 

Rick F.

[cowpuc]

I am probably wayyyyy out in left center field on this as usual cause I am far from any form a guru on any of this stuff but that schematic looks to me like a layout for wiring a set of driving/passing/auxillary lights up.. It looks like you are tapping into one of the headlight 12vdc inputs to use as a relay trigger for a relay switch that will send power from the battery to the extra lights when the switch is thrown.. The RLU (reserved lighting unit), in my recollect (dont trust it, it has gotten me into a lot of trouble,,, but has also saved me and others a couple times so I still use it - with warning), would be located upstream of the headlight wiring shown (where the green wire taps in) and would not be applicable to this fairly simple, generic schematic probably supplied with the add on lighting system (not all bikes use an RLU - matter of fact,, in my very limited experience with bikes,, the Yamaha Venture is one of all the bikes I have ever worked on that even uses one)..

I think if I were facing the issues that you @donens ,, I would begin with disconnecting the extra lighting from the headlight wiring and see if the warning light/dash light goes out.. My experience with the RLU is that if it detects any form of voltage or load change out there in the headlight wiring it will fault.. I got a hunch,, if the RLU is still operational, you will solve the question.. Of course, it is also 100% necessary that you maintain non-LED lighting in your headlight system - it also must remain OEM as LED lights pull to small of a load for the RLU to maintain a cleared status..

If, once the extra lights have been disconnected at the headlight wiring and you are using OEM spec incandesent lighting and the RLU still shows a warning/dash light then please come back and let us know..

Also,, if this does work, you will simply have to find another 12vdc source for the trigger coil in the relay being triggered by the switch.. Wiring the lead for the lights from the battery with a fused source is still correct..

Does any of this make sense?? Probably not,,, if not just hang around for a tad,, some lop eared guru varmint will come along and straighten us both out

Puc

[donens]

Thanks for replies. Just disconnected the auxiliary lights from the headlight/switch and battery power. Still have the Red light and display headlight fault. Not sure which one is the RLU behind cluster.

[donens]

By the way, there are no LED on the bike, halogen headlight, incandescent on the rest. Auxiliary are halogen, now disconnected.

[cowpuc]

So with the wire tap into the headlight wire harness completely removed so there is no chance of an amp draw on the OEM headlight harness and still having a RLU fault happening,,, I would probably start with unplugging the headlight itself from the harness and checking the condition of that terminal.. I would look for not just corrosion at the blade connectors but for any sign of resistance inducing issue,,, like wires that have gotten hot.. I would also look carefully at the bulb itself like what kind of condition are the filments in,, matter of fact,, I would probably just replace the bulb to be sure it was fully up to par as the RLU's main purpose is to warn you that its seeing something wrong.. If all that checked out,, I would pull the connector of the RLU and look for corrosion there,, clean the pins real well.. In last case,, it is probably the RLU itself,,, it is not that uncommon for them to fail.. Over the course of 6 - MK1's covering +1 million miles I have personally had 2 of them fail on me and have heard of others failing.. It does happen.. I have been running and LED headlight in my current MK1 and am extremely happy with it.. As you have probably already read,, there are a bunch of the clubs lop eared varmints who have took the time to jumper out the RLU to replace the OEM headlight bulb with LED,, this is fairly common.. I only bring this up because if,, per chance, you find that your RLU has failed, it may be a good time to just do the jumpering and forget replacing it,, up to you of course..

Here is little video of mine I did for another member concerning the RLU that you may or may not find useful.. It shows location of the RLU on a MK1 which I would not be surprised to learn also applies to your MK2..

 

[donens]

Thanks, watched your RLU video previously. Mine is in a different location, dead centre, behind cluster even with top of the headlight. What's the best way to test the RLU for defect? Looked at connectors and cleaned RLU, Headlight, nothing really appeared to be dirty (or green cobwebs) or other signs of oxidation.

 

On another note: Has anyone ever tried to fool the RLU or other safety circuits using diodes for any auxiliary components? In my case, using a diode on the headlight wire before the switch, thereby not allowing the headlight circuit to know there are other lights.

 

Seen diodes used on auger motor electric clutch systems to prevent any feedback to the ignition system.