| Author | Message | ||
     Portero72 |
Hey all, my new to me 08 has a spastic taillight that sometimes goes dark. All the other lights seem to work just fine, including the brake light. Any ideas where to dig? I am fairly unfamiliar with the wiring in that part of the bike. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I had mice move into the tail section and sampled the wiring a few times. Pop the seat and look in there first. | ||
| Arry |
Does it happen when you turn the bars back and forth? Wires breaking, in the bundle coming across the steering head, is common. | ||
| Portero72 |
No mice that I can see evidence of. I have been under the seat many times since purchase. It happens at idle. I noticed it last night while gearing up after the gym. Again, the blinkers and brake lights work as they should. Does anyone know offhand which wire leads to the taillight itself? | ||
| Tootal |
Is the bulb socket loose on the bulb? Pull the bulb and make sure there is no corrosion in the bulb socket. Use a pencil eraser to clean any corrosion. Put a little dielectric grease on the bulb and in the socket. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
XB12X have LED lights, no sockets. | ||
| Tootal |
Ha! Shows you I've never had any issues there! | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Next time it happens, try jiggling the ignition key a bit. I had to open and clean the switch part a few years ago. | ||
| Portero72 |
It’s the wiring. Had a few minutes to explore back there this morning and wiggle tested stuff with the key on. Flicker flicker. Gonna have to pull that area apart and dig deeper when I have time. I | ||
| Portero72 |
Before I go tearing the tailpiece to bits, are there any secrets I need to know? | ||
| Portero72 |
Well, I found the culprit. Major hack job in the wiring. I figure the best option is to replace the taillight assembly itself. Problem is, I have little confidence in the male half of that plug. It is making poor contact as is. The new assembly comes with the female half. Anyone know where I can score the male side?  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Is the cut on the chassis side of the plug, or the light side? Just fix it correctly and shrink-wrap the joints. Not like an LED light pulls a lot of current - my guess looking at that job is, the tape that was presumably around the solder joints, wore through and the white and black wires were touching each other, shorting out the taillight (IIRC white is tail; yellow is brake; black is ground). (Message edited by ratbuell on November 05, 2017) | ||
| Portero72 |
Rat- I wiggle tested till I was blue in the face; all the splices seem solid. The only way I was able to recreate the short was to pull on the plug itself. There is play when snapped together and the wires do not seem secure in the housing. The replacement housing has been ordered, so I either need the black, male side of the plug or a way to secure the wires going into the original. Also, there are splices on both sides of the plug. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Just cut the plug out and hardwire the light. Not like the LED's will ever burn out. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Yeah, I'm with the rat here. If it ever needs to be replaced, you have wire cutters. Try to find some of that fancy shrink tubing with the glue in it. It's awesome. | ||
| Refurb |
Batts Racing may have the male connector you need if you decide to get a new assembly. http://www.deutschconnector.com/ | ||
| Portero72 |
Rat- You’re a genius. I was too tired and frustrated to see the obvious simple answer. | ||
| Ourdee |
Heat shrink tubing at Harbor Freight is good stuff. They also sell liquid tape. it works. | ||
| Portero72 |
Got er dun. Clipped out the plugs and all those splices and hard wired the new taillight in. Solid. I assume a previous owner hacked into the harness to wire in some auxiliary lights. Oh well. One issue checked off the list. |
