| Author | Message | ||
     Jdubxb |
The 15A fuse for "lights" is intact. Tried swapping with the spare fuse but no difference. Also tried swapping the Aux and Start relay positions. The high beam indicator turns on and off with the switch. I'm not at home now so do you have any suggestions for a quick check? | ||
| Zacks |
Other than the obvious - and unlikely - both bulbs are burned out... Looking at the schematics, the common point is the 38A connector. I'd check to make sure there's good contact where the headlights plug in. | ||
| Jdubxb |
Both headlights were working just yesterday so I doubt both would burn out so close in time. I don't have tools to take the fairing off at this time. | ||
| Bottlefedbuell |
There is a (white, i believe) connector under the fairing you should be able to access. Sometimes one of the pins (ground usually) gets a little pinched and will not complete the circuit causing both to go out. You may have to get in there with a pick and carefully spread the prong to get a better connection. This is also where you perform the 'both headlights on' mod, if havent already. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Turn it to high beam. Does the indicator show? If so, it's probably a broken ground at the steering neck. My XB12X loves to pop grounds. Low bid wiring harnesses I guess. Test this theory by running a wire from the chassis ground or negative battery terminal to triple cla | ||
| Jdubxb |
The high beam indicator turns on and off with the switch. Everything else seems to work, so it looks like I will have to wait until I get home to remove the fairing (firebolt) | ||
| Bottlefedbuell |
you shouldnt need to remove fairing. Everything is accessible from the underside. | ||
| Froggy |
If both bulbs are burnt, it is likely a failing voltage regulator causing high voltage spikes | ||
| Jdubxb |
I'll measure the voltage with the motor running, when I get home. Thanks for the tips. | ||
| Greg_e |
If you start the bike with both on, and the battery is bad, it can cause the bulbs to pop, had a bunch of that on mine and ended up putting a time delay relay on them so they wait 30 seconds before the lights come on. (modded headlights) But I'm betting on the ground between the frame at the headstock and the first connector. | ||
| Ffbuell1 |
Hi Check the small wiring harness that branches off to the headlights, I have replaced mine twice over the years. | ||
| Jdubxb |
How long is that harness (on a firebolt)? Do you think I could bypass it with some wire and spade connectors until the ordered part arrives? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Talk about a kick in the beans  I was just in the garage to get something and thought I would take a quick picture of the location of my persistent failures. Look what I found when I turned the bars to the right:  I guess It happened just as I turned the bars that one last time. The big ugly red wire is my addition. It goes between the frame and the upper triple clamp. That was one of my failure points and the other is as you see in the picture. That little clusterF*** goes to the blinkers and the headlights. I guess I'll have to find out what my new mystery wire goes to. Awesome bike; TERRIBLE wiring harness. | ||
| Greg_e |
I think there are 4 black wires in 2 connectors. | ||
| Jdubxb |
Both bulbs are burned. Voltage at 14.35 at startup fast idle, which seems normal. Should I have measured at higher rpm? Maybe just bad timing with both bulbs going out on the same day? I had a spare H3 bulb and it fired up when I plugged it in. | ||
| Froggy |
When the VR starts to fail, the voltage can intermittently spike high enough to burn out the bulbs. You are not likely to see it happen watching a meter on your battery for a minute, you would need something setup on your bike to monitor the voltage. On my last VR failure, I would see my aftermarket meter start flashing its high voltage warning in the middle of a ride and the headlights would get much brighter. | ||
| Tootal |
Yep, my stator failed which took out the VR which kept blowing my headlights. Replaced VR and it did it again because I didn't check the stator. So if you find the VR bad do all the test on the stator. If it fails just one of the test it's toast. Don't ruin another VR, check the stator. |
