Both right side indicators not working ;(

[drefraser]

Some help would be appreciated.
I've got a 1999 naked SV650. Intermittently initially, and now constantly, the right front and rear indicators have stopped working. The left indicators are fine. I've checked the bulbs and the earth connections front and back and they're fine. One more bit of info is that the green indicator light on the dash comes on but at a faster rate the same way it does if you blow one bulb.
I thought it might be the flasher relay unit but then I thought that the dash light wouldn't work if that was the problem. I also don't know where the flasher unit lives or what it looks like.
Any ideas greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Ewan

[yorkie_chris]

Broken wire in the loom, maybe where the wire splits to the clocks and to the main part of the loom. Its a green wire IIRC

[AlanB]

You have a bad connection somewhere in there, what you need to do is find it. I've always found it easier to work one one for a start and wiggle the wiring back as far as possible from the indicator. What you're trying to do is to make and break the wire so a gentle wiggle is best don't yank it or you can end up worse than you were. Pay particular attention to any points where rubbing can occur as the wires can chafe through. The way that you describe the indicator light suggests that its a fault in the wiring to me rather than the relay so unfortunatly it looks like a bit of work will be needed. Try the connectors as well, taking them apart and pushing them back together, rub them with a cloth to dry and clean them before doing so.

sorry can't be more help.

cheers

Alan

[yorkie_chris]

The route I would go is pick up the wire as it comes out of the switch, and snaplok connect a fresh bit of wire right into it, then clip it in to the indi wire right at the back, see if that gets power to the front one as well.
Bodge city, but quick.

[walkaboutandy]

I have a similar problem at the mo which I'm trying to work through. Both left indicators have a habit of giving up the ghost until I have a fiddle with the relay. The right side works fine, which after consulting the wiring diagram led me to believe it might be the handlebar switch. I took it apart and cleaned it but it made no difference. It might be worth trying for you though as your fault is a little different. My dash light works correctly with the indicators and at the correct speed. I can fix the fault by wiggling the relay and fuse box which is under the seat over the battery. So this evening I'm going to try and take out every connector, clean it and put it back.

[drefraser]

I have a similar problem at the mo which I'm trying to work through. Both left indicators have a habit of giving up the ghost until I have a fiddle with the relay. The right side works fine, which after consulting the wiring diagram led me to believe it might be the handlebar switch. I took it apart and cleaned it but it made no difference. It might be worth trying for you though as your fault is a little different. My dash light works correctly with the indicators and at the correct speed. I can fix the fault by wiggling the relay and fuse box which is under the seat over the battery. So this evening I'm going to try and take out every connector, clean it and put it back.

It looks like I'm going to go down the same route tomorrow night. I wouldn't mind so much but for the sanctimonious bar stewards who say that electrics are always straight forward and logical. Hmmm.

[yorkie_chris]

are always straight forward and logical. Hmmm.

I wish.
Hateful things with intermittent faults and breaking down with heat and such :mad:

That must be the appeal of 2 strokes, only 3 wires to possibly go wrong and when it siezes up its obvious whats gone wrong!

[walkaboutandy]

Ha Ha ......yeah I know what you mean.

Its infuriating when you think you have fixed it and then half way through your journey the fault returns. The other day I thought I had fixed them, went to do a left, indicated, they didn't work, did the left without realising and some car pulled out of a side street in front of me. Not really his fault as he didn't know I was turning, and I was going slow, so no drama, but its just really, really, annoying when something so important has an intermittant fault!!!

Going to try to fix them again this afternoon as it was too wet yesterday.

[drefraser]

Right. Another 2 1/2 hours I'll never get back.
I checked the flasher relay but jiggling it made no difference. Thinking about it (now that I've fiddled) there is only one intermittent live that goes from this unit forward to the handle bar switch where it then splits either right or left. So the fault must be in the switch or the wiring that comes out of the switch before it splits to go to front and back indicators.
With some trepidation I took apart the left handlebar switch cluster and right enough there was a ping as vital bits of brass plate, springs and/or screws launched themselves into the dark recesses of the garage. There was no resistance between the output wire of the left indicator switch and the live of the front left indicator whereas there was infinite resistance between the right indicator switch output and the live of the right indicator.
I traced the pale green output wire for the right indicators to a connector box in front of the tank after which it disappears into the main loom. At this point it was still continuous with the handlebar switch according to my multimeter. I looked for it in a couple of places in the loom by cutting the insulation open and also by the battery and in the tail where the rear indicator live must be. All without success.
Being narked off by this point I thought I'd try a bodge as Yorkie suggested. I've connected the output from the indicator switch directly to the live of the front right indicator in the front headlight housing. The live is still also connected to the loom. This sort of works in that both right hand indicators now flash but at double frequency. Having read about problems with LED indicators while seeing if anyone had had this trouble before it seems that if you put a resistor in line with the live wire the flash frequency will go down. A sort of bodge on a bodge.
Thanks for your suggestions thus far. I think anyone who has read this far will either have exactly the same problem or severe insomnia. I'm off to do something easier. Brain surgery maybe.
Cheers,
Ewan

PS I really should get a manual.

[yorkie_chris]

This sort of works in that both right hand indicators now flash but at double frequency.

This is really wierd, usually the frequency will only change when a bulb is not connected (or blown, same effect)

And really really stupid question, but when you are checking the switch for continuity, are you sure you have got it switched to left or right (done that one myself)

[drefraser]

And really really stupid question, but when you are checking the switch for continuity, are you sure you have got it switched to left or right (done that one myself)

Congratulations for managing to get to the end of one of the dullest posts I've written on any forum!
I did initially get thrown by the fact that the right hand output wire is on the left of the switch and visa versa because the switch lever pivots around a point between where your thumb moves and where the electrical switch is. But when I was checking for continuity to the indicators themselves I checked between the point where I'd taken the bulb out of the indicator and the output wire of the electrical switch. So at that point I was checking the circuit after the switch. It seemed to be between those points that there was continuity on the left but not on the right.
If you can shed light (preferably at half the current flash rate) that'd be great.

[walkaboutandy]

Does the indicator light on the dash work? I think this is connected on the switch/indicator bulb side of things. Can't fully remember so I'll have a look at the manual tonight and let you know.

[yorkie_chris]

The indicator light on the dash doesn't draw enough amps to change the flash rate, the diode is fried on my LHS indis to the repeater light and the flash rate is still the same, I just can't be arsed fixing it.

I wouldn't use a ballast resistor if I were you, I'd temporarily hardwire the lot together with some test leads and see how it behaves, then you can start isolating individual bits. (abstract way to describe it I know...)

[drefraser]

Does the indicator light on the dash work? I think this is connected on the switch/indicator bulb side of things. Can't fully remember so I'll have a look at the manual tonight and let you know.

Yup the green light on the dash works. It works for the left hand side indicators which are fine. It also worked at about double the frequency when the RHS indicators were not working and it still works at the same frequency, which matches the indicators, now that they are.

I've ordered a manual; whether it'll help is anyone's guess.

Cheers,
Ewan

[drefraser]

The indicator light on the dash doesn't draw enough amps to change the flash rate, the diode is fried on my LHS indis to the repeater light and the flash rate is still the same, I just can't be arsed fixing it.

I wouldn't use a ballast resistor if I were you, I'd temporarily hardwire the lot together with some test leads and see how it behaves, then you can start isolating individual bits. (abstract way to describe it I know...)

Seems sensible but I'm definitely going to wait for the manual to arrive rather than guessing the wiring set up. I've not been doing too well on that one so far.
Cheers,
Ewan

[yorkie_chris]

Have you already ordered it?

If not then I'll scan the wiring diagram for you and email it

[drefraser]

Have you already ordered it?

If not then I'll scan the wiring diagram for you and email it

Thanks very much for the offer but I've ordered one of these new fangled CD manuals.
The bike wouldn't start this morning but guddling around I found that the clutch nanny wire had worked loose. I'm so glad I don't work in bomb disposal - if I took this many goes to get the job done in that profession I'd be wallpaper.

[yorkie_chris]

First thing I did when rewiring mine was chuck the sidestand switch, clutch switch and such in the bin. More points of failure you don't need.

This frequency thing is wierd. Maybe one of the wires is shorting and causing this behaviour. I'd definately wire it all seperately and see what it does, there must be something shorted out. (Can't be the flasher unit if the LHS is ok)

And CD manual? Pah.
You can tell the common problem areas on the SV by looking at a used haynes manual, all the pages with lots of oily fingerprints are common faults. Any pages spattered in blood means its a difficult job. :-P

[walkaboutandy]

Well... got my indicators fixed. Turned out to be the loom chaffing on the seat bolt bracket. A bit of insulation tape and a bit of foam padding sorted it and hopefully, will avoid it happening again.

Any luck with yours yet drefraser?

[drefraser]

Since I'd got the right indicators working, albeit at double speed, I've been taking the ostrich approach.
BUT, I do recall that this whole thing started shortly after a trackday and that the bike had one strap under the seat to hold it on the trailer. So it might be that the problem is in the loom there.
I'm off wandering the Welsh hills this weekend but I'll definitely look into it when I get back. I've got my manual complete with wiring diagram; I just need to find a .jpg of an oily thumb print to paste on to it.
The solution may be in sight ...

[yorkie_chris]

when I get back. I've got my manual complete with wiring diagram; I just need to find a .jpg of an oily thumb print to paste on to it.
The solution may be in sight ...

Not really the same working from a clean wiring diagram :p You can always tell the hard jobs on a bike when the pages of the manual have blood splats...

[drefraser]

I came back after my soaking weekend walking in the hills and checked the area under the seat where the tie down strap could have rubbed. Unfortunately there were no wires that could have been damaged in that area. So that was it then. Demonic possession seemed to be the obvious and only explanation.

So do you want to know the Agatha Christie mystery answer? It was a broken wire in the loom. Where I don't know because I've rewired the whole lot. But when I checked the rear right bulb initially I put the bayonets back 180 degrees from where they had been. What I hadn't twigged was that someone had replaced a 21w bulb with a 23w/6w rear light /brake light bulb. So when it went in in a different way to the way it came out it changed from a 23 watt to a 6 watt output. Because there was no power getting to the indicators at that point I didn't spot any difference. It was only when the electricity started flowing again that the weird double speed flashing happened.

Obvious really.:-D

[yorkie_chris]

Where I don't know because I've rewired the whole lot.

That was the solution I went for too