Odd electrical/light problem
 

I was out riding today and one of the lads following me commented that my indicators were behaving funny. He said he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but that they were definately different to how they were last weekend. He thought they seemed to be pulsing (IE fading in and out) rather than distinctly flashing between on and off. I went and had a look, but didn't really notice anything odd. On closer inspection though, I did notice that when the indicators were on (same effect on either side), the top 3/4 leds of both sides of the rear lights (K4 model bike) were quickly flickering, so fast that they just seemed a bit dimmer than the lower ones. I gave the bike a service yesterday, but can't recall doing anything that might have effected the electrics. The indicators are standard ones and are all working/behaving the same.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

What sort of indicators is it?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Do you mean what type of indicator? Bog standard official OE Suzuki ones. The front RHS one has been replaced (twice), but always with another OE one.

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Ah, I see- I thought you had LED indicators, I'd misread.

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Try taking the battery out and run it through a optimizer/maintainence charge, stick it back in and see if it goes away.

Had the same problem with the rear led lights and it was the battery being a baw hair away from being discharged. i must have been topping it up just and no more all the time i was commuting.

If not have you changed the bulbs recently? are they the right ones?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Bike gets a good run regularly (recently an avg. of 450 miles a week), but I'll connect my battery up to my optimate to see how it's condition is. I am about to wire in my GPS, so think I'd best make sure the battery is charging okay before I put any more demands on it. :)

I was thinking about fitting new bulbs (they're due doing) but hadn't gotten round to it. I'll make sure I fit the right sort though.

Ta for the suggestions. Any other ideas?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

If it was a car I would say it sounds like a "bad earth". Best suggestion I can give is to make sure all the wee connectors under the pilion seat, and for the front indicators are clean and tight. Also check the batery terminals are nice and clean and tight. (Smear a wee drop grease or vasalene over them when your done). The negative battery terminal will have a few cables terminating into it. Make sure they are all secure. Same again for the flasher relay...minus the grease!

Is everything else working OK?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Yesp everything else is okay. Thinking about it, it could be the pillion seat connectors- my scottoiler lube tube got stuck on them and might have pulled them loose when I took it out (I remember it catching) when I did the service. Thanks!

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Mine is doing exactly the same only noticed it when it came to the MOT. I blagged it saying the battery was on it's way out and brought a new one. However, it's made no difference (top three L.E.D's on each strip reacting when the indicator come on).
It can't be the earth because only one lead comes out of the unit and all the LED's would dip. I spoke to a local Suzuki dealer and they reckon it'll need a new rear light unit, for £90!!!!!! Don't think it's fixable as the unit is sealed. Needless to say mine is still like it!

Might be an idea for all you k3 onwards riders to check yours see if it's more common than we realise?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

plus 1

I'm having the same problem also, so annoying, but then i just forget it and ride instead

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Sorry to hear you're also having problems, but glad in a way that it sounds like it's a common problem. Anyone else had it?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Does everyone have LED indicators?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

nope, standard indies, if there was a huge power draw from the indicators, the rear light of LEDs would all dim.

Actually talking of which, when the indicators are off the LEDs on the top 3/4 rows are slighly dim anyway.

Has to be a faulty unit

I'm hoping to borrow one and test it, if thats works fine then i know what the problem is

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

funny that, yours is a K4 as well, same as mine

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Sounds like most of the units are going faulty. Saying that mine could have been like it from day one

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Depends how it's all wired up internally... If the LED's are flickering, then there might be more going on than meets the eye. Interested to see how you get on with the spare unit.

Out of interest, how many LED's are there in each column?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

I've decided I'll live with it for now, but I'm concerned come MOT time (September) I might fail because of this if they're picky.

If it seems the Suzuki LED tail lights are given to failing after a couple of years, I'd be loathe to replace them with another one. I've never been interested in a transparent rear/brake light before, but so long as it's no more expensive than the suzuki one, I'll try it (if I end up having to get one to pass the MOT). I take it no one with the aftermarket clear one has had this problem?

Philbo: I'll have a look at how many LEDS there are later.

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Thougt i would bring this thread back up to speed.

Well i have purchased a secohand replacement rear LED light unit and i'm pleased to say the problem is now fixed.

So if yours is doing that, then its a faulty unit.

Ta

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

I have my first MOT at the end of the month. My bike is still doing this. I'm loathe to replace with a suzuki unit (as I imagine it'll possibly develop the same defect as the original), so it looks like I'll get an aftermarket one instead. The top 3 LEDs being dim doesn't bother me, it's only an MOT pass I'm concerned about. I understand they're not allowed to interfere/tamper with the bike in any way, so my question is this:

Do you reckon I'd get away with taping up the top 3 leds on the tail lights? The rest of the lights work fine and I'm confident that aside from this, it should definately pass.

TIA.

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Actually it would work better to poke the faulty LEDs out, then hey no more bl0ody flashing! hehe

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

BTW for info, Philbo, there are 7 LEDs in each strip, for a total of 14.

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

Update:

After fitting a known good rear light unit (Suzuki one), the problem seems to have almost completely disappeared. The effect is still there, but you really have to look for it/know it's there to see it and the bike passed its MOT fine.

---------------------------------------------------------

New Problem:

Last night, I had an odd problem with the indicators (put in this thread as the title is the same and it might be related!): The front right indicator was blinking doubley fast, as was the indicator bulb on the dash when I put the RHS indicators on. I assumed a bulb had blown in the back right one, but oddly enough that one was flashing at the same rate. I watched the rate of the bulb on the dash and it slowed down gradually (rather than jumped), as did the front RHS indicator, till they fell back into synch with the others. I watched it for a minute or two and it seemed fine. Then it jumped out synch again and went a bit faster (although not as quick as before) for about 10 seconds, then went back to the correct speed. Again, only the front RHS indicator and indicator idiot light were affected.

To recap, all indicators are OE suzuki ones. Only modifications to the wiring loom are a Datatool duo immobiliser (fitted by the garage when the bike was new and has not resulted in any problems so far) and a tomtom charger cable is wired in, in parallel, to the front RHS parking light.

Any ideas as to what might be causing it/suggestions for things to check?
TIA

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

My 03 is doing something a bit different. all LED's light up when the engine/electrical is on (tail light). When the rear brake is activated, the brake lights activate. When the front brake lever is activated, the brake lights flash on for a split second then off. If I pull the F Brake lever in just a bit, the brake lights will fully activate, but as soon as you continue pulling the lever in to actually start the bike slowing down, the brake lights go out. I can keep riding, i just have to remember to use the rear brake (i like to flash my brake lights coming up to a turn/traffic queues etc). What do you guys think? loose wire connections?

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

I had exactly the same problem with my dads Pointy, all i did was fit a tail tidy. The bike continues to use the standard number plate light and indicators but now when the left indicators are on the left bank of LEDs dim dramatically and slowly pulsate (out of sync with the indicators). The same happens when the right indicator is on with the right bank of LEDs, but no problems when you put the hazards on though!

All connectors and wiring are good.

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

I would suggest using a known good front brake switch, as the plunger on the switch is quite likely to be faulty i bet on your current one. Try a new one or one that you know is good from another SV

Re: Odd electrical/light problem
 

I had the front brake switch problem, exactly as you describe.

The way it's designed is that the contacts "make" and then "wipe", the idea being they self-clean. However I found mine had formed some deposit just away from the initial "make" point, so when you put on the brake the electrical contact was OK at the initial "make" point but then it wiped onto the crud and the light went out. I cleaned the contact area and applied vaseline and it's been fine ever since.

The switches aren't really intended to come apart but if you carefully prise them apart and break the 3 little plastic melted "rivets" heads off, then it's fine. Alternatively replace it for a few quid (about £8 I think when I last looked, I had the same problem on a Honda and they're £7+ PP/vat).