SuzukiSavage.com /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> What did I do? /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1487360200 Message started by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 11:36:39

Title: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 11:36:39 So I have a 08 s40 and am making a bobber out of it.  I have it almost back together except for the tank, which is being painted. Had to replace the battery today and as I was tightening the terminals my wrench slipped and landed on the other terminal and created an arch.  So now the headlight works but the turn signals no longer do (they where working just prior to this).  Both fuses look good, but I will try to swap those to see.  But I figure the headlight works so the fuses are ok. I'm not good with the diagnostic part of this, so what else should I be looking at the may be wrong?   Sorry for the dumb questions but I am very new to this

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by verslagen1 on 02/17/17 at 11:45:34 Did you check the bulbs?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 11:48:51 I have not.  would it burn out all four?  Or would one effect them all? I will go look at them now and see what I see.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/17/17 at 11:52:08 Unless you hit a wire, a short across the battery won't affect anything outside of the battery. When installing or removing a battery, Always remove the ground first, and install it last, and, I'm sure you know about shorting across terminals.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 12:07:12 All bulbs are in good shape. Justin- I was tightening the ground when this happened.  The positive was already on and tight. Not sure what else to check.  Everything was working up until that point.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/17/17 at 12:20:24 Is the only problem the turn signals? Both sides?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 12:25:41 yes, the turn signals are the only thing not currently working..  the headlights work as well as the horn.  I was going to wire the tail light next, but didn't want to go any further until I figured this issue ouy.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/17/17 at 12:31:54 Do you have a test light ,and volt ohm meter? I'd check connections at the flasher. Unplug, look, plug in, wiggle, look for corrosion, anything unusual. Flip the turn signal switch back and forth vigorously a bit.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by SALB on 02/17/17 at 12:32:31 Are you sure everything was hooked back up when you put the battery in.  Did you check the fuses with a multi-meter or test light?   :-/  Sometimes it the small details that bite you.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by Ruttly on 02/17/17 at 12:33:48 Flasher relay ?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 12:42:39 going to pick up a meter.  I'll see what I come up with when I get back. Ruttly, when can I locate the relay?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/17/17 at 12:50:43 A test light allows probing that the meter won't do. You can connect to the battery and to wires to lights and see if you get light. Remember, when checking Ohms, no power can be on the circuit and a lightbulb shows up like a short.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 14:37:04 there are only the two 20 fuses on this bike correct?  I'm not missing one by chance

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by SALB on 02/17/17 at 14:47:02 Do the front marker lights light up with the headlight?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/17/17 at 14:47:25 Correct, but if one was blown, more than the signal would be not working. Focus on the turn signal circuit.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by gizzo on 02/17/17 at 14:54:06 I'm with JoG. Focus on the flasher wiring. See if there's power to the flasher relay. see if there's continuity between the can and indicator bulb terminals. check the switch has continuity. easy things but takes time. At least it's free. Use a test light or multimeter. You should buy a digital multimeter anyway. They're handy. You can make a tst light in minutes from a 12v bulb 2 bits of wire and 2 alligator clips. Or buy one.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by Ruttly on 02/17/17 at 15:09:04 Hit the flasher relay a couple times with a screwdriver handle !

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by batman on 02/17/17 at 15:21:24 The flasher relay is a small black box in a rubber holder located near the neck of the bike ,on the right side ,tucked under the forward part of the tank.It has two blades at right angles to each other,that plug into the connector ,I'd check here first as it controls both left and right signals ,you might also try to replace it with a auto relay for a test.(It'll plug right in)Do  you have stock turn signals ? do you have after market signals with duel filament front bulbs?More info would help!

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 16:00:09 So I have power into the relay.  I don't have access at the moment to another one to test, but will try later.  I have no power to my signals (as expected).  I also don't have power to the rear back switch.  I assume I should, as I have power to the tail light wires.   Everything else seems to have power to it.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 16:08:09 Just checked the signal switch and getting power from both the hazards and regular switch.  When I remove the relay I no longer get power to the switch.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by batman on 02/17/17 at 18:07:54 zen ,you didn't answer my questions about the signals ,stock or after market? did you test the fuses? does the bike start? try swapping the two fuses,do the lights work ,does the bike still start?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by Kris01 on 02/17/17 at 18:13:30 http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1294779818 Maybe not helpful to this post but here ya go anyway.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/17/17 at 18:24:07 Batman sorry, I guess I didn't see it.  The signals are aftermarket.  I checked the fuses and flipped them both.  Still nothing.  As for the bike starting, the bike is being put back together and the tank is getting paint.  I keep being told that it could be the relay, so I am going to try to pick one up tomorrow and see what happens.   Weird thing is when I tested the power of the relay, I got juice.  I'm ready to try anything at this point.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by Ruttly on 02/17/17 at 19:21:07 One fuse is for decompressor relay & selenoid and the other fuse is for everything else Do the turn signals light up but don't flash or not work at all ?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/17/17 at 20:38:14 Oboy, aftermarket,, Did you install them yourself? Have you ever seen them work? Are they LED?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by batman on 02/17/17 at 23:28:11 ARE they hooked up right? there was three wires running to the front signals because they were double filament bulbs,the second filament used for running lights, the solid color wire on each side (gray I think) were used for the running lights, If your new signals are single filament these wires should be taped off and not used.The remaining wires should be two black and white grounds that connect to black wires coming from the new lights, and a yellow and brown wire that is connected to the red wires(guessing) that come from each light.The rears are the same, black to black and white ,red to yellow, red to brown.........JOG"s question of LED's is a concern because some LED's run off twelve volts while others run off lower voltage and need an adapter .LED's must be hooked up ground to ground, positive to positive ,if polarity is reversed, they will not function.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/18/17 at 07:55:53 Yes these are two wire lights and no the are not LED.  Just prior to me arching the battery everything was working.  I did tape off the third wire.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by batman on 02/18/17 at 08:48:45 If you haven't another flasher unit yet,you could take a small piece of wire stripped at both ends , and insert it were the flasher goes,then try your signals ,they should light but won't flash,if they do your flasher unit is bad ,if they don't you have a wiring problem.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/18/17 at 11:44:00 found a used flasher relay, but it didn't help.  I will start looking at all the wiring.   Question.  if the wiring is bad to the back lights, would it effect the front lights?  or visa versa?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/18/17 at 12:08:43 So I disconnected the back lights and the front onset started working.   But as soon as I connected either of the two back it shut off.  So I will tear apart the wiring to the back.   If one wire is bad to the back, let's say the right blinker, shouldn't the left one work if the right is disconnected?  Or is there an issue further up the wiring harness?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by batman on 02/18/17 at 12:59:29 zen ,If the front ones are working( and flashing?) the wiring for the rears must be your only problem.There are two hot wires,and two grounds,the ground wires both being black /white stripe, maybe you've mixed them up ,crossing the circuits,I'd try swapping the two grounds and see if the lights work.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by ZenThumper on 02/18/17 at 13:04:32 Figured it out.  It was an issue in the wiring to the back lights.  Probably where I had to solder them together.   I cut the wires and reconnected directly into the harness and they worked. Thank you guys for all your help.  You truly kick ass! will post a picture when it is all put back together.   I really turning out awesome.  Thanks again!

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/18/17 at 13:13:23 Had we known you'd been working on the wiring,,

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by batman on 02/18/17 at 13:36:34 JOG2,has a point! it is important to tell us as much as you can about your problem,so that we can give the best advice.We're "flying blind"here and only know what you tell us.More info gives us a better starting point........ also it's always good to work on one thing at a time,if something fails to work you'll know  what you  did last ,as the place to look first.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/18/17 at 14:09:37 Well, the last thing he did was arc the battery, but I explained that only the battery was affected. He never said he'd been working on wires associated with turn signals. It's a newbie thing. Everyone goes through it. Everything we do is a likely to cause Unintended Consequences And, until the work done is tested and passed, it's The primary suspect should something go wrong with anything related.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by Ruttly on 02/18/17 at 15:24:52 Yeah but we motivated him with information , and he found and fixed it ! We all win , SS rules !! I'm still amazed at our enthusiasm over this odd little cruiser/entry level bike. Is it the bike or the members ? The bike draws us in and the members keep you from leaving.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by batman on 02/18/17 at 18:50:29 I wasn't trying to single Zen out ,but hoped that maybe others new to the site would understand that if we receive more info up front we wouldn't have to motivate people for as much info ,thus saving time and trouble getting to the heart of problem.Without proper info we tend to give answers that send the people off on tangents,that waste time because they don't relate to the problem,ie like having him check fuses/flasher before the wiring.How many times have we read ..help My S-40 won't start!- with no info where do we begin ?

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by Ruttly on 02/19/17 at 07:14:03 I get it and my observation is most of the problem posters are new to this and lack experience and don't understand that concept. So let's just be happy that one is off the board , success !

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by batman on 02/19/17 at 11:51:30 Agreed!

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 02/19/17 at 18:40:52 I Used to ask if someone has been doing any work on the bike. I slipped up. Coulda had the Zen dude moving in the right direction sooner. I'm not kicking a new mechanic. He did good. I'm not so pleased with how I did.

Title: Re: What did I do? Post by buster6315 on 02/19/17 at 22:38:57 2B343235282F1E2E1E26343873410 wrote: Had we known you'd been working on the wiring,, Or as the saying goes "where were your fingers last?"

SuzukiSavage.com » Powered by YaBB 2.2! YaBB © 2000-2007. All Rights Reserved.