SuzukiSavage.com - No headlight, no starter... but taillight works!

blackhalo

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No headlight, no starter... but taillight works!
06/08/14 at 17:49:38

I checked the two fuses on the right side of the bike next to the seat, they're fine.

Now, here's the fun part... this happened as I recently took everything out of the switch housings and tucked the wiring under the tank... I did this because I put new bars and controls on (XS650 stuff, it's smaller/minimal).

I shorted the clutch-safety switch with a paperclip, perhaps that's the problem... but honestly, why is my headlight not working? It's a new bulb (and none of that wiring was directly touched in this last garage session)... besides, the starter button won't fire either.

I've been chopping on this bike for a while now, I'm used to dealing with gremlins (I also have Shovelhead)... but this electrical snafu has me stumped on where to start looking.

I didn't actually dis-assemble the switches themselves, just took them out of the housing, left them wired and tucked the whole wire-strip under the tank... they're all intact for the most part (except for the other side of the horn contact, etc).

I know it's a tough question to answer online, but I could use some ideas... I don't understand why I get power (even the Neutral light comes on)... something clicks when I turn the key (the rectifier/regulator?), and the brake light works... but no headlight and no starter.

Sad

I've already checked the Power and High Beam/Low Beam switches to make sure they're in the correct positions... everything else looks clean... I don't get it.

So close, yet so far...

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GridMonkey

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Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work
Reply #1 - 06/08/14 at 19:44:15

I lost all my front end lights and horn, never thought to check the starter because i was hunting down a faulty, flickered on bumps, headlight circuit and i took the tank off so no fuel anyway. But what i did find is that in the large connector under the tank, the yellow wire's (12vt hot, please correct me if i'm wrong, don't think i am) connections had charged and melted a bit, too much current/corrosion begets more corrosion. Cleaned that up with a tiny wire brush and some electrical contact cleaner for now. Will probably replace that one wires connectors shortly. But since you moved wires, go through them all one at a time and make sure none of the connectors came loose/are clean and tight.

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1st2know Senior Member Offline Currently between Savages Posts: 295 Seattle, WA Gender:	Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work Reply #2 - 06/08/14 at 19:59:14 Underneath the tank, left side, near the front, there's a harness connection that comes loose easily when tinkering with wires in there. Snap it back together. (same thing happened to me a few weeks ago)
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Dave

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Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work
Reply #3 - 06/09/14 at 11:25:14

I don't think we can help you much with this one.

Taking the guts out of the switch housing and stuffing them under the tank......you are exploring new ground. Not possible for anyone of us to figure that concept out over the internet.

Sounds like you have lost the ability to have turn signals, HI/Low beam, horn........not something I would want to ride around here.

Dave

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blackhalo

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Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work
Reply #4 - 06/09/14 at 11:31:52

Well, I've stripped all the shrink tubes and checked everything, it's clean... this bike is a 2009, corrosion is not a big issue... wiring is (was) wrapped nicely and connections are golden (literally)... I'm stuck.

Admittedly, we never removed the battery cable while working on this (yeah, beer and too many people in the garage)... so I can't help think something fried somewhere.

Problem is, I don't know enough about each component to understand what would cause half the bike to not get power... can anyone give me a rundown on what components would kill the power like this?

For that matter, does anyone have a 2009 wiring diagram? My Clymers manual stops at 2007

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@dave: My bike is a chopped custom... no signals, horn is only put on for inspection (and troubleshooting), custom headlight uses a car lamp (low beam is 40w so it always stays on HIGH @ 55w)... we ride hard here in Texas, use hand signals, etc.

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blackhalo

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Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work
Reply #5 - 06/09/14 at 13:14:42

Alright, so I'm not getting juice to either harness... both sides... which indicates the problem is further back under the seat.

I've popped, inspected and reseated all the connections under there... the harness wiring down the backbone is bundled nice and tight from the factory... I really doubt it's a short in there, it's rock solid with no wear marks.

So my question is, will a dead regulator/rectifier cause this issue?
What other component might blow and kill the connection?

I get power to the coil, it clicks when I turn it on... there's juice, it's just not reaching the harness, where the switches are. :/

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Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work
Reply #6 - 06/09/14 at 13:42:35

The last known change to the wiring harness I know about was 2004, when the passing switch, push to cancel turns signal switch and hazard switches were all on the bike. All bikes after that have the same wiring diagrams as far as I know.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1294779818

The rectifier doesn't effect the power from the battery to the key switch and then up to the lights, etc. You need to start back at the battery and follow the wires up to the fuse and see if you get power there, then on the other side of the switch to see if the power is coming out when the switch is turned on...etc. If only the rear light is coming on....that might show the switch is acting up.

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blackhalo Junior Member Offline Pure Unadulterated Radness! Posts: 62 Bradenton, FL	Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work Reply #7 - 06/09/14 at 14:46:41 Thanks, that's what I just started doing... I get power from the battery to the Starter Relay, then to the Main fuse (12.2), but NOT the Decomp Fuse (0.01)... is that normal?
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Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work
Reply #8 - 06/09/14 at 15:21:10

You need to check the power coming out of key switch.....that is the place where the power is first sent off to the various paths. There is an orange (maybe red) wire that takes the power into the switch from the battery. Then there is an orange (maybe orange with black dots) that takes the power from the switch to all the important electrical stuff that makes the bike start and run.....and I think that is where you have a problem. The grey wire coming out of the switch is the running lights and the brown wire is the tail light......and it sounds like only the brown wire is getting any power when you turn the key switch on.

The starter relay is wired directly to the battery.........checking there doesn't prove much.

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blackhalo

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Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work
Reply #9 - 06/10/14 at 02:35:13

So it turns out... the switches themselves (the headlight high/low and engine kill on/off) have two parts that have a kind of spring resistance in them, which pushes them outwards... squeeze them back in, and everything works again. :/

A ridiculous sequence of events... my headlight blew (likely from not unplugging the battery)... my horn doesn't seem to work at all... and the two important switches happen to have this separation snafu that stops them from working when they aren't in the switch housing.

All of which had me overlooking the obvious, and troubleshooting power issues that didn't entirely exist (there were issues, but somewhat unrelated).

So yeah, you take the switches out of the housing... they want to disassemble themselves (but they won't actually fall apart, but just enough to stop working)... squeeze them back together and the contacts will connect, yer back in business!!

Pain in the ass.

But it figures, don't start at the end... start at the beginning. Wink

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ToesNose Serious Thumper Offline Pardon me, do you have Hot Sauce? Posts: 1993 Mooresville, NC Gender:	Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work Reply #10 - 06/10/14 at 04:23:18 Sometimes the problem is right in front of our eyes, glad you got it sorted out man
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Re: No headlight, no starter... but taillight work
Reply #11 - 09/08/20 at 18:22:20

This post saved me a bundle, thanks. The yellow harness connector had separated. I never would have found it without this post (already spent two weeks on the problem).

1st2know wrote on 06/08/14 at 19:59:14:

Underneath the tank, left side, near the front, there's a harness connection that comes loose easily when tinkering with wires in there. Snap it back together.

(same thing happened to me a few weeks ago)

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