Turn Signals Stopped Working

Shame the easy fix didn't work for you, it's possible the switch may still be the problem but you'd need to take the unit apart to check the contracts as I know one guy recently who took his plastic housing apart and had to spray contact cleaner directly into the contacts while pressing the button vigerously before his started working.

 

measure and you will know

 

Thanks OC! If nothing else, it's good to know others share my pain. I'm glad you got your issues sorted. I'm confident I eventually will too. About the headlights, other than casting a yellow tint, I thought you found them to be pretty strong. I'm nervous about changing up the draw (up or down) on my electrical system since it's not in the best of health as it is. I have no complaints about the coverage my lights provide. But an inexpensive, worthwhile upgrade might be something I'm willing to do. What do you suggest?

 

I'm getting zero volts at the signal! Just so I'm clear, I put the positive probe directly into the connector that plugs into the right front turn signal and the negative probe to ground/frame/metal. What say you doc? It's possible the probe isn't making sufficient connection. I imagine I can use another jumper wire from the turn signal connector and measure off the other end of the wire with the positive probe. Hmmm, is that what you initially meant by "with it jumpered" in post #10 above?

 

did you jumper the relay connection as before and have the ign on

 

and you said the left side worked before right?

 

Yes, I jumpered the relay connection for the right front and got no volts when checked at the signal. I did that with the ignition on. When I jumpered at the relay for the left, the lights (front and rear) did come on. But with that same left side jumpered, I also did not get any volts on the left side at the turn signal. I truly feel like I'm at the doctor describing symptoms for some rare disease, hoping the doc knows what I have and, more importantly, a cure! Haha.

 

do both sides again, set dmm to dc, your readings are not makinging sense. make sure you have a good ground point for the blaclk lead

 

we will get it sorted mc

 

stay with me

 

I'm grabbing a flashlight and going to give it another shot right now. I truly appreciate the help. I'm going to take photos too and will upload them so it's clear what I'm doing.

 

Well, I have no idea what I was doing wrong before but I went step-by-step again tonight and was able to get a voltage reading at the front right turn signal! It was hovering right around 12.67dcv. Thanks again for sticking with me on this! Now, what does that tell us? Is that good news, bad news, or neither?

EDIT: Inspired by this success, I decided I should try again to jump the connections at the relay, turn the ignition on, activate the turn signals and see if the lights come on. It worked! Both left AND right side turn signals lit up. My first thought was, what a relief! This means it must be my relay. That's easy enough to replace.

As I sat back down to post the good news, another thought occurred to me - maybe I should go ahead and check to see if the turn signals are working again. I went back out to the garage and wouldn't you know it? They are! Thanks guys, in particular rjgti for getting me to go back out there tonight and keep at it and John451 for suggesting I clean at the switch. OOTV, as always, thanks for being available! And the rest of you who offered up advice, suggestions and support. You guys are all awesome.

The first attempt, a couple of days ago, I couldn't get the right side to produce a steady light like I did the left side. I tried several times, each time trying to make sure I had a good jumper connection at the relay and the proper connections to test each side. Because I have no real idea what I'm doing, I was extra careful to make sure to follow each step exactly as outlined and yet, I couldn't get the right side to light up.

So, what gives? Why the success tonight? Not only the successful diagnosis but actually getting those turn signals to work again? It has to be the connections were dirty/corroded. I sprayed the switch at the bars with electronics cleaner then tried again and it still didn't work. Later, after I failed to get voltage readings directly at the turn signal connections, I decided it wouldn't hurt to spray the turn signal connections AND the relay connections with that same electronics cleaner. I hadn't tried to get the turn signals to work or to get voltage readings since spraying those connections with the cleaner. The cleaner must have done its job. That's the only thing that seems to make sense.

I really hope that's what the problem was and that it's now taken care of! Since I have all my fairings off, I'm going to go through all of my connections and make sure to treat them with the same stuff.

If anyone's curious, this is what I used. $2.98 at Home Depot.

 

i think the connectors were dirty, glad to here you have it fixed

 

My headlights are stock like yours. It's ok to me but I know it can easily be improved (from my prior VFR800 experience).

I'm like you in that I don't want to make too many drastic changes that may affect reliability. My plan this month is to replace all four bulbs with the Sylvania Silver Star Ultra bulbs, or the Silver Star zXe (if available). These bulbs are plug in halogens and the zXe is DOT legal. They won't produce HID/LED like brightness and crispness but they they will approach HID OEM lights. I believe HID OEM lights shine at 4600-5000 k's, while the Silver Star Ultra's are 4100 k's. You get a brighter, whiter light without blinding oncoming traffic from an HID bulb only replacement not designed for Halogen reflectors. Pep Boys sells the Silver Stars.

 

Congratulations!

So I must ask: what do you think caused them to be so corroded? Enough to malfunction?

 

That is an excellent question. My motorcycles are both garaged and even when I ride to work, they are parked in a secure, underground parking structure. I'm sure I've ridden the VFR a handful of times in the rain over the past several years. I assume it's possible that the water made its way into the connections and corroded them. Possible but unlikely. Very odd. Could it have been a pre-existing condition that started with the previous owner and took several years to get to this point? I think that's unlikely as well. I really don't have a satisfying answer to this.

 

Awesome job Son......I'm gettin me a can of that there stuff and goin crazy. Maybe just from being washed, water finally did it's nasty duty on connections. Glad ya figured it out.

 

I only have one thing to say regarding this thread: Duccmann, you have good taste in Avatars!

 

Thank you! And I'm glad to see your new girlfriend doesn't mind you using her photo as your avatar. Don't know where you find these girls but good for you duccman!

 

Funny, I just posted my reply to him then read yours.

Thanks for the info on the bulbs. I'm going to look into those Silver Stars.