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Electrical problem after problem

5K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  Cerberus 
#1 ·
Starting to regret this purchase a little bit. 2003 Shadow Spirit with a sabre rear fender.

1st go: got it home to find out the whole rear light system except for the left blinker was out. Took seat off seen a disconnected wire, and plugged it in. The rear lights all go back to normal except rear right blinker. Replace bulb and nothing. Hand signals till I figure it out.

2: No speedometer indicators or speedo light. Neutral and high beam indicators don't work but turn signal indicator works. Right front blinker doesn't work and right rear still not working. Blinks double time when right signal activated. Looked at fuse and seen a 15 fuse where a 10 is supposed to be. It was blown, so I put a 10 in, which leads to problem set...

3: Neutral light and High beam work again. Speedo light works, and oil pressure indicator work. Still no side stand light. Right blinkers still poop, and now the front left blinker stays lit solid and signal light indicator stays lit even when the signals are not activated.

Don't know if I'm dealing with a bad ground or if the whole system is wacky all to hell. Found a broken off bolt in the rear fender when I took the bags off, so I can't take that off. Just got a multimeter, but have no clue what the hell I'm doing with it.

Two steps away from kicking the bike into oblivion and hitting the guy I bought it from over the head with the sissy bar! (I'm sure he didn't think it had this much electrical trouble) I just want it to be road worthy already!
 
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#2 ·
I'm good with electrical stuff. If you can dig up wiring diagrams for the bike, and the bike the fender came off of, I'll be happy to help you figure it out. If not, I'll try to find some later... don't feel like googling right now, came here looking for something else.
 
#3 ·
Try switching rear signal bulbs and see if that works (power to bulb test). Make sure if you have both a plus and minus wire at the rear signal they both are hooked up .
 
#5 ·
Try to take one step at a time. The turn signals probably won't effect the other lights but are most important. Find out what that 10 to 15 amp fuse controls. But in the mean time take out all the bulbs and see if there is corrosion in the sockets. A poor ground in a socket can cause a back feed into the running lights from a turn signal, etc. And make sure the front bulbs are 2 filament and the rears are 1 filament bulbs. People can cram the wrong bulb in sometimes and cause back feed.
And to check for a poor ground while operating a light have a piece of wire from the battery negative post and touch grounding areas and bulb socket base metal to see if there is improvement.
Maybe even a dirty switch problem with the signals.
 
#6 ·
Starting to regret this purchase a little bit. 2003 Shadow Spirit with a sabre rear fender.

1st go: got it home to find out the whole rear light system except for the left blinker was out. Took seat off seen a disconnected wire, and plugged it in. The rear lights all go back to normal except rear right blinker. Replace bulb and nothing. Hand signals till I figure it out.

2: No speedometer indicators or speedo light. Neutral and high beam indicators don't work but turn signal indicator works. Right front blinker doesn't work and right rear still not working. Blinks double time when right signal activated. Looked at fuse and seen a 15 fuse where a 10 is supposed to be. It was blown, so I put a 10 in, which leads to problem set...

3: Neutral light and High beam work again. Speedo light works, and oil pressure indicator work. Still no side stand light. Right blinkers still poop, and now the front left blinker stays lit solid and signal light indicator stays lit even when the signals are not activated.

Don't know if I'm dealing with a bad ground or if the whole system is wacky all to hell. Found a broken off bolt in the rear fender when I took the bags off, so I can't take that off. Just got a multimeter, but have no clue what the hell I'm doing with it.

Two steps away from kicking the bike into oblivion and hitting the guy I bought it from over the head with the sissy bar! (I'm sure he didn't think it had this much electrical trouble) I just want it to be road worthy already!
Well, they shoot horses, don't they. Just trying to be humorous, let's give it a try.
 
#7 ·
>>>>1st go: got it home to find out the whole rear light system except for the left blinker was out. Took seat off seen a disconnected wire, and plugged it in. The rear lights all go back to normal except rear right blinker. Replace bulb and nothing. Hand signals till I figure it out.


Sounds like you got most of that fixed by plugging in a wire...
Did you by chance clean the terminals inside socket when changing the bulb?
PLUS > I`ve found bad bulbs outta the box, check it...


>>>> 2 Blinks double time when right signal activated.
The entire system must be working or you will experience this "double time" flashing...


I`m trying to figure that #3 thing,
D
 
#8 ·
Your signal switch could be dirty too. Use search engine to find a thread about cleaning the switch. There are several good ones. A dirty messed up switch is a common problem with the Shadows. If you do clean it, take it apart on a large towel or rug. Those little balls and springs will completely disappear as soon as they hit the garage floor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#9 ·
Did the right front blinker ever work? After reviewing the wiring diagram, I am suspicious of the right front blinker.

The rear blinkers are single filament bulbs, so no opportunity to cross feeds here. The front signals are dual filament bulbs, so it's quite possible that a defective bulb, or rust in the socket/housing could be shorting the turn signal to the tail light circuit, which would explain why the indicator is always on.

I would highly recommend taking apart the right front blinker and looking for corrosion. If you find none, experiment with removing the bulb, and/or completely disconnecting the wires going into it.

Also, if I read the diagram correctly, both front signals should be lit solid while the bike is running, then blink brighter when the signal is activated.
 
#12 ·
Yes, this would produce the hyper-flashing. Conversely, the running lights would be using the high filaments and damage the sockets.

There is an exception to the pins, though. Some 1156 pins are offset from each other. Some 1157 pins aren't offset from each other. See, here.
 
#11 · (Edited)
..... and now the front left blinker stays lit solid.
By law, front signals must stay lit (constant ON) to serve as running lights, so your front-left blinker is okay. The rear turn signals aren't required to be running lights and should normally be dark without the signals activated.


.... and signal light indicator stays lit even when the signals are not activated
This usually points to a fault related to the front turn signal socket. The socket is the only thingie in the circuit intended to supply electricity to the idiot light (indicator).

Or as swifty already noted, the culprit could be an incorrect single-filament (1156) bulb bridging the dual contacts on the socket which in turn backfeeds electricity to the idiot light and keeps it on. If this is so, then the left-rear signal would be ON. Any electricity that flows through the idiot light wire also flows through the left rear signal's wire. These wires branch off from the same confluence on the front signal's wire.
 
#13 ·
You guys are something else!
-from one who is poor at descriptions.

This is another thread that deserves to be a Troubleshooting sticky.
 
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