No Turn Signals, Brake Light, Horn, And Blown Fuse, What are these connectors?

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by stonee, Nov 22, 2008.

  1. stonee

    stonee New Member

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    Unfortunately I'm working through my first electrical problems on a 99 Honda VFR. Today I worked on it almost all morning, and continued through the day until about sunset.

    The problem I am running into is basically summarized in the topic. The turn signals don't work, brake light, horn, and when I put in a fuse it blows. I've been looking into the topic on a few forums and discovered some very helpful suggestions.

    The two discussion I've been primary following are:

    Turn signal fuse keeps blowing.
    http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garag...ps-blowing.html

    No Turn Signals, No Horn All Of The Sudden
    http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/lofiver...php/t44329.html


    What I ended up doing is buying a fuse that lights up when it is blown. This turned out to be really helpful, and thought that it was an incredibly neat idea to put a light on a fuse (http://www.amazon.com/Littelfuse-00940362ZPGLO-Blade-Smart-Assorted/dp/B0000TX814/ref=pd_sbs_auto_9). As soon as I put it in the fuse lit up as expected.

    [​IMG]

    I then started to disconnect components until the fuse light turned off. The front turn signals, rear turn signals, and rear lights where removed but the fuse continued to be on. The turn signal relay yielded the same result. Finally I removed the upper cowl and attempted to detach the connectors one by one.

    I found two red connectors, one white, and the other green. When I disconnected the red closer to the front of the bike the blown fuse light finally turned off. What are these connectors for? In the picture the one I am interested in is being pointed to by an arrow:

    [​IMG]

    Also, what kind of test can I perform to ensure that the problem is in the front, as opposed to on the main wire harness? The bike was still able to be turned on with the connector detached.

    I was not able to look into further as the sun was beginning to fall. The sunset, fatigue and hunger was starting to settle in.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2008
  2. Flips

    Flips New Member

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    I rotated my front brake lever down for comfort and in the process pinched one of the two small connectors on the brake light switch, it took a year to wear through the coating and short too the clip on. Once I found it, I moved the lever up, put shrink wrap on the connector and all is good. I hope this helps.

    Flip
     
  3. stonee

    stonee New Member

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    Coincidentally, a few months ago before I begin to experience this problem I dropped my bike and bent the brake lever. I will be taking a closer look soon. This may be the problem, although I have some fears that the wiring harness may be off.
     
  4. stonee

    stonee New Member

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    It turns out that the connector goes into the horn/stop switch housing.

    I also tried disconnecting the brake switch, but found that this did not turn off the blown fuse light.

    [​IMG]

    Is there any way I can determine on which side of the connector is having problems? I'm concerned about purchasing parts I don't need (wiring harness vs the wiring for the horn/stop switch housing). There is quiet a big of price difference between the two.
     
  5. stonee

    stonee New Member

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    It has been some time since my last post here, and since then the bike is still not running. I took the bike apart again and found that the problem is not actually on the wiring that goes to the horn/stop switch housing, but it is actually related to the turn signal relay! :ncb:

    So when I disconnect the turn signal relay, the blown fuse light turns off.

    How can I determine if I need a new wiring harness or turn signal relay? Please help as the wiring harness is _VERY_ expensive and time consuming to replace. :unsure:
     
  6. drewl

    drewl Insider

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    The turn signal relay is very expensive and cannot be returned(most store policies do not allow returns on electrical parts) if it is not what you need.
    I would suggest turning on the turn signal and jiggling the wires to see if the short engages/does not. That sometimes will show you where the short is located. I'm sure there is a way to check voltages from one point to another, but that is beyond my purview.
     
  7. dizzy

    dizzy New Member

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    A little logic would do here. I'm assuming the fuse blows immediately when the ignition is keyed. Is that right?

    You can eliminate the turn signal relay from circuit by disconnecting it, and shorting the black/brown and grey wires with a jumper...which should make your winker circuits work as normal, 'cept they won't wink of course. If that fixes your fuse blowing, the problem must be the relay.

    The black/brown supplies battery voltage directly from the fuse box to the relay, as well as all other items on that fuse, such as brake lights. If that wire were shorted, your fuse would blow whether your turn relay was plugged in or not. So...If after eliminating the relay, the fuse still blows...it would almost HAVE to be the grey wire between the relay and the turn signal switch on the left handle bar that is shorted. The wires are close to the bar where they go through the housing, look closely there.

    One more tidbit you may want to consider. A couple summers ago I worked on a 600RR that would not energize the fuel pump after the customer had removed and reinstalled his front cowl to get the plastic repaired after an accident. He had been in asking questions before bringing the bike in...and one thing I had seen was bank angle sensors installed upside down (arrow goes up) so I mentioned this to him and he said he was sure he had installed this correctly.

    When I finally inspected the bike myself, I noticed that the turn signals didn't work either, and the fuse was blown. Upon closer inspection I noted he had indeed installed the BA sensor right side up, but he had turned the connectors around. The harness connector for the BA was plugged into the turn relay and vice versa. Mabe that's not possible on your viffer, but you may want to double check your connectors.
     
  8. stonee

    stonee New Member

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    Thanks for the replies. I'm going to tear the bike apart again today, and I'll know the results of what you've suggested. Hopefully I'll be able to finally find out what is really wrong after a few weeks of being off the bike. Dang I miss that thing!

    The fuse does blow when the ignition is keyed.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2009
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