Neutral light glowing

[MCRider 1979]

My '77 GL1000 neutral light glows in all gears, it does get brighter when actually in neutral. I'm thinking a back feed from something else. Anyone got any ideas on where to start looking ??
Thanks

[Rambozo]

Has that bulb been changed to an LED?
I would start by checking the diode pack.

[MCRider 1979]

No LED bulbs, original type bulbs. Where is the diode pack & how can I test it ??

[Rambozo]

I think Honda calls it the reserve lighting unit. It was something to keep your lights on in the event of a bulb failure. There is also a resistor pack and maybe some other do-dads to make it work. If you search you can find topics on how to remove that and bypass it. You need to add a few wires to go around it. Not sure that it worked very well in the first place. It is supposed to switch to high beam if your low burns out and can do something with the brake, tail, and turn signals, too. They came on a lot of bikes in that era, and there are lots of complaints that they did more harm than good. You should go over the wiring diagram to find all the bits for this. Or you can fix it if you want to give it a try. A little probing with a meter should help you pinpoint what is going on. You can also test your neutral switch with a test light to make sure it's working and not leaking current.

This is what it looks like, but I don't know where it is.

[DenverWinger]

Sounds to me more like shorted diode in the start circuit. There's a couple little black plastic thingys about a half inch in size with only two connections on them, on the GL1000 I think they're inside the left side false tank cover. I think they will have a diode symbol -->|-- on them somewhere. You can disconnect them and check with an ohmmeter, should show continuity in only one direction, reverse ohmmeter leads and should read open circuit. If reads continuity in both directions it is shorted.

[Rambozo]

The diagram I have for 77 shows all the diodes in one diode pack, that I mentioned would be the first place I would look. Alas, I don't have the polarity or connections for the individual diodes. I know I have seen that info before, but I can't remember where.
Is this diagram correct, or are these bikes different?

[DenverWinger]

Been so long since I had my '77 I don't remember exactly anymore.

But I found this in the Honda GL1000 Service Manual, looks like a holder with 4 individual diodes in it.

[MCRider 1979]

First I must back track a bit "! When Rambozo asked about LED's I assumed he was asking about the dash board lights, regular bulbs in that. But I do have LED's in the Veter top box tail lights, can they be affecting the neutral light ? Checking the diodes & neutral switch sounds more like the way to go. I have seen the reserve lighting gizmo in the left tank cover & will start there along with the neutral switch.
Thanks guys !!

[DenverWinger]

Neither LEDs in the Vetter nor the reserve lighting gizmo will have anything to do with the Neutral light....

I bet the neutral diode is shorted. Relatively common failure.

[WingAdmin]

If the wire going from the neutral light to the neutral switch is shorted to ground, it will cause the neutral light to come on. Often this wire gets inadvertently pinched enough during reassembly of some component that it gets partially shorted, causing the light to come on.

I've also seen where a contaminant got into the neutral switch that was partially conductive, and caused the light to glow. Cleaning out this contaminant fixed the problem.

Disconnect the diode - if the light stays on, then it is a problem with the wire or the switch. If the light goes out, then it's the diode.

[MCRider 1979]

An update ! I replaced all the diodes with new ones, they're 46 years old !! Didn't help any. Looking in the factory shop manual, it says I can remove the neutral light switch by removing the oil screen plate & lower motor mount bolt & FLEXING the frame !! [with a crow bar !] Has anyone had any experience with doing this ?? If that don't work you have to remove the engine ! I'll live with the glowing light until the engine has to come out for something like a stator replacement.

[WingAdmin]

An update ! I replaced all the diodes with new ones, they're 46 years old !! Didn't help any. Looking in the factory shop manual, it says I can remove the neutral light switch by removing the oil screen plate & lower motor mount bolt & FLEXING the frame !! [with a crow bar !] Has anyone had any experience with doing this ?? If that don't work you have to remove the engine ! I'll live with the glowing light until the engine has to come out for something like a stator replacement.

Before going through all that, first disconnect the neutral switch. If it still glows, then the problem is the wire going down to the neutral switch is pinched and partially shorted somewhere. If it does not, then the problem is in fact your switch.

Have a look here, you'll see how you get to it: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=275

[Workinman]

Hopefully, you’ve sorted this problem by now. If not, I wrote something a while back about replacing the neutral switch. You should be able to find it. In short, the manual is dead wrong. You do need to remove a bunch of stuff, and ALMOST take the engine out of the frame, but it can be left loose in the frame. Let me know if you still need help with this and I will try to remember what I did to replace mine.