Turn Signal Brain Teaser

[TunnelVision1]

Have 02 1800. Turn signal works for 30sec to 60sec, then quits. (Lft. Rt. Cancel at switch) After an hour to 1.1/2 hour they work again 30 - 60sec. (Motor running or not) Have checked all relays, both ohm & volt. Have swapped relays, no result change. Tested diode (good) Removed white/blk wire from main connector (grey) as per U-tube bulletin. Local Honda dealer replaced turn signal switch & housing, all controls lft handle bar. Worked 2 times until I got home, at stop, before turning into drive, blinked 2-3 times & quit. ( went back to beginning) Jumped Blu/Blk (Blu/Gr) to Grnd., Turn signals work continuously for as long as I leave them on. (Cancel eliminated with grnd.) Seems like relay or diode heating, but by the time I can pull & check, all ok. Just for grins, checked all connector grnds.(no change) Radio & Aux. no problems. All other guages & functions are working fine. As a Master Marine Tech., can't see forest for the trees. Need another brain to open my eyes! Second question; if all else fails, will permanently grounding Blu/blk wire at flasher cause damage else where?

[WingAdmin]

Have 02 1800. Turn signal works for 30sec to 60sec, then quits. (Lft. Rt. Cancel at switch) After an hour to 1.1/2 hour they work again 30 - 60sec. (Motor running or not) Have checked all relays, both ohm & volt. Have swapped relays, no result change. Tested diode (good) Removed white/blk wire from main connector (grey) as per U-tube bulletin. Local Honda dealer replaced turn signal switch & housing, all controls lft handle bar. Worked 2 times until I got home, at stop, before turning into drive, blinked 2-3 times & quit. ( went back to beginning) Jumped Blu/Blk (Blu/Gr) to Grnd., Turn signals work continuously for as long as I leave them on. (Cancel eliminated with grnd.) Seems like relay or diode heating, but by the time I can pull & check, all ok. Just for grins, checked all connector grnds.(no change) Radio & Aux. no problems. All other guages & functions are working fine. As a Master Marine Tech., can't see forest for the trees. Need another brain to open my eyes! Second question; if all else fails, will permanently grounding Blu/blk wire at flasher cause damage else where?

Looking at the schematic, the Blue/black wire goes through the diode, and from there to the turn canceler unit, to provide ground. Here's what to do:

The next time it stops working properly, find the diode, with its three-position white connector. Using a paperclip or a small piece of wire, short the Blue/green and Blue/black wires on the diode connector. If it starts working, then the problem is likely a bad diode - and my guess this is what it's going to be. If the diode is failing, it can heat up and start providing enough resistance that the flasher doesn't have enough current to operate.

If doing this test does not fix it, the next thing to do is press the Hazard button. This also grounds the blue/green wire. If the lights start flashing then we know the wiring up to at least that switch is OK.

Last, test the turn canceler itself. There are two connectors along the way: a 6 pin grey and a 7 pin green. At the 7 pin green, ground the Blue/black wire. If your light starts flashing, then the problem is with the turn canceler - either with the canceler itself, or with one of its inputs.

[Len]

I had a similar problem after a dealer replaced the left handlebar control on a friend's bike. The 7 pin connector between the new control unit and the cancel unit (located in the steering stem) was wired incorrectly from the factory. Some of the leads were connected to the wrong pins in the connector. The dealer had this bike in the shop for five months without finding the problem. The dealer gave up and sent the owner away after charging him hundreds of dollars for the control unit and the time spent trying to fix the problem caused by the defective part. We located the trouble in just a few hours, and my friend is back on the road.

[WingAdmin]

I had a similar problem after a dealer replaced the left handlebar control on a friend's bike. The 7 pin connector between the new control unit and the cancel unit (located in the steering stem) was wired incorrectly from the factory. Some of the leads were connected to the wrong pins in the connector. The dealer had this bike in the shop for five months without finding the problem. The dealer gave up and sent the owner away after charging him hundreds of dollars for the control unit and the time spent trying to fix the problem caused by the defective part. We located the trouble in just a few hours, and my friend is back on the road.

Unfortunately, this is more and more common. Dealer service areas do far less diagnosing of problems, and instead do "diagnose-by-random-part-replacement" - at the owner's cost.

[JimGarrett]

I am sorry to say the comments regarding dealer treatment is consistent with my association. I have a 2004 Wing with a CSC package. I love the bike which is absolutely necessary for me to continue to own it. I guess you could say the bike is a real happy on the road. It's one of the Wings that while driving down the road the starter engages and there's NO way to shut it down. Kill switch--just decoration. Ignition switch? If it makes you feel good turn it off the bike doesn't mind. The only way to stop it is disconnecting the ground from the battery. However since I have a conceal carry permit I could pull pistol and blow a hole in the block which might shut it down?

The second starter I bought was taken to the dealer in Lake City, FL to install. While there I asked for the air filter to be replaced -- they called every day wanting to replace something anyway. I reviewed the proposal and noted I was being charged for four replacement boots? As many of you may know the bike only has two. At $15 each it was worth asking about which I did but fortunately the owner had caught the error and without my knowledge changed it. Nice surprise huh? This time I'm changing the starter which allowed me to find out I still have the original boots on the bike? However, they only charged me a little over $1000 after I declined the $575 starter they wanted to install and provided them with a OEM I paid $137 for. To their credit they only had the bike a couple weeks. Not to their credit the bike burnt that starter up within 6 months. Symptom resolved, problem still at large but it cranked allowing them to collect so all was good -- for them.



This time I replaced every relay on the bike. The start, reverse and all SPST 12 volt NO relays plus the three relays from CSC. I'm considering the valve stems as well? Laugh if you want but they would do as much good as the last $1000 I dropped with the dealer.
This time I am installing a Stinger 80 amp relay with a control switch in the glove compartment which should allow me to disconnect the wiring from the starter without pulling the side cover to disconnect the battery circuit. I said all that to say my experience with dealers has been consistent with the service you received. I'm really thinking politicians should own the Honda dealerships. That way you'd get screwed locally and cut out the postage due for sending your money to Washington. As an after though, my dealer appears to have retired from politics anyway? That or they're retired doctors or lawyers?

[Techdude2000]

Sorry to hear you had such a bad ordeal with a dealer, but it doesn’t surprise me. Most dealer mechanics suck at electrical troubleshooting. If you still have this trike, I would be glad to help you figure out the cause.