Turn Signal Malfunction..

[seamax]

I installed some new turn signals today but they are not quite working correctly.

First of all I was stupid and did not mark the wires or disconnect my battery before doing this electrical task. After looking at the wiring diagram I have manage I believe to rewire everything correctly. The headlight and indicator lights are all working and the bike starts up fine.

The only problem with the turn signals (front and rear) are that they come on when switched but do not blink.  Could I have fried the turn signal relay or something by not disconnecting the battery? Also can someone tell me where the turn signal relay is and what it looks like. Clymers doens't have a pic of it. Thanks.

[Cal Price]

I don't have a clue but I am sure we have had this one before, have you tried "search" if you can't find it don't worry too much someone will be along shortly.............

[seamax]

Ok..I plug the stock signals in and the lights blink again but when I replace them with the new lights which have 194 bulbs, the turns just stay on.

So at least I know my wiring is correct. Now, is it because of the different wattage or because the 194 is not a dual filament bulb? Do they make dual filament 194's?

[Sportbilly]

Had this exact problem on another bike once, double check that you in fact have the right wires, try all the different combinations.  Replacements have been known to have the wires mixed up.

This had me stumped for a couple hours once, and I'm a electrician...

[Splash]

if it's the same as a car, yes the wattage matters.  The blinker relay is termal.  That means if you use LED bulbs or get lower wattage bulbs, the relay won't be activated...   What might help is to buy an "electronic" blinker relay...

good luck

[seamax]

I'm definitely sure that my wiring is correct since I put the stock turn signals back on and they blink perfectly.

But my new turn signals uses the 194 (not LED) bulb instead of the 1157/1156 bulb in the stock turn signal.

I read in previous post that a low wattage would make the blinker blink slower or not blink at all. So I take it that the 194 is such a lower wattage bulb which in turn does not trip the relay therefore the turn signals fron and back just stay on.

Is this correct?

[cummuterguy]

yes... you are correct... the 194 bulbs pull less current and therefore cause less heat in the relay... the relay uses heat to switch on/off... so you would either have to get a relay that trips with lower current,or an electric one.

Curious though, did you replace all 4 turn signals? Because I replaced my two rears with 194 types, and was worried it would affect the relay, but it didn't. I originally was going to switch out the fronts too, after installing my sheild, I realized that the stock ones are perfect length so I left them on.

[seamax]

That's funny that you mentioned you switched out the rear lights but have no problems.

I only switched out the front turn signals but have stock rears so I wonder why it doesn't work?

Maybe I will try to adapt the new siganls to 1157 bulbs or get an eletric  relay.

BTW..where is the trun signal relay and what does it look like?

[seamax]

Ok... I did a quick fix by switching the harness of the 1156 to replace the 194. Now my new turn signals have the stock 1156 bulb harness. That was the easy fix instead of buying a new relay but for those that want to run turn signals with 194 bulbs or something with really low wattage you might want to get a new relay.

[Kerry]

BTW..where is the trun signal relay and what does it look like?

Did you find it OK?  My Haynes manual has a picture of the turn signal relay, but it's kinda dark:



Still, you can tell that it's just forward of the finned rectifier unit ... under the right-side plastic cover.

I'll see about taking a color picture in the daylight....

[seamax]

Kerry..thanks for the pic. For now the problem has been fixed. But at least I know where the relay is for future reference. Thanks.

[John Bates]

seamax wrote:
"I take it that the 194 is such a lower wattage bulb which in turn does not trip the relay therefore the turn signals fron and back just stay on. "

The 194 is indeed a lower wattage bulb.  It's only about 3.8 watt (only 2 candle power of light campared to 32 candle power for the 1156 bulb). The 194 was designed for instrument panel use.  I don't know how it could be safely used for turn signals.

See the Sunray catalog pp 18 (1156) and 24 (194).
http://www.sunraylighting.com

[cummuterguy]

my favorite use for the 194 is as a 'poor mans noid light' for testing fuel injection.... but hey what ever... they work on my silly short mast rear signals

[tt_four]

i put new rear turn signals on the bike, and i think the left one alwys work find, but the right one doesn't, it just doesn't blink at all, but the other thing, is i don't hear the relay ticking either when it's turned fo r the right ones, so is there a chance something's wrong with the relay, or should i just trying switching the wires, as i dind't pay attention to sides, i just stuck the wires in assuming either side would be the same, because my bike now will blink fast when one of the bulbs is out, but i'm assuming her 15 yaer old bike may not be as technical, and if the back wires are crossed, it might just nto blink at all??

[Richard UK]

The turn signal 'blinker' is just a tongue of metal of two dissimilar types sandwiched together.  It forms part of the circuit to the indicator bulbs, with one fixed contact and one contact attached to the end of the tongue.

When electrical current flows through it to the indicators, the metals heat up.  One metal on one side expands more than the other so that the metal tongue starts to take up a curved shape.  This pulls the electrical contacts apart and breaks the circuit - the light goes out.

Now that there is no current, the metal tongue cools, straightens out, and makes the circuit again.  Then it starts to heat up and so on.  This way it blinks on and off.

This design is cheap, simple and very rugged BUT the correct current has to flow to get the correct heating effect.  A small current, drawn by a weak or a little bulb, won't provide enough power to make it blink.