Hi guys
I am new here, and as I did look around a bit for an answer to this I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I just bought a 2004 gs500f and none of the dash indicator warnings lights work. It's obviously electrical (or so I'm thinking) because everything else works Fine. Blinkers..neutral etc. Now as this is my first street legal bike and I haven't been around them in years I'm not sure what could cause this or where to start. I'm still trying to get familiar with where all the wiring goes on the bike too. I didn't have all my tools the first time I checked it out so I couldn't do much.
My question is...what the most common issue would be making none of them work? Could all the bulbs be out? Is it the diode?
Any help and info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks guys!
Gary
Step 1: Get a Haynes or Clymer manual for the gs500. This will help more than any other tool.
I'm a little confused about what you've said above....specifically where you refer to the blinkers and neutral. Does the neutral indicator light come on if the bike is ON and in Neutral? Do the blinkers flash but the turn signal indicator bulb? Or does the bike run fine but none of the dash bulbs light?
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I'm in the same boat as Jdoorn - a little clarification would help.
If absolutely NONE of the lights are working, I'd guess the harness is unplugged or cut. If some work and some don't, it could be individual wires or bulbs blown.
Quote from: Big Rich on May 21, 2014, 10:51:22 AM
If absolutely NONE of the lights are working, I'd guess the harness is unplugged or cut. If some work and some don't, it could be individual wires or bulbs blown.
This was my initial thought too, but without the fully connected/intact harness, the turn signal circuit isn't complete so I wouldn't expect the blinkers to flash at all.
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Hi guys
Thanks for the quick replies
Yes...none of the indicators are lighting. Blinkers work fine..bike goes into neutral fine it's just the little bulbs in the instrument panel aren't coming on.
My first thought was the harness as well but as far as I can see everything looks to be plugged in too. I did get a copy of the owners manual (believe it's Haynes) but it's not clear as to where the harness for those lights are. The bike definitely had a lot of work done to it because the harness that I'm guessing goes to that panel is wrapped in electrical tape.
Thanks again everyone. Let me know what you think. Where I should start etc.
I'd check for power at the terminals for the lights, if there isnt power I'd start looking for lose connections under the tank.
Quote from: garyg199 on May 21, 2014, 11:19:27 AM
Hi guys
Thanks for the quick replies
Yes...none of the indicators are lighting. Blinkers work fine..bike goes into neutral fine it's just the little bulbs in the instrument panel aren't coming on.
My first thought was the harness as well but as far as I can see everything looks to be plugged in too. I did get a copy of the owners manual (believe it's Haynes) but it's not clear as to where the harness for those lights are. The bike definitely had a lot of work done to it because the harness that I'm guessing goes to that panel is wrapped in electrical tape.
Thanks again everyone. Let me know what you think. Where I should start etc.
Remove the front fairings (both upper fairing and front side lower fairings). If you have the Haynes book, they give nice illustrated instruction. Then you should be able to easily follow the wire harness from the gauge area to where it connects to the main wire harness.
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Here's the wiring diagram
(http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb442/adidasguy/Assorted/SCAN0004_smaller.png)
I'd whip out the multimeter and start checking for power along the route from the bulb sockets.
- Bboy
Are you talking about the dash illumination lights? If so the tach uses the same ground, then your ground circuit would be good if the tach works. Looks like there are two illumination bulbs, one for the speedo and one for the tach. If the tach is working I would suspect the two illumination bulbs are burned out. Gain access to them first and look for broken filaments. If you cant see broken filaments check the bulbs with your battery and two jumper wires. If the bulbs check out good then check the power circuit for your problem.
regards
Mech
So I tested the bulbs off a battery because my multimeter went missing. Guess it must be wiring then?
Quote from: garyg199 on May 21, 2014, 04:09:39 PM
So I tested the bulbs off a battery because my multimeter went missing. Guess it must be wiring then?
Sounds likely. If there's a section that has a ton of electrical tape, I'd start with that to rule out a short or some goofy attempt at splicing by the previous owner.
Your tach is working, right?
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Same power pathway to the horn, does the horn work? If so then the diagram shows a connector to the two dash lights that is not connected to the horn. If the horn works, it's most likely near that connector.
regards
Mech
So I'm pretty sure I see where the wiring for the lights go under the seat. Connects right next to the battery on the clutch side of the bike. It is in fact all taped up but it doesn't look like anything's cut or not plugged in. Super confusing. It's odd because literally EVERYTHING else electrical works on the girl!*
Does anyone think it could be a bad connection at the ignition switch? According to the diagram the neutral light leads there and the diode?
Quote from: garyg199 on May 22, 2014, 12:03:00 PM
Does anyone think it could be a bad connection at the ignition switch? According to the diagram the neutral light leads there and the diode?
I would tend to doubt this. There would be a lot of other stuff that wouldn't work if this was the case.
Do the tach and speedo lights work when the ignition switch is on?
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Yeah it's so weird..literally everything else is working.
Every single other lights works besides oil,neutral,blinker&high beam indicator. I had the whole rear plastics off today to try and check fuses (all fine). However I noticed that the wiring that the indicators are on, look like they were removed from the harness and taped up and ran separately to where the plug into? Unless that's how it is supposed to be then I'm guessing someone had worked on them before and did that for a reason.
From what I saw without taking the front fairing off ..it's coming straight from the bulb housing down the right side then back up across under the seat and connected at the left side .
Are they supposed to be in a plug like how the headlight has?
If anyone has a off copy of an actual Haynes manual please let me know. Not sure if that's allowed here but this is really bugging me.
Thanks again , all!
You said you tested the bulbs off a battery, but did you check for power at the sockets?
I know you said your multimeter went missing.....but this seems like a great time to get another. You really don't need an expensive one either - a Harbor Freight special would do just fine.
Nope..didn't even think of that either. Checking at the sockets. I'm gonna pick a meter up today they're ten bucks at Wal-Mart.
I really thinks it's wiring I just hate to take eeverything apart before I even have the girl on the road
Can you take some pictures and attach to this thread? That would help most of us tell at a glance if it looks "stock" or not.
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Sure thing. Good idea. I'll try to get them up asap. Thanks!