Left blinker non functional, right blinker works fine....

[Red85]

Hi,
New member here with a quandry.
First off the bike is a 2004 xb12scg with 20000 miles. It has been dropped/knocked over a few times( I worked loss prevention and it got kicked over in the parking lot as revenge at least twice...) and had one lowside at low speed. Only minor repairs were needed, new grips, levers and pegs. Bike is mostly stock, mx handlebars, the zip tie exhaust mod and some underglow for night visibility are the only mods on the bike. Before anyone asks, the signal was not working before I put on the underglow (led sets I had lying around from a project on my truck)
The current issue is that my right turn signal works correctly front and rear. The left is 100% non functional. No click from the flasher relay, no indicator on the dash no light from front or rear signals. The switch feels like it is operating normally, just no left signals. I already swapped the stock flasher relay to an ep36 with no effect. Same fail, no new symptoms, so I put the stock one back in since it wasn't the culprit. This is as far as I have gotten so far. This is my only set of wheels for getting to work currently, so I am using hand signals when there are cops around, but one is going to get me at a stoplight soon in the left turn lane, I can feel the fixit ticket coming... lol
I have been looking through the forums and am consulting my tech manual for the bike, but have not yet found this exact problem described with a solution.
I will venture to guess I should start with fuses and grounds. I have my manual out and am locating the grounds and trying to get my head around the wiring diagrams in case I have to check continuity on anything. Already checked fuses, but will double check after jiggling wires to see if something shorts...
Figured I would throw it out to you ascended masters of the Buell realm in case you had an easy fix up your sleeve you could point me to.
Thanks in advance

 

[Red85]

Sorry, this should be under troubleshooting, my bad.

 

[Cooter]

Since one side is fully functional, it is not a fuse, flasher, or relay.

I would replace both bulbs on the left side and clean/check the connections in the sockets for corrosion while they were out.

 

[Red85]

Ok, will do. That saved me a bunch of headache right there, thank you.
I will get some new bulbs asap and let you know how it goes.

 

[Red85]

Thank you for the advice. The straight to the point, step by step instructions and sage wisdom of you guys is why I joined up. You guys rock!

 

[Red85]

Since this is a possible failure point, how does one test the switch function most efficiently? I will proceed as instructed and of course consult the tech manual, but I need to plan steps ahead of time since this is my commuter for now. You folks sure do know your stuff and do a good job explaining it. Thanks again.

 

[Cooter]

Darn it! Lunatic deleted his very helpful post

You can get the manual for free at Buellmods.com or Buelltooth.com. Check the wiring diagram for the proper colors, the switch connector is behind the Lightning windscreen. Simply unplug it and check for continuity between the voltage supply wire and each turn signal wire as the switch is clicked to each position.

Theses bikes are old, they can corrode. Taking the switch apart and cleaning it (including the start button) is always a good idea. You can check for continuity through the switch right there if you take it apart.

He is right about the removing and cleaning the ground connections as well.

 

[Red85]

Thank you again for the advice. I will be digging into figuring this out first thing tomorrow. Just got off work building fences, way too tired tonight. Will keep y'all up to date as I go. I have already downloaded the tech and parts manual in addition to my hardcopy technicians manual I bought when I first got the bike. Electical diagrams sometimes look like Greek to me so even with the resources I am still asking for help. You guys just know these things so well I would be foolish not to ask some advice. Thanks for your patience with a noob

 

[Red85]

Might be 100% unrelated, maybe not... yesterday and today a new quirk developed in the bike. The bike usually starts in neutral without pulling in the clutch (probs not a good idea to do based on some threads posted here about bikes scootching and knocking themselves over etc , but oh well) now in varying percentages it will only start with the clutch pulled in about 60% of the time and will start in neutral as normal without the clutch the other 40%. Is this some kind of intermittent sidestand/clutch lever interlock fail? I never remember it having an interlock safety feature. I really don't care either way, even seems a bit safer with an interlock, but the sudden onset and intermittent nature lead me to think it may be part of a bigger picture. Starting to think I might have a wonky set of grounds or something funky happening in the wiring loom up front.. Especially since this is an electrical gremlin post to start with....
I do actually look this stuff up myself (eventually, usually.... lol) but having multiple opinions has helped me find problems I would have never thought I had and solutions I didn't know how to look for.

 

[Red85]

You are right, I didn't want to hear that, but had begun leaning that direction myself.
Went through and cleaned up the grounds in the tail section yesterday, tried swapping in known good bulbs into the dead signals and cleaning the contacts, to no effect. Ran out of time after that. Still looking for more grounds in the front end.
I will keep doing what I can to track this down until I can get it into a shop to get it checked out.
Until it gets to the shop the info you have provided so far is very valuable as it give's me a much clearer picture of the systems I need to be looking at in depth.
What effects does this malfunction have on the ecm? Is it a case of just lowering performance or will this condition cause physical damage to the ecm?
Thanks again y'all, it's nice to have some heavy hitters on here chiming in.

 

[34nineteen]

You should be able to reverse the wiring in the tail to check to make sure the LH turn signal actually works and isnt open or shorted. You can probably do that on the front, and the connectors should be behind the flyscreen. The result you are looking for is to see that when you flick the switch to the right, the LEFT signals should illuminate. This will ensure they are working properly. If they do, I would be looking into the switch or wiring on the turn signal.

 

[Red85]

That is a great idea, nice and simple but should be informative, I will definitely try that! Thank you

 

[Red85]

I got the turn signal lights reversed both front and and back. It worked. The left flashed with the right signal activated.

 

[34nineteen]

Does your bike have a chopped tail?

 

[Red85]

No the tail is stock. Still has the oem signals and license plate light.

 

[njloco]

Have you tried using an ohm meter on each wire in the circuit, might be as simple as a broken or disconnected wire.

 

[Red85]

I was looking for my multi meter last night to do just that, but it seems to have grown legs recently. Will be trying that asap. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[34nineteen]

No the tail is stock. Still has the oem signals and license plate light.

I've seen (and done) this on bikes with chopped tails, but it does hurt to double check this.

On the back of the bike there are 3 pairs of wires, one pair for the LH signal, one pair for the RH, and one for the taillight. Make sure someone hasnt mixed up the wires... or in the case of a chopped tail, plugged a turn signal into the license plate light wires, and wonders why everything is all wonky (like I did.... lol)

 

[Red85]

I am glad you mentioned that. I actually did the same thing while troubleshooting.. Felt pretty silly when I realized what I had done. Glad someone else made that mistake too and not just me, lol!
Then I found the correct wires and did my switching around and got the results described above.

 

[34nineteen]

I am glad you mentioned that. I actually did the same thing while troubleshooting.. Felt pretty silly when I realized what I had done. Glad someone else made that mistake too and not just me, lol!
Then I found the correct wires and did my switching around and got the results described above.

This is my life....