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2001 929 - No working headlights/turn signals/cluster light? Tried almost everything

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W

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hi, my headlight and turn signals stopped working recently. When I hit my turn signal button nothing happens, and my headlight doesn't come on at all. When I put the high beams on the little blue light doesn't show up in the instrument cluster, and the cluster itself isn't lighting up at all. No biggee in the daytime, but I can't ride at night anymore :(

I have access to some spare parts annd I've changed the gauges, the CDI computer, the fuses, the left-handlebar control box with all the buttons (my horn works by the way), cleaned all the contacts on the 16-pin connector coming from the control box, wiggled it, flicked it, squeezed it, sprayed it, still nothing. The connectors look fine. My only guess now is either the headlight and flasher relays behind the gauges or the headlight wiring harness, none of which I have spares of :( I really doubt it's the harness.

This all started after getting my bike back from a tire shop that had my bike for a week because of a wrong spacer - grrrr. The battery was almost dead when I got it back (that was expected though because my alarm is a power monger), so I jump started it from a friend's running car - not sure if the headlights and all were working before I jump started it. Could the jump have caused that?

Is there any way to test the relays themselves, or is there something else I missed? Any input will be great!

- WJB
 
W

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
Re: 2001 929 - No working headlights/turn signals/cluster light? Tried almost everything

Thanks for the reply. I got another set of relays last night, headlight and flasher, but still no go. I took the starter apart, but it looks good. I'll work on it more today and write back with what happens, thanks!

- Warren
 
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#4 · (Edited)
Re: 2001 929 - No working headlights/turn signals/cluster light? Tried almost everything

I had the same exact problem. Take a piece of wire and touch the ground side of the low beams and then touch the frame with it. See if that fixes your problem. Oh and if you get your high beams working, post up because i still haven't figured that out.
 
W

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Discussion Starter · #6 ·
Re: 2001 929 - No working headlights/turn signals/cluster light? Tried almost everything

Woohoo! My headlights are working now, but I don't know for how long. Here's what happened:

I had my battery charging while still connected to the bike. I had the starter button assembly open with the guard plate on the inside off. I started the bike, no headlight, let it run for a bit then reved it up steadily for a bit to help charge the battery, and then all of a sudden my cluster backlight came on, and so did my headlights. My turn signals started working too.

I don't know if my battery was just too low (unlikely), or if there's a loose connection in my starter button that I can't see, but it's all working now, and I rode around for about 50 miles or so and it's still working. I sprayed WD-40 inside the starter housing before I closed it back up though, just in case.

I bought a new (well, used) headlight relay and flasher relay, but after it all worked again I put the old ones back in and they work fine, so it wasn't those.

If this happens to you, and you've tried everything else (fuses, wire harness connector), from my iffy experience I suggest getting a full charge on your battery, trying it again, then disassembling the starter button housing (two medium phillips-head screws underneath it, then one small phillips-head screw inside), blowing it clean with an air hose or one of the computer air cans, then dousing it with a serving of WD-40.

If mine goes back out I'll try to figure out exactly what the problem is. Until then... yeehaw!

- Warren
 
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Discussion Starter · #7 · (Edited)
Re: 2001 929 - No working headlights/turn signals/cluster light? Tried almost everything

Ok, it happened again, but I nailed it this time. This morning I was riding to work, everything was cool, lights were on, then midway through the ride I noticed my headlight was out, because the blue light on the cluster that tells me the 'high beams' are on wasn't on anymore.

So I did everything I did last time, after googling the problem and coming across my own post - thank goodness because I'd forgotten what I did last time. Took me about three hours to fix it for good, here's what I did, hopefully it'll save someone some time:

Try 1:
Checked fuses under seat, no luck, couldn't be that easy.

Try 2:
Checked connections on my alarm, everything looked good.

Try 3:
Swapped headlight relay and flasher relay with the ones I bought last time this happened, no luck. Put the original relays back.

Try 4:
Had a spare left handlebar cluster for a 929, connected that one up and the same thing happened. Tossed that one back in a box and reconnected the original.

Try 5:
Opened up the starter switch, took it apart, everything looked good. Sprayed it with WD-40 and left it open.

Try 6:
Put a charger on the battery (battery still on the bike) tried starting and revving like I did in the post above, no luck.

Try 7:
Pulled out a cheapo circuit tester, one of the ones from discount auto for about $2 that looks like a little clear pen with a bulb in it. Found that my left flasher and instrument cluster would BOTH blink when I had the left blinker on, the key turned in the bike, and the light tester on the blue wire on the bike side of the white connector under the right airduct cover. This made me think ground ground ground.

From here I used my light tester to test the ground on the green ground wires going into my relays, checked them one by one. Neither one worked - woohoo! Found it. Took a two-wire speaker cord and did a quick test grounding both relays together and then on the bolt on the frame securing the front fairing stay bracket (just under the neck of the frame), and yeehaw, lights lights lights! Everything worked. From there I looked at my wiring diagram and back-tracked where those grounds joined, then went back to the bike and did more light testing. Turned out that the green ground wire on the bike side of the big gray connector on the wiring harness (again under the right airduct cover) was grounding fine, but the ground on the opposite side of that same connector wasn't working. That meant that the connection was jacked up.

After a lazy try at opening the connector and giving up, I sprayed WD-40 into the switch side of the connector with the bike running. A few seconds later, lights! Yeah, all done! So I closed up EVERYTHING, was closing the garage and tested one more time. Dumb headlight went out again.

Luckily I had a spare 929 wiring harness laying around, so I used that one to figure out how to get the gray connector loose. It' not hard, just have to push the clip down all the way with a little-flat-head screwdriver and pull and wiggle it loose. It was easy on the spare harness - on the one on the bike it wouldn't come loose. I ended up prying it open using two screwdrivers, one little one to press the clip and a normal-sized one to pry loose the connector. It snapped with a pop and I thought something broke, got me worried. Turned out that the ground connection had apparently melted the plastic around the metal, and remolded the plastic a little bit on the inside. Luckily there was no big damage inside. I used the little screwdriver to scrape the connector for the ground wire clean on both sides, cracked loose the little bit of remolded plastic inside, sprayed it down with WD-40, and cliked it back together. Once again, lights!

The moral of this story is if this happens to you, try the "Try"'s listed above, should be one of those. If it's not, would be cool if you added the answer to this post :)

Yeehaw! :banghead:

- WJB
 
N

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#8 ·
Re: 2001 929 - No working headlights/turn signals/cluster light? Tried almost everything

I have a 2001 CBR929RR, and am missing headlight relay, and turn signal relay. Does anybody know if the "headlight relay" has another name it goes by, because at the honda dealership they can't order me a headlight relay, its not in their system. they do however have turnsignal relay switches. Is the headlight relay the same kind of relay switch as the Starter Relay? they suggested i try a starter relay...anybody else have this problem...please help me!!! I want high beams!!!! email me <[email protected]>
 
C

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#9 ·
Re: 2001 929 - No working headlights/turn signals/cluster light? Tried almost everything

I had the same problem. I removed the plastic connector and sodered all the wires together then rewraped the wiring harness.
 
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N

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#11 ·
I took my 929 to a honda authorized repair shop and they went through the whole wiring system behind the lights and quickly found out that it wasn't properly grounded. You need a wiring diagram to find which are the ground wires. for me, it was WAY worth it to take it in, because it only cost me $80 and they cleaned up, and tied all the wires off with tape and crimps, so now...I will never have to touch it again, maybe to change out a headlight thats all. Haven't had a problem since, and if I did I would just take it back and have it fixed for free since I already paid for a wiring repair/diagonstic. I love my 929, just need to upgrade exhaust, power commander, and airbox. It would be nice to get a sick paint job too. good luck with your bike. if you need a PDF repair manual for your 929 just drop me an email at [email protected].
 
BurtonF166

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#12 ·
Thanks man, Ill take her in. I tried it all but I'll let them fix it. Sound like some good mods to me. I'm thinking of painting my bike too, changing the white to black and having it overall the red and black with like a red stripe around the rim. Enjoy your bike!
 
BurtonF166

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#13 ·
Alright. Im back on it, trying to get it. I took everything apart and when i ground the low beam, without bulbs, the cluster lights up and the blue icon does too when i flip the switch. As soon as a bulb touches it, it goes back to silence. Also, when the cluster is lit up, the turn signals in the front are off still. What is this? Bulbs or relays?
 
W

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#18 ·
I had the exact same problem! My headlights and blinkers went out but my horn was still working, so I took everything apart, pulled apart that huge grey wire connector and there it was! The ground wire had melted the plastic around it causing it to lose the connection. I think this may have been a flaw due to the amount of reoccurring events just like this. Thanks for the great info everyone it worked perfect now.
 
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