Indicator woes

[dubber68]

Well my Sertao has got a few problems and has blown 2 BMW flasher relays and at £50 a pop I'm loathed to buy another. Will a cheap LED flasher unit work with standard indicators (12v bulb type) as they seem very cheap on Ebay? I could buy quite a few and still save money over the BMW one and as I fault find there may be other casualties. I plan to check for shorts in the wiring as a potential for the relays failing. Strange the fuses aren't blowing though if it is a short.

[bill_qaz]

fuses are normally on the supply to the flasher unit not on output side

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

I've replaced motorcycle-specific flasher units with generic motor-factor car ones without any problems. But if your bike has canbus wiring things may be different.

[Hugh]

Greetings,

CanBus wiring needs to be handled with care or the management computer can easily be permanently damaged. Tow bar wiring being fitted to modern cars require a special relay known as a Smart Bypass Relay TEB7AS.

What are the other mentioned "few problems" and could they be inter-related to the repeated failure of the indicator relay? Do you have a wiring diagram? Does the relay repeatedly fail when one side is being used, eg right or left? Perhaps start by checking around the headstock area and luggage racking for trapped wiring. Good luck.

TTFN

Hugh.

[dubber68]

Luckily the bike is not Canbus. I have a loose relay that intermittently needs a nudge to get the horn and flash button working. I haven't noticed if the relay blows on one particular side but it is only a 2 pub relay. I was planning to check the wiring for shorts but the meter is giving me a steady 12v at the connector on both sides of the switch.

[Hugh]

Greetings,

Generally it is not the voltage which causes these problems but the amperage, do you have and know how to use an ammeter, if not then a 12v test lamp could be used and watch how it glows whilst you move/twist the wiring looms, etc.

Another trick is to position and play a portable radio, tuned off station, and whilst twisting the loom, etc, listen for a click type sound from the speaker reaction is faster than a light.

TTFN

Hugh.

[dubber68]

Well, I think I've gotten to the bottom of the problem. After altering the wiring to accept a cheaper alternative relay the problem persisted so I stripped the bike down to allow access to the loom. After checking all the wires and finding no issues I moved onto the components boards. Here I found that one of the relays had corroded away one of the spade connectors. After bridging this connector the indicators worked perfectly. Curiosity got the better of me so I replaced the original flasher unit and lo and behold it worked. Now I need to source a few relays as upon inspection a few of the others were showing the signs of corrosion starting. At least the end is in sight now though.

[IanB]

It might be worth using dielectric grease on the terminals of the replacement relays, if they are mounted in a water ingress vulnerable position.

[dubber68]

It might be worth using dielectric grease on the terminals of the replacement relays, if they are mounted in a water ingress vulnerable position.

Yeah might do that despite it being in an enclosed area.

[Cone]

My indicator woes

6CCDB995-4B0B-4EE3-BAAA-E240C4B60529.jpeg (103.76 KiB) Viewed 2967 times

35 quid for one!