Frustrated and then some! Blinkers issues xj1100.

I just replaced the flasher relay with one from tridon, the el13. They don't blink. I pulled apart and cleaned the blinker switch on left handlebar, I took apart and cleaned the electric start and hazard switches on the right handlebar. Still no blinking. Bulbs are good and if I hook up a test light to the new relay I can get it to flash. I heard somewhere that if the blinkers aren't working and the horn doesn't work, then the problem lies in the fuse panel. Any ideas?

 

By the way folks, it an 82 xj1100

 

Did you change the bulbs out? If you did you need to make sure the wattage is correct or they will never flash. I think the wattage should be 28 watts.

MN

 

Did you change the bulbs out? If you did you need to make sure the wattage is correct or they will never flash. I think the wattage should be 28 watts.

MN

 

I ran a jumper wire from the hot on the blinker to the new relay and the bulb blinks. No, I haven't changed them out. My horn isn't working either and I read that this could mean that the problem is in the fuse area. She still has the old fuse panel with the glass fuses.

 

Did you switch the wiring?

 

Check your PM's....

 

New to the whole thing mike. What are PM's?

 

Nevermind. Been a long day. Private messages. Thanks for the info!

 

The tridon el13 flasher will not work , the terminal functions are different as compared to the stock flasher.
The stock flasher has 3 terminals;
B - Battery
L - Lamps
C - auto cancel
The Tridon also has 3 terminals;
P - Battery
L - Lamps
X - Auxilary light(usually a dash indicator)
The terminal orientation for battery and lamps makes the EL13 unuseable. You can get a 2 prong flasher and put between B and L and it will work. You will loose the auto cancel function unless you modify the flasher.

 

As usual, one of the Excess 1100-meisters, mlew nailed it.

Now, back to the fuse box for a second.

Glass fuses can be "liveable" if you want to stick to pure stock; HOWEVER:

the original fuse clips crystallize over time (bad choice of "cladding" over the core metal) and can break all on their own. Pop out a fuse, and squeeze the clips together to get a better connection and you'll break one or both clips.

You can rebuild the fusebox, or replace it with a modern ATC-type ("blade" fuses.)

Either way, you need to attend to it. If it hasn't failed on you yet, IT'S GONNA. And likely at a most in-opportune time, like it happened to me.

About the stock Yamaha flasher system: the flasher relay is "proprietary" because it includes provisions for the self-cancelling unit. The two work together; and if you use an aftermarket flasher, you lose the self-cancelling feature.

DO NOT throw away the self-canceling unit; if it's still good they're worth money. MSRP was like $109.00, and of course they cannot be got any more.

The stock system used good old automotive 1156 bulbs (27W) and relied on the current draw from a pair of them to operate the flasher relay.

Once you swap relays, you are re-engineering a system that is NOT "conventional" in its original configuration.

 

Okay, so a two prong flasher will work? Would that be the EL12? Or is it possible to move the wires to a different location on the EL13?

 

I suppose you can move the wires in the harness plug and still use the EL13. Just have to get them out without breaking anything. If you do I would keep the C wire disconnected as to not backfeed 12v to the bike. I used the EL12 and a relay driven from the C terminal to keep the autocancel working.

 

Alright mlew...I bought a two prong flasher, el12 hooked it up to b and l and still no blinkers and no hazard lights and no horn. What next?

 

No horn either all of a sudden?

See above.

 

The horn has never worked. Neither have the hazard flashers. I checked the bulbs, 1156 single filament, one dot connector on the bottom. I ran a hot wire from the positive of the rear blinkers to the new flasher relay and the light blinks. Does that mean that the problem is in the blinker switch itself or is it in the fuse boxe somewhere?

 

The lamps are supposed to be 27 watts x 4 according to the owners manual.
1156 lamps are 26.88 watts and I would think that would be close enough. So that leaves voltage to the turn signal system.
Test battery voltage and charging system. Make sure that is within spec. Also go through the harness and double check all of the connections. One bad or poor connection can cause problems. Running a hot wire proves that there is a poor ground or bad connection somewhere.