HELP! - Headlights not working!

gjones4487

gjones4487

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Here's my problem, I had HIDs installed over the winter, they stopped working around late April so I put my stock H4 halogen bulbs back in. They were working fine then I was using my highbeams while riding on a dark road and they decided they didn't want to light up any more so I go back to my low beams that are still working...Just to clarify on my bike both headlights are on for low and high... so I thought it might be the bulbs. So I changed the bulbs and they were working fine (high and low beams). I go for a ride around town doing some running around and when I get home, I notice the low beams aren't working, and the High beams are. I had a trip planned on Sunday to go to Wasaga and decided "Hey, I'll just use my high beams during the day. I get to Wasaga and the highbeams are no longer working ... wtf? so I rode home (just barely before it got dark) and did some goggling and concluded it was the Relay, so I exchanged the bulbs at Canadian tire (picking up a different brand of lights) and ordered a new relay from Oakville Yamaha. I installed the new relay and bulbs today and they were working. Go for a ride and come back and guess what ... my headlights aren't working (highbeams are still working just like what happened on the weekend). What is wrong with my bike...
The only Accessories I have installed are an Alarm, Speedo DRD, and OXFORD heated grips (that havn't been turned on since i got them installed last week).
 
Last edited:
Check the switch, and electrical connectors between the switch and the headlights.

On most bikes including yours, high and low beams are on the same fuse and they are fed from the same control relay, the circuit only splits at the switch. If one set of beams works and the other doesn't, that situation is not consistent with being caused by anything ahead of the switch.
 
HOOOOOLD ON a sec. There's something you haven't told us.

Is it that the bulbs are "not working" (Bulbs OK, they just don't light up) ... or is it that they are "not working" because the bulbs are blowing.

If it is blowing bulbs repeatedly in a short period of time, the most likely cause is that they are being supplied with too much voltage.

On a Yamaha, the most likely cause of too much voltage ... is that your regulator/rectifier is rectifying but not regulating! (Been there ...)

Get a voltmeter, put it across the battery terminals, start the engine, run it at various speeds, tell us what the voltage is.

It can be an intermittent problem (been there, too). On my street FZR400, the tipoff was that when riding at night, the instrument lighting occasionally got abnormally bright. Never blew a headlight bulb but it did cook the battery.
 
One other small thing. Look at the wiring connection to the voltage regulator.

On the FZR style regulators, there are the 3 same-coloured 3-phase wires from the alternator, the red "hot" wire which is constantly connected to the battery, and a ground wire. Nothing is switched with the key in that circuit. Make sure the battery terminals are secure and if the ground wire is a separate one that is bolted to one of the regulator attachment bolts (like FZR), make sure that ground connection is secure and not corroded. If the regulator loses its ground, the regulator will not work properly.

If yours has the ground wire internal to the harness plug then just unplug that and make sure the plug isn't all full of corrosion.
 
Ok I retract my previous statement, hooked up a multimeter to the terminals, off was sitting at 12, idle 14.5v and when revved would stay at 14.5v but and randomly spike to 25v. I watched the highbeams on the bulb get really bright and blow. So the issue is my R/R. Thank you Brian P for pointing me in the right direction. Now just have to buy another new R/R.

Thanks for the Help,
Geoff
 
good to hear you figured it out,BrianP to the rescue once again
 
gjones4487 said:
Ok I retract my previous statement, hooked up a multimeter to the terminals, off was sitting at 12, idle 14.5v and when revved would stay at 14.5v but and randomly spike to 25v. I watched the highbeams on the bulb get really bright and blow. So the issue is my R/R. Thank you Brian P for pointing me in the right direction. Now just have to buy another new R/R.

Thanks for the Help,
Geoff
Click to expand...

A thought on this ... check your battery and connections to the battery very closely. The battery acts as a buffer within the charging circuit. If you have a loose connection at the battery or an intermittently open battery it will cause an over voltage situation from the regulator. Make sure the battery isn't the cause of the regulator failing.
 
gjones4487 said:
How would I test that? The connections to the battery are all tight.
Click to expand...

Other than confirming that the connections are tight a load test on the battery might help identify if the internal connection to the terminal is failing.
One thing you could try is running the bike with the regulator unplugged. If the bike hiccups and burps or if the gauges reset while it's running that would be an indication of the battery and / or the connections causing a problem. Give the battery cables a bit of a tug or wiggle while it's running ... see if that makes a difference.
Also, just because battery connections are tight doesn't mean that they are good. They need to be clean as well. It's a good idea to pull them off and clean the cable ends and the battery terminals.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom