ninja 250 headlights wont come on | GTAMotorcycle.com

ninja 250 headlights wont come on

Sillylion

Sillylion

Well-known member
Was wondering if any experts know whats wrong with my bike.
When i start the bike, neither the high beam or the low beam would come on.
Even when i switch the high beam on, the little blue light on your dash doesn't come on aswell.
This happened once a few weeks ago, i took out my seat and check the battery and the fuses and it was all fine.
but after i put it back together the light came back on.

Now a few weeks later (today) it happened again. And i didn't find out until i got home at dusk. I was wondering
why other cages around me were acting so weird and aggressive around me on the way home.
I check the connection at the light bulb and the fuse and it all looks fine.
The lights are HID and ive been using them for 2 years without problems until now.

Is there anything esle i should check?
When it comes to electrical stuff im as dumb as a dummy, so you might have to really point it out.
 
I would eliminate the HIDs as a failure point by throwing the conventional bulbs back in. Hopefully, the stock wiring harness / plugs are intact. If the stock lights work, it would stand to reason that the ballast or a connection associated with your HIDs are faulty.
 
I thought that it might be the problem. However I have 2 hid bulbs, each with its own balist. High beam and low beam. Neither would come on. Is it likely that both ballist fried at the same time?
 
Replace your fuses and check where your HID connects and see if it has any type of corrosion around it, the clips still leave a few millimetres of the wiring unprotected and not insulated so maybe some water got on there if you didn't electrical tape it. Wouldnt hurt to try a new ballast as yours might be damaged or defected
 
OK so I took out both hid and replace then with the stock bulbs. Changed the 10amp fuse for the headlights from the fuse box. and it still won't come on. I'm completely stumped. There was no sign of corrosion at any connection point. Do i have to take this to a shop....?
 
I suggest getting it checked out by a mechanic. Seems either some wire somewhere is messed up or maybe something to do with sensors to your dash
 
I hope the stock circuit leading to the HID's has not been tampered with up to the point where the stock bulb connection point plugs into the HID harness. That's the way most of them work - the stock bulb plug goes into the HID harness and tells the HID system when to turn on which bulb.

Assuming that is the case ... that the blue high-beam indicator lamp does not come on is indicative that there is no power to the headlamp circuit at all. You could confirm that with a multimeter - see if there is power getting to the stock bulb connection points.. I betcha there isn't.

Kawasaki bikes have a relay box that keeps the headlamp circuit off when the ignition is first switched on, until the starter button is first pressed and then released or until the relay box gets a voltage signal from the alternator indicating that the engine is spinning fast enough for the alternator to work (more than cranking speed). I don't know which type yours is, but it's most likely the former. In either case, that relay box and the signals to and from it is the next place to start looking.
 
It looks like no power is going to the bulb connection points. But I can't be sure as I do not have a multimeter. About this relay box your talking about, I have no idea what it looks like or where it would be. The wires for the head lamp are bunched up together with other wires. So I can't trace it back without unwrapping everything. So basicly it looks like I'm screwed.

I'm the only owner so I'm not sure what you mean by being tampered with. I installed the hid 2 years ago my self and they been working fine until now.
 
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The relays are in what Kawasaki calls the "junction box" which also contains the fuses, and it's under the rider's seat.

Start with unplugging and then re-plugging in the harness connectors to that box, in case you have a bad connection there.

What year is the bike; the wiring differs.

Kawasaki says that the "junction box" is not serviceable ... but when I had problems traced to within the junction box on another Kawasaki, I opened it up to access the circuit board, found a bad diode on the board, unsoldered it and replaced it with another diode with much higher current capacity ... Time to buy that multimeter and find the wiring diagram for your bike, you're going to need both ...
 
One other thing. Are your HID systems the type that use an external power supply from their own fuse from the battery, or are they drawing all their power from the bike's headlight plugs through the original circuit?

If all the power is going through the headlight plugs (no external power line with its own fuse), the in-rush current from igniting the HID may be beyond the current handling capability of the stock headlight circuit including those relays. The running current of HID is lower than standard bulbs, but there is a spike when they are turned on.

If they are the type with a dedicated separate power supply, this shouldn't be an issue, because then the bike's circuit is only being used as a control signal (milliamps).
 
How about the headlight harness and relay how is the condition of it? Also try to clean the switch within the handle bar.
 
OK, it is time to be blunt. If you don't understand what has been given to you so far, it is time to take the bike to someone who knows what they are doing, pay them some money, and tell them to fix it.
 
I may have to. I'm seriously considering it. Although it would have been nice to learn and fix it myself.
 
what year is your bike 08+ ?
 
Yes it is. 2010 to be specific. For some reason the lights came back on yesterday. I think the problem might be at the starter button. I know its just a matter of time before it goes off again. Maybe its a loose connection at the alternator or the starter button?
 
Sillylion said:
I think the problem might be at the starter button. I know its just a matter of time before it goes off again. Maybe its a loose connection at the alternator or the starter button?
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Good thinking. The starter button has two positions, when you just start to press it, it cuts power to the headlights (before the starter kicks in). If there is a problem with the starter button where the connection is bad, or the button part isn't coming back out all the way, that will for sure kill the power to your headlight. Good luck.
 
I hope its the issue. I won't be able to take it apart until I get home from work unfortunately. I figure if its coming on and off l, it can't be a blown relay right? Either the relay works or it doesn't I assume (correct me if I'm wrong). So my logic tells me it has to be a loose connection and since I haven't touched anything else (harness, relay, alternator) except for the starter button I figure the problem should be there.
 
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