turn signal lights come on but do not blink on and off - Ninja 250

E

EC2010

Well-known member
Hi, it happened last night in the middle of a ride. turn signal lights come on but do not blink on and off (only left turn signal, the right one blinks just fine). at the front, the amber light stays on solid, without blinking. At the back, it doesn't blink, and the integrated LED light stays amber also.

I've searched the web and someone suggested replacing a turn relay. I'm not a technical person, but I am going to open up the bike and see if any wire came loose.
Just wondering if anyone has encountered similar problems and what was your fix?
 
- Sounds like all your bulbs are still good
- Most relays make a "clicking" sound when they're working properly
- I'd say start with the wiring from the intergrated LED tail... in particular around the resistors
 
Change both lightbulbs on the side that doesn't blink, are your bulbs double-contact or one-contact?
 
1WheelDrive said:
- Sounds like all your bulbs are still good
- Most relays make a "clicking" sound when they're working properly
- I'd say start with the wiring from the intergrated LED tail... in particular around the resistors
Click to expand...

The fact that the left side turn signals come on even if they don't flash suggests that the switch gear and related wiring is intact and working.

If the wiring and switch gear is intact and working, and if the flasher unit is working for the right side, it should for the left too.

That leaves the left side turn signal LEDs as the most likely problem. The left side turn signals come on but do not flash. Assuming that the OP has load resistors on his LED turn signals, the logical place to start is to check to see if the load resistor for the left-hand turn signals has burned out.

Take the load resistor out of the circuit and place the leads of an ohm-meter across the load resistor to measure the resistance. It should come in somewhere between 6 and 10 ohms or so. If it shows a completely open circuit, the OP has a burned out load resistor, and that could cause the left side signals to not flash.
 
thanks turbodish. That however sounds very technical to me being a newb.

Anyways, I opened up the bike (seat and tail) and checked all wires, nothing seems loose. So yesterday I took it to the dealer and have them deal with it. Just when I pulled in to the parking lot, it started blinking. I tested it out at the lot for 20 minutes and it worked. Started heading home and when I hopped on the 400, and guess what, it stopped working from that point on. Somebody up above has a sense of humour.... it's driving me nuts at the moment. Today, I was either using hand signals or turning the left turn on and off to simulate blinking.

I don't even know where to get the part. I am assuming Canadian Tire carries the load resistor you speak of.

I am offering a 6-pack if anyone feels like giving me a hand with this. Please kindly PM me if you are interested. I can ride to you also if needed.
 
EC2010 said:
I don't even know where to get the part. I am assuming Canadian Tire carries the load resistor you speak of.
Click to expand...

I doubt that Canadian Tire would carry them. A bike shop that sells LED signals might, or you could go to an electronics shop and pick up a high wattage resistor there and work that into your system.

It's not to hard to do this kind of work on your bike, and you should be able to find all sorts of instructions specific to working with LED signals for your bike on a Ninja-250-specific forum. The most complicated piece of equipment you need is an under $10 digital volt-ohm meter from Canadian Tire or Princess Auto, and that piece of equipment will be useful for helping sort out any other electrical issues that may crop up in future.

Question - the right side turn signals still work, right? Do they blink really fast? When the left side started working briefly, did they blink really fast? At the same blink rate as the right side?

Reason I ask is that it's possible that you my not even have load resistors installed or incorporated within your integrated turn signals. A really fast blink rate can be a hint to that, or even just a solid on state.

Many flasher units require a certain amount of load to operate properly, and LEDs do not show the same load in a circuit as the incandescent bulbs that came stock with your bike.

It could also be that your LED signal on the left side has gone intermittent, again presenting a loading issue to your flasher unit.

Even if you don't have a volt-ohm meter, one easy test is to take a standard 1156 or 3156 bulb, connect one contact to the hot wire feeding your left signal, and connect the other contact to the bike's ground. If the left side suddenly starts blinking, it points to a loading issue, whether due to missing or defective load resistor, or defective LED turn signal.
 
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This might be too simple to be true, but I was putting on frame sliders on my GF's 250r so I had the front fairings off. When I reinstalled them, I didn't reconnect the left front signal wire before testing the turn signals and the left rear turn signal came on solid and the front did not illuminate. Once I reconnected that wire, the signals blinked properly. So my guess is simply a bad bulb in the left rear...

Check the bulb just for fun...
 
Have you done any modification's to your electrical system lately (eg. Aftermarket turn signals or Hard wire some sort other electrical equipment)? If so, what?
Check your relay, check your fuses.
 
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