Topic: front blinkers stay on and rears don't come on at all

[egar]

Been reading the threads on bad blinkers and wanted to run this scenario by you folks. My bike is a 77 550k with replacement blinkers from Cycle Gear. They are not LEDs. The front blinkers stay on and the rears do not work at all. I replaced the flasher switch (two prong) with a new one from ebay. When I hit the blinker switch, one front blinker will stay on and one will go out completely. Still nothing happens with the rears. Anyone run into this?

[Spanner 1]

If rears don't light you will get weirdness @ the front!...... are rears connected to orange and blue ?  If yes, they may need a separate ground to light'em. Unhook each rear and jump a wire from the batt.+ to it and if still no light, then need ground wire.....some ideas.
Also , if your headlight shell is fiberglass, you would need ground connected for fronts to operate....

[mystic_1]

77 550k with replacement blinkers from Cycle Gear.

Tell us more about the wiring on those, or better yet post some pics.  Often times, aftermarket blinkers have wires that do not match the OEM color codes so you have to do some experimentation to find the right wiring configuration.

mystic_1

[Kframe]

Have you checked that all the bulbs are good?

I've had cars where when one burned out the other would blink faster.
I'm not certain if a burned out bulb could cause the other to light in a steady state, but it's worth looking just to make sure.
-K

[domer]

just went through the same #$%* last night... rear were blinking like hazards and front not at all. turns out i forgot to hook up the ground in the front. of course i figure this out after i buy another electronic flasher...

[egar]

Follow-up question. The wiring diagram does indeed show a third wire (green) as a ground coming from the front blinkers and only two wires at the back blinkers. However, when I inspect the original blinkers that I replaced, they only have two wires coming from them. If I need to ground the blinker system, where would I place this wire and what would I connect it to?

Spanner,
 I did what you instructed (jumped a wire directly to the battery to a rear blinker and still no light). What next?

Mystic,

The new blinkers are basic: one black wire and one black with a white stripe.

The front blinker lenses melted from staying on all the time:

[mystic_1]

Turn signals that lack a separate ground wire usually ground through their bodies.  You can use a ring terminal or something similar.  Connect the ground to the same place as in the stock wiring.

mystic_1

[egar]

Mystic,

Glad you are online while I am working on the bike. Your suggestion might pose a problem as the blinkers are plastic. Should I buy metal blinkers? 

[Laminar]

Did the bike originally use the front turn signals as running lights as well?

If so, there should be three connections to the front turn signals - one for running light, one for blinker, and one for ground. I'm not sure if each of those connections is an individual wire or simply a connection through being bolted to the headlight ears.

It's highly unlikely that the new turn signals were designed to be used as both blinkers and running lights, so it should have two wires - one for turn signal and one for ground.

If the new turn signals are configured as such and the bike has additional wiring for running lights, you'll need to forgo the running lights completely and hook up the turn signal positive to the turn signal wire (I'm betting black/white), then ground the ground wire (I'm betting black).

[mystic_1]

It's highly unlikely that the new turn signals were designed to be used as both blinkers and running lights, so it should have two wires - one for turn signal and one for ground.

If the new turn signals are configured as such and the bike has additional wiring for running lights, you'll need to forgo the running lights completely and hook up the turn signal positive to the turn signal wire (I'm betting black/white), then ground the ground wire (I'm betting black).

+1 to the above.  Additionally, in a two-wire incandescent signal, polarity doesn't matter so you can't go too wrong with the wiring.  Connect one wire to ground (green) and the other to the orange or blue turn signal wires from the harness.

mystic_1

[egar]

I'll give it a shot. I just went out and switched some wires around in the back and now all four turn signals are staying on all the time. When I flip the switch, say, to the left. The left side -front and back go stay on and the right goes out and visa versa. It's seems like I'm close here, but I'm not sure what to do next.

[Bill K]

 I'm certailnly no expert on the subject but I'll throw in my two cents. If your 550 had running light in the front you'll need a dual filament bulb up front. Dual filament bulb have different wattage fil.  in ea. bulb. Be sure to hook up the lower wattage fil. for the running light. I hooked these up backwards on my 78 750 and they run VERY hot. I did'nt know what was wrong till I got help here. If you don't have luck with your current lights I would recommend these. Nice aluminum, just take off the lense cover and make sure the screw that holds the bulb in place is tight. Had two of them come loose. The fronts mount through you headlight ear, replacing the bolt that hold the headlight to the bucket to the ears. Hope this helps.  
https://www.chaparral-racing.com/Chaparral/product_family.asp?family%5Fid=10613&gift=False&mscssid=E47920EC6C3D4FF6A94B8FA259706184

[mystic_1]

Are you sure you're connected to orange (left side) or blue (right side) and NOT orange-with-a-white-stripe or blue-with-a-white stripe?  The ones with the stripes are your running lights, those will be hot (on) when the turn signal switch is centered and off when you move the switch to the corresponding side.

mystic_1

[egar]

Mystic,
Oh crap. That explains a lot. My front blinker wires are running like this: black to orange and black with a white tracer to orange with a white tracer. Which explains why they're on all the time! Just blew my last 15a fuse so I have to run and get some more. Will let you guys know what happens next. I'm thinking that I should leave the tracers for blue and orange alone and just ground the black wire on the new blinker. Am I thinking this correctly?

Will post results so you guys won't be left wondering.....

[egar]

Mystic,

Once you stated that the wires in the front with the white tracers were running lights, all I had to do was run the black with the tracer to the orang/blue and the solid black to a ground on the headlight. On the rear taillight it is even stranger because I only had to hook up one wire on each light and leave the extra wire from the taillights unhooked to anything (though Im tempted to run them to the green in the rear. Now all the lights stay off when Im not using the directionals and blink when I want them to.

Took the bike out for some test runs on back roads and I must say that the ancient aftermarket drag pipes sound badass. They burble sweetly when you let off the gas....

[mystic_1]

In the rear, again one wire should be connected to either orange or blue, the other should be connected to ground.  If the lights are working with only one wire connected, they're getting ground somewhere else, possibly through the mounting studs.

If you have a multimeter, check for continuity between the loose wires and the bolt holding the turn signal stem, odds are they're connected to each other.

mystic_1

[egar]

Thanks. Will do.

[Laminar]

Mystic,
Oh crap. That explains a lot. My front blinker wires are running like this: black to orange and black with a white tracer to orange with a white tracer.

I figured as much. Good to hear everything seems to be working.