Author Topic: My First KO Problem - UPDATE (Read 1493 times)

Johnie · « **on:** August 31, 2011, 02:49:50 PM »

Restored this KO beast in 2007 and ran into my first problem today. No blinkers? The previous owner put running lights on the front and those work fine when the headlight is on. I put a new electronic flasher in a few months ago and did switch it out with a new one & still no blinkers. Keep in mind the KO only has one main 15A fuse and no separate blinker fuse. I checked the left handlebar switch which seems to work fine "click" and all. I went through the bucket and wires under the seat and no change. All connections good. Checked the ignition switch. Still need to go under the tank, but all I will see there is a taped wiring loom. Strange thing is I was walking away from it and the thing blinked a couple times and stopped...why I do not know. Just wanted to run it by you guys for the obvious and not so obvious solution. Thanks...

Duke McDukiedook · « **Reply #1 on:** August 31, 2011, 03:07:37 PM »

Blinkers might not like you. Bad ground?

Johnie · « **Reply #2 on:** August 31, 2011, 03:25:37 PM »

I will check the grounds as it seems likely. When I turn on the blinker I can hear the flasher click once, but no blinker light comes on...

Bob Wessner · « **Reply #3 on:** August 31, 2011, 03:26:27 PM »

John, you say you went through all the connections, what did that entail? Mine sat in the garage for 20+ years and one of the first things I did was go through the wire loom connection by connection, working from the back to the front and that evil headlight bucket.

Cleaned each and then used some dielectric grease on them before pushing them together. Worked miracles. Only half the electrical items worked before the cleaning, all worked afterwards.

Johnie · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2011, 03:34:13 PM »

Bob...I did not dielectric all the KO connections like I did on the K1. That is another idea and appreciate it. I did do that on the K1 and learned from it. It will not hurt that is for sure. Thanks for the input.

ekpent · « **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2011, 06:15:19 PM »

Johnie I know your stuff is super clean and the bikes are sleeping in a better place than me probably but what is the condition of the battery by chance. Have you swapped it out yet with your K4 just to check??

kerryb · « **Reply #6 on:** August 31, 2011, 06:22:59 PM »

Is this an original wiring harness, or did you replaces it?
I had wires that looked good, were clean, and had dielectric on them, but the copper core was broken without breaking the insulation. I found the problem when one of them "moved" funny while searching for the problem. Those wires can be verrry sneaky!

Don R · « **Reply #7 on:** August 31, 2011, 09:24:28 PM »

My blinkers were acting up and the battery needed water. The next one won't need water.

Johnie · « **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2011, 09:27:49 PM »

All good points to check. The battery is a new this year Yuasa maint. free. But I guess it could be bad...even a Yuasa can have a bad one. I will swap it out and see what happens. Wiring harness is OEM and has not given me any trouble until now. The broken copper is also a possibility. I will not get to it until Friday and will let you know if I find the bugger.

Bob Wessner · « **Reply #9 on:** September 01, 2011, 06:26:47 AM »

Quote from: Johnie on August 31, 2011, 03:34:13 PM

Bob...I did not dielectric all the KO connections like I did on the K1. That is another idea and appreciate it. I did do that on the K1 and learned from it. It will not hurt that is for sure. Thanks for the input.

If they have had a good cleaning, that's what's important. It leads me to believe your problem is likely something else. The dielectric grease merely inhibits future corrosion and oxidation.

HonderCB · « **Reply #10 on:** September 01, 2011, 06:40:46 AM »

take the headlight out of the bucket, unhook one of the blinkers, and hook one up that you know works. Same thing happened with my left front, the light socket was bad and the bulb wouldnt ground... could be part of your problem, sounds like a grounding problem either way.

Johnie · « **Reply #11 on:** September 01, 2011, 06:58:59 PM »

Swapped out the battery and no change. Have the headlight out of the bucket and all connections look clean, but I still will dielectric grease them all before I rule it out. Agreed it really appears to be a ground issue. Will take the lenses off and check for corrosion. Bike has never seen the rain, but maybe some humidity got in there. Gosh I hope it is not a phantom broke wire somewhere as that will take some time. At least I can ride it this way until winter if I have too.

DH · « **Reply #12 on:** September 01, 2011, 07:23:16 PM »

John, I know you mentioned you thought the switch seemed good, But if there's any doubt, and you have a spare one laying aorund?
You could hook it up while the headlight is out and all the wiring is
exposed to eliminate that as a cause. Just a thought...Seems like a ground issue tho, as that scenario almost always results in "weird behavior" in any circiut where it is the culprit.

Johnie · « **Reply #13 on:** September 01, 2011, 07:27:42 PM »

Good idea with the switch check. I do have an extra and I will give it a go. Would be easy to do with the bucket out. And then I can at least rule the switch out. Will keep you informed...

Johnie · « **Reply #14 on:** September 04, 2011, 01:02:19 PM »

So I now have my KO blinkers back, but this is weird. To back track...in May I put in new NAPA electronic flashers in my KO, K1 & K4. All worked good for 4 months. Then the KO stopped flashing. Checked out the bucket and grounds and found no issues. I swapped the electronic flasher from the K1 to the KO and no change. Today I put the old OEM flasher back in the KO and it works like new. Then I put the K1 electronic back in the K1 and now that does not work. So I put in the OEM and now the K1 works. After all is said, it appears I have 2 defective NAPA flashers that only lasted 4 months and died a day apart? Go figure that out. I will check with NAPA this week and see if they had some problems with them. The K4 flasher unit is fine. I put those 2 bad ones in the K4 to confirm they do not work. Made in Korea...figures!!!

mrbreeze · « **Reply #15 on:** September 04, 2011, 01:08:43 PM »

I put a common cheap 2 prong flasher in mine years ago and it has never given me any problems. I forget the # but it was like under $5 at Napa.

Johnie · « **Reply #16 on:** September 04, 2011, 01:11:30 PM »

Prior to the electronic flashers I was having the usual issues with them blinking so slow under idle. That was my reason to try the electronic. Maybe I should just give a new regular unit a try and see how the flash is at idle.

mrbreeze · « **Reply #17 on:** September 04, 2011, 01:38:55 PM »

Mine did the slow flash at idle also (when it still had OEM flasher). After cleaning all connections and sockets.......it worked good with the new flasher. Sounds like you already cleaned everything up real good so you should be good to go with the regular cheap flasher. Bad grounds, low battery are usually the culprit.

Johnie · « **Reply #18 on:** September 05, 2011, 04:33:42 AM »

I wonder if the automotive electronic flasher is just to sensitive to the constant vibration of the bikes. Maybe that is why they both died about the same time.

News:

Author Topic: My First KO Problem - UPDATE (Read 1493 times)

DH