Neutral likes other lights

[Gilson]

Hi guys, I am hoping this is a quick fix.

When in neutral my battery light and neutral light come on together. There is nothing wrong with the altenator, batter or charging voltage.

The battery light also comes on when the reserve light lights.

Whenever this occurs, both lights are not at full brightness, suggesting a fault.

Sometimes my neutral light fails to light at all when in neutral, but the gear indicator reads 0.

I hope you guys can offer some advice....

Thanks!

 

[finglonga]

Sounds like a bad earth somewhere, have you washed the bike recently and maybe got water under the tank on all the connector blocks. Could even be a bad connection on one of the bulbs, its just a matter of finding it.

 

[Gilson]

I thought the same. OK, I'll start with the bulbs then I'll have a look under the tank.

What exactly am I looking for? Would that simply be a loose connection? Frayed wire, squew-if bulb?

Another job for this weekend!
Thanks

 

[BiG DoM]

Ok - I can almost definately state that this is a dicky crimped connector in your wiring loom on the RHS just under the dash/cockpit. I had an almost identical problem that drove me mad for months until I locaated this fault...

Basically find the top of the loom under dash on RHS where the wires exit to the idiot light strip.... (will probably have to remove tank to get at this effectively)... now take a sharp blade and carefully cut the outer plastic loom cover downwards a few inches
... you will come upon a bunch of crimped and shrink wrapped connections (do not know what the F*OICK BMW was thinking ??) ... you will find one of these has corroded and come apart...check all of them while there if possible... mine were corroded and powdery white. Re-indsulate and tape up... this time check that the top of the loom is sealed and closed - use silicone and a cable tie on the top... this is where the water gets in and makes its way down inside the loom. The position of the connectors with the added movement of the wiring loom due to steering heads aggrivates this problem. There have been a few other reports of this problem but my dealer could not locate trhe fault even when he had the bike fo a week!

 

[Grizzly]

Check Loom To Lamps

Hi Gilson,
This sounds like it could be the loom between the multi-pin plug under the front of the tank and the lamps - the wiring inside the sheath has several crimp connectors to split suppplies to various lamps & earths and although this loom doesn't flex - it's cable-tied to the fairing/headlamp support - it's such a crap idea, plus the cable-ties are over-tight and these crimps break, sometimes aggrivated by water lying in the sheath.
Try bending/flexing this loom at various points with the various lamps on and see if any change state etc., or carefully cut open sheath along it's length.
I had this problem myself and a few others have had the same sort of symptoms and it's also turned out to be this loom.

Cheers........................Grizzly

 

[BiG DoM]

Re: Check Loom To Lamps

Hi Gilson,
This sounds like it could be the loom between the multi-pin plug under the front of the tank and the lamps - the wiring inside the sheath has several crimp connectors to split suppplies to various lamps & earths and although this loom doesn't flex - it's cable-tied to the fairing/headlamp support - it's such a crap idea, plus the cable-ties are over-tight and these crimps break, sometimes aggrivated by water lying in the sheath.
Try bending/flexing this loom at various points with the various lamps on and see if any change state etc., or carefully cut open sheath along it's length.
I had this problem myself and a few others have had the same sort of symptoms and it's also turned out to be this loom.

Cheers........................Grizzly

Yeah - as I said above... good idea to do the power on wiggle test with the wiring loom.

 

[Gilson]

Increadible...thanks a lot guys, I'll try to do exactly as you say.

Is there any danger in anything else happening, i.e. the engine stopping?!

When you say silicone, how does that come...I got some bathroom sealant in teh shed, will that do??

Grizz, how's that Aprilia doing? I since bought a DR350 to play on but it had a few starting problems, should be solved after a new plug! Simple

 

[BiG DoM]

Increadible...thanks a lot guys, I'll try to do exactly as you say.

Is there any danger in anything else happening, i.e. the engine stopping?!

When you say silicone, how does that come...I got some bathroom sealant in teh shed, will that do??

Grizz, how's that Aprilia doing? I since bought a DR350 to play on but it had a few starting problems, should be solved after a new plug! Simple

The bathroom type will do fine - blob into top of loom after fixing where the wires exit and then small cable tie to close off opening to prevent water ingress. problem should only affect the idiot lights and is not linked to ignition to the best of my knowledge.

 

[Gilson]

A big thumbs up and many thanks to all who contributed. The wires were completely corroded and just snapped off.

All is well with the lights and I also siliconed all other connectors whilst I was there.

Job done!!

 

[BiG DoM]

A big thumbs up and many thanks to all who contributed. The wires were completely corroded and just snapped off.

All is well with the lights and I also siliconed all other connectors whilst I was there.

Job done!!

Cool - pleased to have been of help as this same problem bugged me for months!