Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Electrical problem - Help!

My left turn indicator is messed up. Right works fine, but left dash and rear light blink rapidly - no front light flashing. I first thought it had to be a bulb. I swapped left and right bulbs (front and rear) and changed dash indicator bulb. Same problem. Could not find anything loose in either fixture or inside the headlight or dash.

I can't think of anything else to check but the flasher located under the tank. Before I remove the tank, anyone have a guess or know what else to check? Does that sound like a failed flasher unit?

Thanks, Bob

Still no luck. After studying wiring diagrams it appears the power goes to the flasher unit THEN to the switch. From there the hot hits all three bulbs (front, dash, rear) which are tied to ground.

It's hard to suspect the flasher as it works fine for the right indicators. But, I am not getting DC voltage on the left front while it is rapidly flashing. So, I'm guessing a bad connection or a problem with the indicator switch itself. Double checked everything else, still same result.

If I can't figure it out, I'll have to drive it to the Triumph dealer 40 miles away and see if they can fix it while I wait. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks, Bob

Have had that happen to mine several times. Check the white connector to the left turn signal. Sometimes it is inside the switch, sometimes outside. The female pins have to be tightened up. They are lousy connectors.

I had to deoxit one of my front sockets tips spring, the contacts looked good but had a layer of corrosion that was blocking contact. You might also check inside the headlight bucket for the dreaded chafed wire. I'd bet the flasher is fine, just as you surmised. Did you swap lamps side to side to eliminate a bad lamp that looked ok?

Hi Ed, yep, I swapped the bulbs, even the dash bulb. I pulled the left front socket and looked at it carefully and checked the multi-pin behind the headlight. All looked good, but I couldn't get any DC voltage at the back of the socket when the switch was on. The wiring diagram shows just one hot from the relay (flasher) to the switch. It does seen that should be ok, but I didn't pull the tank (yet) to fool with it.

I'll check the left socket one more time to be sure it's ok. I didn't try unplugging the connections to the socket, but they looked really good and moving them with the switch did nothing. Got me baffled.

Bob

Edit: Socket and connections there are good. There's also continuity between the orange hot wire out of the switch and the white wire at the bulb socket (power off). The rapid flash is normally an indication that a bulb is out. But it appears in this case, actual power is not getting to that socket.

I would try swapping the relay with a known good unit.

I'm puzzled, Bob. If you've got one lamp flashing then the dash lamp, the flasher and the switch must therefore be good. Leaves those cheap little connectors or the metal leads in the white plastic socket fault. That leads me to the headlight bucket where the connector is...either the hot or the ground must be broken. What if you swap the leads in the bucket to see if it travels with the lamp socket?

I screwed with it some more today but no luck. Real strange how this just all of a sudden happened and it is not a bulb. I checked the connections and made sure they were tight to the lamp socket.

It has to be something from the relay to the bulb. The relay goes to the multi-pin behind the headlight and from there to the switch and then to both L & R. If the left rear light is flashing fast along with the dash indicator, you would think the switch is working. It would seem the problem would have to be from the switch to the left front socket. Fast flashing is an indication of reduction of the load and usually means a bulb is out.

I would think the wire to the left front indicator would come directly from the switch and not go back to the headlight. The wiring diagram in the shop manual shows a 2-pin connector prior to the black and white wires to the socket. Where is this? I need to check that.

Finally, the switch has two orange wires, a silver (gray) wire, and a green wire. The diagram shows only one orange coming from the flash unit. The silver goes to the right turn lights and the green to the left. After 40 years of troubleshooting sound systems, I can't believe I haven't figured this one out yet. Thanks for the help and still open to input.

Quick update!!! It was the 2-pin connector that is tie-wrapped under the switch. Cut the tie-wraps, cleaned the connector, put it back and it worked.

Can't believe it took me this long to fix this. I hate to think it has anything to do with getting old. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

I totally forgot about that connector it's been so long since I relocated my pumpkins. Good call Greg!

Another Vault candidate...