Headlight issues

[Addzz]

Done a search and come up with a few posts about headlights not working.

My issue is this - headlights come on with ignition, cut when I hit the starter and then come back on once it’s started as they should.  But I have no high beams, flick the switch and the dipped beams go off. No blue tell tale light on the dash. The pass button also gives nothing.

Checked the big white connector inside the front left fairing, no signs of corrosion or burning, fuse under the seat is good and has power getting to it.
I don’t think it’s the starter switch as the dipped work fine.

So am I right in thinking the culprit is going to be the connector under the air box?

Side note, whilst testing I found that even with full battery voltage I’m only getting about 10/10.5v at the bulb connector so have ordered an eastern beaver relay kit

[Woodyflyer]

Have you checked the fuse as I think the High and Low beams have separate fuses , my 2015 glee has .

[kwackboy]

Sounds like a familiar issue so I'd check the block connector that feeds the switchgear and yes, it's buried behind the radiator... 

But before you do , as said, check the simplest things first , the fuses .   

[Addzz]

Both hi and dipped fuses are good, visually checked and checked with my multimeter.

Thanks Kwackboy, it is what I had thought. typically as I’ve just finished putting it all back together after being stripped of its fairings for weeks 

[Addzz]

There’s definitely something strange going on, left the bike for a few hours while I had some family stuff to do. Went out to put the cover on the Wee but thought I’d give it another try and lo and behold I had high beams! Switched them off and then back on again and back to nothing again!

[Barbel Mick]

You should find a small hole under the starter switch gear, it's just big enough to get the straw from a spray can of switch cleaner (WD40 at a push) into to give it a good spray while operating the switch.
It's a fairly common problem on these where the contacts that switch the lights off for starting can burn out. The Eastern Beaver relay kit will stop that happening but the contacts still need to be good to power the relay.

[Gert]

Addzz, it looks like it may be best to remove the airbox, to access the connectors above the radiator.  Don't pull the connectors apart until you are certain that you have identified which connector pin was causing the fault. When a fault clears itself while localising, it is a matter of time until the fault crops up again. It is good practice to trace the wiring to the exact location of the fault. Not only will give you the satisfaction that the cause of the failure was found, but whether or not the corrective action taken to solve the failure is a temporary fix or a perment solution.
I would suggest that you make use of a test lamp / testbulb, instead of using a multimeter for your testing. The bulb resistance adds a load via the probe and the bulb brightness will indicate most voltage differences detected. A voltage of 12.6 - 12.8 Volt vs a 10 -10.5 Volt would show up brighter on a headlight bulb but not so much when using a bulb of less resistance like an  indicator bulb.
To make build a test lamp, either a bulb holder or wires directly soldered to a spare 12V automotive headlight bulb will surfice.    The length of wire should allow access of on lead connected to either the battery terminal (depending on the potential you are looking for) and as the other probe lead, to reach both extreme ends of the bike (for possible future test purposes)
Have you access to a wiring diagram? If not download the service manual from the download section.

[mrp192]

Hello, when this is occurring do you have the engine running or just the ignition on?
I ask because my 2015 Glee used to do just this if I checked the lights with just the ignition on, but was fine with the engine running.
Ps. I had one of BigPie’s relay kits fitted from new.

[Addzz]

Mick, tried that after seeing it suggested in search results. No change.

Mrp192, I have tried with engine running and with just ignition on. No change with high beams and also no change of voltage at the headlight still sitting around 10.5 ish

Gert, that’s my next port of call. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a spare headlight plug and there’s plenty of wire laying around left over from wiring my camper van

[Gert]

For my own reserve kowledge, I'm keen to hear what was the cause of this headlight failure.

[purplebikeunicorn]

I'll have a look at the wiring diagram when I get home, do the dips normally go off with the main beam? That sounds like a grounding issue somewhere but I don't think the headlight circuit would be affected like that... Unless there is such a poor connection that there's enough current flow to light the dips, but not both when both are in circuit? What happens if you remove one dipped bulb?

[Addzz]

As far as I know the dipped are meant to go off when full beams are switched on but the dipped stay on when using the pass/flash button.
Mine work just like that but without the mains coming on.
The fact they are kind of behaving semi normal makes me think it’s not the switch that’s playing up

I unplugged one bulb and still had the same result. Measuring voltage at the headlight plug I’m only getting 10.5-10.8v   

Gert, hopefully will get on with some diagnosis this weekend (weather dependant)

[Gert]

Looking at a cct diagram, to me, the flash-to-pass simply completes the circuit (cct) for the high beam to turn on while keeping the low beam is on at the same time.  What happens when you switch to the high beam and then activate the flash-to-pass switch?
If still no high beam, then I would say that the failure lays toward the high beam bulb via the cct wiring, the respective connectors and high beam fuse.
My first test would be, to determine which potential is missing from the high beam cct, pos or neg. Normally, the headlight bulbs share a common neg feed with the low beam and the pos is switched to either the low or high filament of the bulb.
I have attached a copy of the cct diagram that I looked at, so we can all reference the same diagram.

[purplebikeunicorn]

Power comes from the ignition switch, through the starter switch, then to the headlight selector switch (lo/Hello). The wires then come from this switch for Lo/Hello, to their respective fuses, and then back to the headlights, through the big multiway connector (15 pins? on the Haynes diagram), with the tell tales tapped off before the headlights. The Lo beam does indeed get taken out of circuit on this generation of bike when Hello beam is selected.

How sure are we that the high beam fuse is OK, has good connection in the fuse box, and that this supply can power a test light bulb? If it can, then it's probably a break in a wire / connector between fuse box and headlamp, and not the switch or wiring from switch to fusebox.

My bets are on the big multi connector, there will be a pin that isn't fitting properly, or the main beam wire has corroded under the insulation and isn't obvious (you should be able to tug on the wires without them stretching/breaking normally). The main beam wire appears to be solid yellow (both sides of connector), low beam solid white on the fuse box side, and black with blue tracer on the headlamp side. Test with a test lamp here, both sides of the connector if you can (you might need to repurpose a sewing needle or similar here if there is weatherproofing on the connector).

[Pete O Tube]

I would put money on the multi way connector being corroded resulting in high resistance across the contacts.

[Addzz]

Thanks for the wiring diagram Gert.

The hi beam fuse is 100% good, have tested it visually, with a multi meter and swapped it for a new one just to be sure. 

Have visually checked the big multi plug in side the left front fairing, no corrosion or burning visible. Also did the wiggle test on it, no change

[Mojo-Jojo]

As others have said, the connector block behind the radiator (probably yellow). I've been into mine on a couple of occcasions, first time I removed every single pin on both sides of the blocks and cleaned with fine sandpaper and Isopropyl Alcohol, then with contact cleaner, and then covered them all with bicycle inner tube. I have since had to go back into the yellow connector block as I had an intermittent headlight failure, the live feed for the lights was not making a good contact in the block and was arcing and I could see the scorch marks on the block, so I removed both sides out of the block, soldered them together and covered with heatshrink, not had a problem since. Wish I had done that first time. 

[purplebikeunicorn]

Having checked the hello beam fuse (I think my phone auto-corrected from high...) is OK, you need to physically pull apart the multiway connector and check the pins, the pin fitment, and the wire integrity. Visual checks are OK, but they may not reveal corroded wires that are still intact, or pins that are corroded and have expanded the receiving pin making a high resistance connection. Check the wires for swelling, and give the wires a tug too on both sides to check that the wires aren't corroded inside the insulation.

Go step by step systematically down the path and you will find the break.

[Gert]

With the aid of the test lamp, I would rather check from the outside of the connector, rather than first pulling a connector apart.
I found it best to test both the input and output sides of each connector, along the wiring path by going directly to that specific connector pin, tracing / following the wire colour. This way, if you are getting the same potential on both sides, aka input and output feed, you have confirmed that the connector is making contact.

Do note that the bulb must have the same brightness on both sides. If in doubt, set a multimeter to resistance and test the resistance of the connector input to the output pin. Any high resistance or bad connector contact will show up during this multimeter test.  Also, I come across that sometimes the wiring diagram will indicate if a harness wire changes to a different colour, but this doesn't happen that often.  It can also happen on a repaired harness.

Once you reach that point where there is an input into the connector pin but no output, you have localised where the break in electrical continuity is. Finding / tracking down to that exact point calls for patience and being methodical.

[Addzz]

Unfortunately no time today to do any fault finding, had a work call out all morning