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Message started by DirtyDan on 09/14/20 at 14:42:47

Title: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by DirtyDan on 09/14/20 at 14:42:47

A brief background: I'm a new rider of about a month and an owner of a 2006 S40, also about a month. As a whole, this bike runs very well and I didn't notice any big problems with it before about a week ago. It has some minor leaking coming from the engine, which I was planning to address first until the headlights and horn stopped working.

Problem: I was riding at night and I was switching between the high beam and regular beam at times. (luckily) Not too far from home, the headlight started flashing and then finally went out. So I put my hazards on and coasted back - the turn signals were working and so was the rear-light.

What I found: I thought at first that the headlight just burned out, but after looking through this website I saw that other people with a similar problem also had issues with the horn not working and turned out to be the same problem with my bike.
(http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1297947989)

So, I guess my question is:
- Do ya'll have any advice before I start trying to take my bike apart to fix this problem? Anything related to diagnosing the issue and any specific tools you use to patch up electronics and/or taking off the gas tank (electrical tape and so on, or any quality of life suggestions)

- I was ready to start taking the gas tank off to look at the connectors (which I'm still not exactly sure what they look like) until I noticed my bike's petcock. It's much different than how it looks in the manual and I didn't want to destroy it. It's attached below as image1.jpeg

P.S: I was thinking about taking it to a mechanic who deals with motorcycles at first but most of the one's closest to me were backed-up with too many jobs or only worked on sports bikes. I have a tiny apartment garage that I'm using to store my bike where I'll be working on it as well.

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by twhitus on 09/14/20 at 15:20:54

right hand side of the gas tank in the front is a large black connector. you should be able to see it just behind the front lip of the tank. ive had it work loose from vibration, gave it a good wiggle and taped it up to keep it dry.
easy place to start as you can reach it without taking everything off.

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by DirtyDan on 09/14/20 at 17:28:19

55564948555452210 wrote:

Did you mean these black connectors? The first picture is from the right side of the bike when looking at the bike head-on. The second is from the left, looking at the bike head-on.

I tried the one from the right and it seemed fine. Not loose at all.

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by DirtyDan on 09/14/20 at 17:28:42

This is from the left side

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by verslagen1 on 09/14/20 at 21:48:20

No, the right side is the kickstand relay and the left is the signal relay. The connectors have wires leading to the handle bars

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by Dave on 09/15/20 at 04:24:48

The connectors are much larger than those things you took pictures of.....the one one on the left side has about 9 wires in it (from memory and only a guess....there could be a dozen wires?). The connectors take all the power up to the handlebar switches.

If the connectors don't resolve the issue....sometimes the ground wire in the left wiring harness between the handlebar switch and the headlight housing goes bad. I know that knocks out both the high and low beam headlight - I don't believe that affects the horn when the ground wire breaks.

The petcock is not the stock one - it is a Raptor petcock (or Chinese copy). That is a good thing as the stock vacuum operated petcock can be a problem when the diaphragm fails. The replacement petcock is manual, and you need to turn it OFF at the end of the riding day.....and turn it back ON when you are going to ride.

Remove the fuel filter that someone installed at the petcock. They are restrictive and can affect fuel flow, and sometimes air becomes trapped in the small holes and blocks fuel flow. The petcock has a filter at the top of the fuel inlet tubes, and the carb has a filter just above the float needle, and there is no need for a 3rd filter.

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by DirtyDan on 10/04/20 at 18:06:33

Thank you everyone for helping me out with this. So I recently had the chance to take the fuel tank off because I wasn't able to find the connector without doing that. For anyone that is new like me, I'll include a picture of it in case anyone else is confused about it.

Turns out the problem is a pin is corroded - in the second picture. Is there any way I can clean it without buying a new one? If it's a dud, what's my best course of action?

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by DirtyDan on 10/04/20 at 18:08:39

Also, I somehow lost the left side of the rubber piece that I think holds the tank to the frame. Is there anywhere I can get a replacement?

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by twhitus on 10/04/20 at 18:56:40

for the pins id use some electrical contact cleaner and a fine grit sandpaper around 400 grit. you can roll the sandpaper so the course side is inside and slide it over the pin to sand off some of the corrosion. if there is room you can use needle nose pliers for a bit more grip while sanding. for the plug end roll the sandpaper grit side out and you can slide it in and out of the connector.
once its clean and you have verified things are working unplug the connector again and use some dielectric grease to protect the connector from future corrosion. I have used vaseline in the past because im cheap.
if the connector is beyond repair you can always snip the wire off the backside and just run a jumper.

the rubber bumpers are available on www.partzilla.com and are cheap 2-3 bucks each.

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by DirtyDan on 10/04/20 at 19:29:40

787B646578797F0C0 wrote:

Thank you so much! I was worried I'd have to replace something.

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by DirtyDan on 10/22/20 at 10:52:18

I temporarily managed to fix the problem. After a couple more rides though the light and horn stopped working again.

I was looking around and trying to find the cause and I think I might have discovered what it was and I need some advice.

The attached picture shows what looks like some spliced cables? It comes straight from the left handlebar. The bike came with a signal helper mod, and I think that's why these look like this. I think that sometimes when riding these wires rub on each other and cause the terminal to overheat.

If this is the underlying problem. what can I do to fix this?

Title: Re: Headlight and Horn Problem
Post by verslagen1 on 10/22/20 at 11:25:02

You'll have to consider removing and replacing those.
I would check the resistance of the wire and the ends and see how they compare with an equal length wire.
I would insulate any bare wire.
Due to corroded connectors, I was losing a couple of volts.
Might not be important for the lights, but real important for the ignition.