Skorpion Tour: no tail light, no gauge lights

[Bluejay]

The other night while riding home, my gauge lights went out. Nothing else that I could tell was wrong, just the illuminating lights. Since they both went out at the same time, I figured it had to be something more than a bulb. Then the next day I realized the tail light was out, too. Brake light was fine, just the regular tail light. Found that the bulb was burned out, so I put a new one in and that fixed it, along with the gauge lights. Until later in the day, when the gauge lights went out, and so did the tail light. I pulled the headlight housing apart and checked all the plug connections; that's not the problem. I understand there's a diode in the circuit, does anyone know where it is? Are there any other mechanical connections/relay that I can check?

Not to complicate things more, but ever since I've owned the bike (since July), the light switch does nothing. Both headlight and tail light come on when you turn on the ignition; the two-position switch on the handlebar does nothing. Is this normal on the U.S. versions? Could it be the culprit of my problems?

[DAVID THOMPSON]

missing dash lamps are wired in to the tail circuit as a safety feature in most cars and no dash light is warning no tail lights
there on the same fuse
check fuses i have had a lot of bad low quality fuses lately

i will look at wiring drawing and review if there is a relay or diode in the circuit

the harness on these bikes is getting old and tired on most of them

most lights come on with the key some have a relay that shuts headlamp off when motor is cranking some brands do not

[Bluejay]

Are there any fuses other than the three under the seat? Those all seem to be good.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

on my 1997 660 Traveller there the only ones i have found

but many things can be wrong one day my 660 just died and i got lucky as i looked at it i could see
in a small space that the hot wire had came off the coil the spade lug had lost its tension and the wire just fell off the coil
it was just an accident i saw it ...i could have looked for days

bad quality fuses wire harness died of old age and relays is the main stuff
dave

[Bluejay]

Today on my way home from work I noticed the lights came back on again. Ugh, I hate intermittents!

[DAVID THOMPSON]

trace the wires they seem to be on some bikes not just MZ a steel wire copper coated
and the spades soldered on and the base and sockets for the bulbs cleaned

used to restore 40 year old bikes now its 40 months

[Blurredman]

As much as what I will say might sound like being an arse..

I would definatalely double check the fuses, by actually replacing them..

It is often the case that if the rear illumination lamp has a broken connection (IE bulb), it is linked to the clock lamps to tell the user that something is wrong, ie the rear lamp.

This is pretty simple wiring, of course. But sometimes it is not wired in this user friendly way above..
If it is however, and the bulb checks out okay, then the fuse definately needs to be replaced to double check fuse is not broken.
You could also put a 12v feed into the rear lamp from a connection before the switch, or even before and after the fuse and see what outcome that has.


I have been there in the past, after checking a fuse and thinking "This fuse is fine- it is not broken". When, it actually was and the connection break was so fine that it was not noticable through the naked eye- and I was chasing my own tail for a while.

[Puffs]

Removed

[Bluejay]

I appreciate all the input. I've eliminated it being 1. the connectors within the headlight housing 2. the fuses 3. the tail light assembly. At this point I suspect the diode that is shown in the schematic, but I don't know where it is. I'm also assuming there's no relay in the circuit, since I can't see one there in the schematic. Does anyone know where that diode might be?

[Bluejay]

Update:

Pulled the headlight housing again, and low & behold, there was a present waiting for me there, all wrapped up in tape. When I was in there before, I was looking for connector issues. Turns out, a previous owner had replaced the diode, and apparently didn't have proper soldering skills.

[droy]

Old post but I might have a similar problem - what was the diode wired into? key switch?. Did you replace ?

Thanks

[DAVID THOMPSON]

it usually ivolved with a relay as the relay is turned off the magnetic field produced by the coil collapses
and sends a voltage spike down the wire the diode damps the spike to ground and protects other
parts in the circuit

ps they do not have a diode to do this when you get a finger on a spark plug wire so yes your eyes water and you curse