The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2

Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: BooG on June 01, 2009, 03:38:50 PM

Title: Flickering speedo/rev counter lights.
Post by: BooG on June 01, 2009, 03:38:50 PM

All lights good, apart from the instrument lights flickering and cutting out when I turn the handlebars full lock right. I'm thinking broken, or semi-broken wire. Don't really want to cut the loom out..could be a can of worms in there!! So my plan is to test which wire is at fault, (the brown live or the yellow/black), and then maybe run one in parallel up to the lights. Any thoughts on this? Is there more diagnostic work to be done or  am I at the right table? I hate diagnosing electric probs, but I love a bit of soldering!!

Title: Re: Flickering speedo/rev counter lights.
Post by: Bob_Roller on June 01, 2009, 04:34:03 PM

Have you removed the light bulbs from the indicator ?

They are called 'wedge' type bulbs, no metal base, just the wires bent over on each side of the glass base, that is pushed down int a socket, mine have come loose a few times .

Title: Re: Flickering speedo/rev counter lights.
Post by: Justin B. on June 02, 2009, 12:59:24 AM

They all go out?  Just for grins, turn your bars until they go out and then run a wire between the frame and forks and see if they come back on.

When troubleshooting a tach drop-out issue on the R65LS I found that with an ohm-meter between the forks and frame I found spots in the steering rotation where resistance went from close to 0 ohms to infinity.  Adding a ground wire between forks and frame "fixed" the issue...

Title: Re: Flickering speedo/rev counter lights.
Post by: BooG on June 03, 2009, 04:01:36 PM

I ran a wire in parallel and it certainly fixed the issue. There was an issue with the grey and black wire which links the speedo/instrument panel/parking light. I left the ends of the wire in place and soldered the ends onto the new wire so I didn't have to disturb any connectors. The copper core of the old wire was in a very poor condition, corroded/brown. This makes me fear for the overall condition of the loom itself. Still, everything works now....for the time being!

Title: Re: Flickering speedo/rev counter lights.
Post by: Ed Miller on June 04, 2009, 10:59:53 AM

I have way too many get-me-bys like that from the last 20 years on my Triumph.  I need to start over from scratch.  

Title: Re: Flickering speedo/rev counter lights.
Post by: BooG on June 05, 2009, 08:14:03 AM

You think a new loom might be the way to go then? Thats a scary prospect!?

Title: Re: Flickering speedo/rev counter lights.
Post by: Ed Miller on June 05, 2009, 10:43:25 PM

I think I need a new loom, I doubt you do.  I just don't understand why you left the old wire in place; maybe if I was looking at the same wire on my R65 I would get it.  I guess the old wire disappears into the wrapped harness upstream?