The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: Patrick_Krivacka on May 10, 2010, 04:22:08 PM
-
Put my blinker on going home today, noted it was out. then noticed all four are out. What should I check first? thanks
-
I'd check the security and condition of the fuses first.
-
where are the fuses?
-
Should be under the tank on an '81 year and later bike .
They are in a small black plastic box, with a thumbscrew holding the top on .
-
I found a black box with a thumb screw on the fender( remember my bike has been messed with a bit). are there really only two fuses? one white and one blue? I took them out and they seemed alright. not sure what to look for. I took some 600 grit sand paper to them and put them back in but the blinkers still don't work. other?
-
The only other major components in the system, are the switch and the relay .
Does the turn directional switch have a tight feel to it, or does it feel kind of limp ?
I'm on my second replacement switch, and both failures were small parts disintegrating inside the switch .
-
the switch seems normal to me. were those the right fuses? what would I look for to determine if they were bad? could i replace them with fuses from the auto parts store, or are they a bmw thing? thanks for your fast responses Bob.
-
If the fuses aren't melted, corroded, and the holders for the fuses are gripping the fuses tightly, they probably aren't the problem .
-
yeah, them seemed fine to my untrained eye. what's next, take the switch apart?
-
The switch is not user friendly to take apart .
-
I am just curious, but would patency of the conductors to their termination points also be a consideration in this kind of scenario considering the behaviour of 650's while they are running??....or maybe not??
-
i think that's a little over my head. can someone translate?
-
Are you SURE that the fuses are instact (not blown) ? Look for the little metal strip in the groove that goes from one end of the fuse to the other.
I suppose it could be the relay, but the last time my directionals ALL stopped working at once, it was a bad contact with the fuse and the "fingers" that hold it in the fusebox. This is a weak point in all these bikes and a simple, fairly cheap upgrade to REALLY improve the reliability is to take the old fashioned fusebox out and replace it with a couple automotive style sealed blade-type fuses - which are much easier to find when on the road and a fuse happens to go. Just a thought..
-
nhmaf, could you give me some details of what kinda' fuses I should look for? I mean size or amps or whatever? I think a switch over to auto fuses is a good idea. How hard is it?
-
It is really quite simple and not expensive. Monte wrote up a procedure for this with pictures in our wiki. I highly recommend that you check out the stuff that we have in the wiki section - it is (slowly) growing and you are welcome to add to it as you come up with new ideas, too!
This is a link to the fuse change:
http://www.suraklyn.com/r65_wiki/wikka.php?wakka=BladeFuse
I've done basically the exact same thing on my bike, but with a slightly different fuse holder part#, but which also seals the fuses up from the weather very nicely and use 10A fuses. IF you are planning to add more electrical accessories than an automotive style fusebox with extra wiring terminals and fuses may be a better options, but to simply make a more reliable replacement for what you have on the stock bike, this works well.
-
thanks- I'll give it a try and get back to you.
-
You can clean the old-style Euro ceramic fuses, test 'em, buff up the fuse holder terminals and the little bastids still won't let the flashers work.
I suggest you dump them for more modern blade fuses. here's how I did it on my '81 R65.
This info is right here in the R65 dot org wiki.
http://www.suraklyn.com/r65_wiki/wikka.php?wakka=BladeFuse
Monte
-
You can clean the old-style Euro ceramic fuses, test 'em, buff up the fuse holder terminals and the little bastids still won't let the flashers work.
That's funny...mine have always worked and I still have them "#*&@*&" ceramic fuses in mine. Only ever had a problem when they blew - which I think has happened once... so YMMV. :P
-
I bought all of the parts to do the conversion to the blade type fuses tonight on my way home from work. Unfortunately, I feel pretty ruff, a cold coming on I think, so I'll skip doing the work tonight. But thats the plan at this point. I'll post up the results. thanks for everyones feed back.
-
I thought that was a real dis-service that BMW did on the 2nd generation models, putting the fuses under the fuel tank.
If I had a '81-'84 and I was replacing my fuse holders, I would consider relocating them, as well.
-
i switched over to the blade fuses. No joy. those two fuses are the only one's, right? what now?
-
If the fuses are good (you should be able to visually determine if they are blown), take a look at the turn signal relay. The first suspect at the relay would that the contacts may have oxidized over the years. I just had this happen on my starter relay.
Take the relay out, and use a small wire brush or a emory paper to clean the male contacts. You can clean the female connectors with emory paper, but be care not to bend them apart to the point where they will loose contract with the male end of the connector.
If you need check out the relay further, I suspect that others here can advise you better than I can how to check it out. You would need some very basic knowledge of electrical matters and how to use a multi meter to obtain some basic testing results.
k_enn
-
what does the relay look like?
-
It looks similar to the starter relay .
With the tank off, when you turn the key to the 'ON' position, a smaller metal case relay should click, there's another taller plastic case relay, with a wiring diagram on it, push the start button, and that one should click .
I believe the remaining relay should be the turn directional relay .
-
i guess it couldn't hurt to clean them all. they're just male/female blade connections, correct? It might be tomorrow before I get to it, this cold has got me down.
-
I forget what year your bike is, i-man (put it in your signature).
Sure it is a conglomeration, but the year of the frame/engine is what is most important.
'78-'80 relays:
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Ftomfarr%2Fimage%2F124474060%2Fmedium.jpg&hash=5498ed05f692fb1167c4c0d36fed35113362b8c9) (http://www.pbase.com/tomfarr/image/124474060/large)
The right side box under the side cover housed the turn signal relay (and the fuses):
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Ftomfarr%2Fimage%2F63372157%2Fmedium.jpg&hash=10fb45c3a9b182cb0427539e6f845c471fecdf93) (http://www.pbase.com/tomfarr/image/63372157/large)
click on these two for larger
And this is the '81-'84 models:
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Ftomfarr%2Fimage%2F90141401%2Foriginal.jpg&hash=daa717cb392d23b44015b776a7e70cea1c3bc11c)
-
Rob, thanks for taking the time to lay all of that out. I've got a '77, '79, '80, '81.....but seriously, all of that is completely different then mine. Mine looks nothing like that. I think that's why I'm so unsure if I have the right fuses. My fuses are (were) screwed to the rear fender. i think the relay is too. freakin' frankenbeemer. I'll take some pictures for everyones amusement when my fever breaks. I feel like I've been run over by a bus.
-
I guess we'll have to wait to see what pics of your Frankenbeemer turn up, I-man - it certainly sounds like it was, er, 'heavily customized'.
Do you have that Johnny Cash record of the '57 Chevy? It's a classic!
-
I've been writing my own words to that song for my '77, '79, '80, '81.....Bmw!
-
with my bike, the hazard switch died which meant no indicators. Temporarily fixed with wire shorting out the relevant twerminals.
Do all lights work, stop and tail ligths, horn? instrument lights.
It's odd for a switch to fail in both directions, but not impossible.
If you have a multi meter with ohms and a wiring diagram, you can disconnect the plugs under the tank and check the switch out, quite simple.
Also switch to volts and look for volts on these plugs.
John
-
with my bike, the hazard switch died which meant no indicators. Temporarily fixed with wire shorting out the relevant terminals.
Do all lights work, stop and tail lights, horn? instrument lights.
It's odd for a switch to fail in both directions, but not impossible.
If you have a multimeter with ohms and a wiring diagram, you can disconnect the plugs under the tank and check the switch out, quite simple.
Also switch to volts and look for volts on these plugs.
Let us know what year your bike is, is an LS or not? this helps us show you wiring diagrams.
John
-
the title to my bike says it's a 1980. But, it's been messed with so much, that you could hardly call it a '80 r65 with a straight face.
i think I found the relay. It too was screwed to the rear fender. the wires feed directly into it with a big glob of silicone covering it. Is this OEM? (joke) the silicone is cracking and tired looking. Crap. i guess it couldn't hurt to replace it. A regular auto relay should work, right?
-
oh yeah, if it matters, all the other lights do work.
-
after extracting the wires from the silicone mess, and plugging them into the new relay I just picked up from the auto zone, I have blinkers again! thanks for all the help and patience.
-
i-man,
Have you had the tank off, yet?
Are there any tabs on the main backbone of the frame where relay sockets could be mounted?
The relay sockets are readily available from a dealer. They have a tab on one side to screw to the tabs on the frame.
I think you told us you had matching frame and engine numbers?
Be sure to take pictures when you take the tank off.
-
Here's a (poor) photo. No brackets. I can't even see where they ground them down. At least they did a good job of that. I also put in another shot of my coil, a classic if there ever was.
-
i-man,
In your first photo, is that a relay zip tied to the main wiring harness? I gotta give you big props just for getting
"The Monster" on the road. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Monte
-
yes thats the relay zip tied to the wiring harness! aren't they all like that? what about the coil attached with galvanized fence hardware?!THE COIL!! MY GOD, THE COIL!!
-
Your sense of humor will likely see you through the challenges of civilizing the FrankieBeemer. :D
Monte
-
It looks like you need to buy a small welder to fix that up!
Previous owners... ::)
-
I wonder if all that cuttin' and grindin' was done to fit the mysterious two petcock gas tank. THAT'S RIGHT SUCKA'S -TWO PETCOCKS! Anyone want to trade? Didn't think so.
-
Definitely some "farmer-engineering" went into that poor bike! You're doing well to have gotten this far!
-
... THAT'S RIGHT SUCKA'S -TWO PETCOCKS!
Well, i-man, at least you won't be seen laying the FrankenBeemer over on its side sloshing the unusable fuel on the right side of the tank into the left side... so you can hopefully make it to a fuel stop.
I wouldn't mind twin petcocks...
Monte
-
"Well, i-man, at least you won't be seen laying the FrankenBeemer over on its side sloshing the unusable fuel on the right side of the tank into the left side... so you can hopefully make it to a fuel stop.
I wouldn't mind twin petcocks...
Monte"
Easier to just lift the gas tank off and tilt it. I haven't needed to yet. The other day, my bike went onto reserve with about 20 more miles to go to work, so I got so paranoid I was doing the speed limit. When I filled up in town it only took about 5 gallons, so I must have had at least a half gallon left. But I didn't have to tilt the tank.
-
Yeah, I've never felt impaired in any way by only having one outlet on my fuel tank.