Author Topic: High Beam and Low Beam Reversed and Blue High Beam Light Stays On  (Read 3191 times)

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pmanaz1973

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I ran into a guy near where I live that rides a 2011 C5 yesterday and his bike has an interesting electrical issue. 

His high beam and low beam switch is reversed and his blue high beam light stays on all the time.  Also, the yellow high beam flasher does not work. 

He insists no one has been inside the headlight bucket and that he is the first owner.  I told him I'd ask the pros on this forum and then he should ride over for a afternoon in the garage figuring this out and removing the jumper.   Sounds like some mechanical issues in the switch, but I'm not overly familiar with electrical troubleshooting.

Any thoughts?  First places to start?


1984 XL350R
1991 XR250L
1976 Harley XLH 1000
1993 CBR 600
1976 Norton Commando 850
1972 BMW R75/5
2014 Royal Enfield C5


johno

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Reply #1 on: November 08, 2014, 06:36:37 pm
I'm guessing the wires are crossed on the bulb just need to swap the main and dip spade connectors over. That's the trouble with using spade connectors rather than a moulded 3 way plug
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GSS

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Reply #2 on: November 08, 2014, 06:43:00 pm
+1.  Remove the jumper, swap the high and low beam connectors behind the bulb, and then reassess.  Thanks.
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Arizoni

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Reply #3 on: November 09, 2014, 10:30:41 pm
I agree.  It sounds like the three wires on the rear of the headlight bulb are not connected right.

To help identify what goes where:

On the back of the headlight there are three terminals.  Two are parallel and one is perpendicular to the other two.

Holding the bulb so that the one perpendicular connector is at 12:00 o'clock (at the top), it is the LOW beam connector.  The GREEN wire should be connected to it.

At the 3:00 o'clock position (on the right) is the HIGH beam connector.  The BLUE wire should be connected to it.

At the 9:00 o'clock (left) position is the COMMON (ground) connector.  The AMBER wire should be connected to it.

The harness will also have a GRAY wire.  This is the power supply for the parking light bulb that is installed at the bottom (6:00 c'clock) position on some headlights.
Sealed beam headlights and some other regular headlights do not have this parking light bulb so the gray wire is not connected to anything.

Because this gray wire is powered whenever the headlight is on, it's a good idea to put a piece of electrical tape over the open end of the connector to keep it from grounding on other metal parts in the casquette.

For you people who own a Continental GT the BLUE and GREEN wires are the same high and low beam wires.  The AMBER "common" wire on the CGT headlight is BLACK so starting at the 9 :00 c'clock position and going clockwise, the wire color should be BLACK (at 9:00 o'clock), GREEN (at 12:00 o'clock), BLUE (at 3:00 o'clock).

Hope this helps. :)
« Last Edit: November 11, 2014, 02:00:43 am by Arizoni »
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pmanaz1973

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Reply #4 on: November 10, 2014, 02:16:37 am
Arizoni - Your instruction and drawing were perfect.

Thank you So much!

We got his jumper pulled, corrected his goofy connections - cleaned and dielectric greased all of the connection including his high beam flasher connection and all is well.

While I was at it, I replaced his stock 3 plus year old Bosch plug with an NGK - Idle and start up much improved.  Also snugged up his spokes and lubed and adjusted his cables for him.  I also installed a spare air filter I had laying around - his was almost black and you could hardly see light through it and dumped some Sea Foam in his tank.

For a bike that has received almost no maintenance it runs well and has not let him down.  Next time he is over we are changing his oil and oil filter....the filter hat has not been changed in the three years that he has owned it.  He has changed the oil, but never the filter- couldn't find one so he just figured we would change the oil every 1000 miles. I'll post a picture of that one when we pull it.

Helped a guy out and and possibly made a new riding buddy in the process.

This forum is amazing!

Thanks all!!
1984 XL350R
1991 XR250L
1976 Harley XLH 1000
1993 CBR 600
1976 Norton Commando 850
1972 BMW R75/5
2014 Royal Enfield C5