Blinker/Signal light set up

VMAX  Forum

Help Support VMAX Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jdeitz1979

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2015
Messages
899
Reaction score
34
Location
Auburn
Ok, I got aftermarket signals and they aren't working the way they should. I have three wires, brown yellow and green. The manufacturer of them says that green is ground yellow is running and down is brake. So when I plug them in, they both flash on either left or right signal, and the brake does illuminate. Any suggestions?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
They get tied in to the brake power? Sounds like something is shared which shouldn't be....can you take a picture of the wiring?
 
They get tied in to the brake power? Sounds like something is shared which shouldn't be....can you take a picture of the wiring?

I've had this happen when using LED tailight bulbs. Just not enough resistance between the elements, hence you get circuit cross-feeding.
Best that the original poster details what type of signal/bulb he is trying on his bike.
Cheers!
 
Good call miles, they are leds that I'm trying to install


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
They get tied in to the brake power? Sounds like something is shared which shouldn't be....can you take a picture of the wiring?
+1, make sure the wiring for the bike is connected to the correct wire for which side your are activating. For stock wiring on a Vmax the front turn signals only have three wires (per side) one for running light, one for signal activation and the last for ground. They are side specific front and back. The rear turn signals only have two wires, one for signal activation and the other for ground.
 
Ok, I had checked with the old signals and the worked fine, it's just the led ones that are giving me the problem. What type of resistor do I need and how many? I've heard talk of needing them and didn't underway until now I guess.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Miles diagnosis is correct but I'm a bit confused about the wires you say you have; green is ground yellow is running and brown is brake. No mention of left or right indicator.

You would normally put the ballast resistor across the power feed and ground like this.
 
I had this exact problem when I switched to 100% led bulbs on my max, the fix is simple but requires you to get elbow deep in your max. Ignore using resistors, they don't always work and they cause your leds to be way dimmer than they should be.

First, get an LED Flasher relay and install it on the brown and brown/white wires under your left scoop (just cut the wires off the factory relay and leave the rest intact, you can mount the relay with one of the factory screws in there).

Before you button that back up you'll need some rectifier diodes and some heat shrink tubing, also some solder and a soldering iron OR some crimp connectors if you aren't handy with a soldering iron because the next part involves chopping 2 wires on the back of your gauge cluster and ADDING a wire.
Pull off your air box cover, then pull out your air box, then unscrew all the screws holding the left rubber plate holding all the electrical junk in place (let it dangle, it'll be fine) the plastic trim in front of that should come off too since you took out the screw holding it on, that's okay because you need to get at those connectors it's hiding.
Now, you're going to want to pull your CDI (the biggest black box that was hiding in front of your air box) out of the way.
(At this point, if you don't have a beer or cold beverage, go get one because you deserve it)

Now undo the 2 nuts holding your gauge cluster in place (DO NOT LOSE THEM)
Pull your cluster loose and follow the wiring down to the 2 connectors on the front left (where that plastic trim was covering) and disconnect those so you can take the cluster all the way off, they're most likely red and white.
Now undo the nuts holding the bracket onto the back of the cluster, pull the bracket off (take a picture so you know how it goes back on) and put the nuts back on the posts so you don't lose them.
Now, take a sip of your tasty beverage as you look at the wires on the back of your turn signal light because you're going to cut them.
Leave enough room (several inches) so you can strip the casing off a bit of them (you'll probably have to unwrap the entire chunk of wires just so this part is easier. Make sure to have some electrical tape handy for rewrapping later, or some of that loom guard tubing you can get at radio shack). Here's where those rectifier diodes come in handy (you can get an assortment pack of them at radio shack for about $14 and then you'll have extras just incase you mess a few up). While you were sipping and looking at the wires you might have noticed that one is brown and the other is green... yup, they're both positive leads. Because the leds don't have enough draw (you're trying to save power while having brighter signals, right?) the extra power bleeds through this bulb into the other side of your system. That sucker is incandescent, so it works both ways! Silly yamaha, building a weak spot into the electrical system... but, it won't be able to bleed across once you're done, haha! Take that yamaha, we're adding inexpensive parts and bringing this system into the 21st century!

Pick one of the wires you just chopped on the back of the bulb and tie it into one of the grounds back there.
You should be left with one wire on the bulb and two wires on your harness.
Solder or crimp a diode onto each wire so you have a diode on each harness wire with the silver band pointed away from the wire you just attached it to because diodes are like 1 way check valves and the silver band designates the direction of flow, we don't want any nackwash. (you should now have 2 wires with diodes).
Now add your heat shrink (or electrical tape, I won't judge you) and leave a bit of the diode wire poking out because both of those need to connect to that bulb wire waiting for you to do something with. Crimp or solder that all together and heatshrink or tape it up. Now that you have that all situated, do a test and hook those connectors back up, make sure your killswitch is set to off, turn your key and test those signals. They should blink at the normal rate, and function properly (if one side works but the other side causes everything to blink/turn on, you probably put a diode in backwards, ask me how I know).
Now reroute everything back to its original place, finish that tasty beverage or crack open another and you are good to go. Pat yourself on the back and swear to never pull all that junk out ever again (until the next time you have to because you're a glutton for punishment and like adding silly parts to your silly bike).
Fin.
 
Last edited:
I see this thread is a couple of days old, but... For me Fighting with electrical issues or lack of not wire marketed light use a 9volt battery to check and see what does what.. then mark them and it should help out a lot...lol I used to use it on speakers in cars.... good thing also is you won't blow any fuses when checking it, and a 9 volt battery doesnt really have much amperage....
 
I'm cannibal, you happen to have a pic or a package number on them diodes from the radio shack? Great write up, and will be doing this as soon as ya let me know them if possible. Our radio shack has become a modern day pussy as junk store for lazy assholes. They literally don't carry half of what they should but they have a ton of remote control cars and cell phones and junk batteries


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I had this exact problem when I switched to 100% led bulbs on my max, the fix is simple but requires you to get elbow deep in your max. Ignore using resistors, they don't always work and they cause your leds to be way dimmer than they should be.

First, get an LED Flasher relay and install it on the brown and brown/white wires under your left scoop (just cut the wires off the factory relay and leave the rest intact, you can mount the relay with one of the factory screws in there).

Before you button that back up you'll need some rectifier diodes and some heat shrink tubing, also some solder and a soldering iron OR some crimp connectors if you aren't handy with a soldering iron because the next part involves chopping 2 wires on the back of your gauge cluster and ADDING a wire.
Pull off your air box cover, then pull out your air box, then unscrew all the screws holding the left rubber plate holding all the electrical junk in place (let it dangle, it'll be fine) the plastic trim in front of that should come off too since you took out the screw holding it on, that's okay because you need to get at those connectors it's hiding.
Now, you're going to want to pull your CDI (the biggest black box that was hiding in front of your air box) out of the way.
(At this point, if you don't have a beer or cold beverage, go get one because you deserve it)

Now undo the 2 nuts holding your gauge cluster in place (DO NOT LOSE THEM)
Pull your cluster loose and follow the wiring down to the 2 connectors on the front left (where that plastic trim was covering) and disconnect those so you can take the cluster all the way off, they're most likely red and white.
Now undo the nuts holding the bracket onto the back of the cluster, pull the bracket off (take a picture so you know how it goes back on) and put the nuts back on the posts so you don't lose them.
Now, take a sip of your tasty beverage as you look at the wires on the back of your turn signal light because you're going to cut them.
Leave enough room (several inches) so you can strip the casing off a bit of them (you'll probably have to unwrap the entire chunk of wires just so this part is easier. Make sure to have some electrical tape handy for rewrapping later, or some of that loom guard tubing you can get at radio shack). Here's where those rectifier diodes come in handy (you can get an assortment pack of them at radio shack for about $14 and then you'll have extras just incase you mess a few up). While you were sipping and looking at the wires you might have noticed that one is brown and the other is green... yup, they're both positive leads. Because the leds don't have enough draw (you're trying to save power while having brighter signals, right?) the extra power bleeds through this bulb into the other side of your system. That sucker is incandescent, so it works both ways! Silly yamaha, building a weak spot into the electrical system... but, it won't be able to bleed across once you're done, haha! Take that yamaha, we're adding inexpensive parts and bringing this system into the 21st century!

Pick one of the wires you just chopped on the back of the bulb and tie it into one of the grounds back there.
You should be left with one wire on the bulb and two wires on your harness.
Solder or crimp a diode onto each wire so you have a diode on each harness wire with the silver band pointed away from the wire you just attached it to because diodes are like 1 way check valves and the silver band designates the direction of flow, we don't want any nackwash. (you should now have 2 wires with diodes).
Now add your heat shrink (or electrical tape, I won't judge you) and leave a bit of the diode wire poking out because both of those need to connect to that bulb wire waiting for you to do something with. Crimp or solder that all together and heatshrink or tape it up. Now that you have that all situated, do a test and hook those connectors back up, make sure your killswitch is set to off, turn your key and test those signals. They should blink at the normal rate, and function properly (if one side works but the other side causes everything to blink/turn on, you probably put a diode in backwards, ask me how I know).
Now reroute everything back to its original place, finish that tasty beverage or crack open another and you are good to go. Pat yourself on the back and swear to never pull all that junk out ever again (until the next time you have to because you're a glutton for punishment and like adding silly parts to your silly bike).
Fin.



Great info!! Thanks
 
Ok, so I followed what was posted and the signals work, and so does the indicator bulb. Now, when I plug my wires in to run the signals as marker lights as well, I have issues. Is anyone else here running their signals also as markers too?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Latest posts

Back
Top