97 R850R-Left side flashers suddenly not working.

[Dave-1997 R850R]

An introduction, and advice.

 

Went through a midlife crises and bought a 97 R850R with roughly 78K miles for my first road bike last spring---and fell in love. I have ridden other bikes since, not Oilheads or BMW, and none of them have the feel or the balance. She is a great bike and is treating me very well. I have gone all though her and replaced fluids and tires, new windscreen etc. However, NASA, we have a problem. 

 

The long and the short of it is that the complete left side flashers, that were working, now do not. Symptoms 

 

Right side flashers work.

Four way flashers--flash right side only.

Left side flashers-Do not work

Idiot Dash Lights--Right side blinks

Idiot Dash Lights Left Side--Left side does not. No indicator on the dash, as if nothing was pressed.

Flasher OFF button kills the right side flashers as expected.

 

Things tested.

 

Changed housing and bulbs from right to left--no change.

Took out the relay and opened it. It "appeared" to be in good shape. no visible signs of deterioration/malfunction.

Took apart left side switch assembly--nothing appeared dysfunctional or "gummy". Horn and hi/lo all work as expected. 

 

I will openly admit that I am only slightly above completely ignorant with a multimeter. I am not adverse to learning, nor am I mechanically uninclined. Just unpracticed and unlearned. 

 

Any help or thoughts, much appreciated.

 

[Redfoxx]

I am no help new to BMW last fall with a 2004 RT The only thing I can think of is the famous "Did you check your blinker fluid". 

Reading chats out here some to the electronic are intermingled in these bikes.

 

Dirt Rider and several others will most likely be able to help you.

 

I just couldn't not resist the "out of blinker fluid" Sorry

 

 

[dirtrider]

15 hours ago, Dave-1997 R850R said:

An introduction, and advice.

 

Went through a midlife crises and bought a 97 R850R with roughly 78K miles for my first road bike last spring---and fell in love. I have ridden other bikes since, not Oilheads or BMW, and none of them have the feel or the balance. She is a great bike and is treating me very well. I have gone all though her and replaced fluids and tires, new windscreen etc. However, NASA, we have a problem. 

 

The long and the short of it is that the complete left side flashers, that were working, now do not. Symptoms 

 

Right side flashers work.

Four way flashers--flash right side only.

Left side flashers-Do not work

Idiot Dash Lights--Right side blinks

Idiot Dash Lights Left Side--Left side does not. No indicator on the dash, as if nothing was pressed.

Flasher OFF button kills the right side flashers as expected.

 

Things tested.

 

Changed housing and bulbs from right to left--no change.

Took out the relay and opened it. It "appeared" to be in good shape. no visible signs of deterioration/malfunction.

Took apart left side switch assembly--nothing appeared dysfunctional or "gummy". Horn and hi/lo all work as expected. 

 

I will openly admit that I am only slightly above completely ignorant with a multimeter. I am not adverse to learning, nor am I mechanically uninclined. Just unpracticed and unlearned. 

 

Any help or thoughts, much appreciated.

 

Morning Dave

 

What country are you  in? The 850R is a lot more popular in Europe than the USA? It can make a difference in the wiring diagram used for troubleshooting. 

 

Your problem is most likely either a defective flasher relay or in the blue/red wire coming out of the flasher relay socket going to the left side front & rear turn signal bulbs. 

 

Let us know what country the motorcycle is in, or better yet what country it was originally sold in, then we will try to give you some troubleshooting ideas.  

 

[Dave-1997 R850R]

Dirt Rider,

 

Funny how you don’t think of that type of thing. Bike is a USA bike, sold here originally.

[dirtrider]

6 minutes ago, Dave-1997 R850R said:

Dirt Rider,

 

Funny how you don’t think of that type of thing. Bike is a USA bike, sold here originally.

Morning Dave

 

OK, the first test is to jump (fused) 12v to the blue/red  wire terminal at the flasher relay socket.

 

Give me a little time then check back at this reply as I am going to try & figure out how to give you precise info on how to identify the  blue/red  wire terminal in the flasher relay socket. The 12v B+ terminal should be easy for you to find in the socket using your voltameter.  

 

[Dave-1997 R850R]

Thank you sir. In the meantime I will start investigating

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Dave-1997 R850R said:

Thank you sir. In the meantime I will start investigating

Morning Dave

 

See if you can find any numbers next to the turn signal socket  terminals? If so it will be easy, if no numbers then we will have to try to identify the relay pins by row & position. There are 2 rows of 6 pins on the turn signal relay,  pins 1 & 2 have 12v power with the key on so  finding pins 1& 2 (also 4,5,6)  will be easy. Pin 12 will be the end pin on the OTHER pin row but I can't tell you what end (yet). Unless there is no terminal pin in the #7 socket  of  the 7-12 row. Then pin 12 will be obvious.

 

Once we identify pin 12 then you need to jump pin 2 to pin 12 then see if the L/H side turn signal bulbs illuminate. If they do then you probably have a bad turn signal relay, if they don't illuminate then you probably have an open in the blue/red wire or bad ground circuit. They have a common ground point but I believe separate ground wires up to the ground wire splice then become one. 

 

 

 

terminal 1 = green/brown 12v (with key on)

terminal 2 = red/white 12v (full time)

terminal 12 = blue/red out to (both front & rear L/H turn signals)

 

 

[dirtrider]

More,

 

Here is a crude simplified circuit drawing of the L/H side turn signal circuit.

 

[Dave-1997 R850R]

Ok-no numbers that I see on the socket, or near the pins etc on the relay, unless you want me to open the relay and look inside. 
 

However—I do see where the brown/green and red/white wire are located in the group and what pins they would be associated with and also blue and blue red

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Dave-1997 R850R said:

Ok-no numbers that I see on the socket, or near the pins etc on the relay, unless you want me to open the relay and look inside. 
 

However—I do see where the brown/green and red/white wire are located in the group and what pins they would be associated with and also blue and blue red

Afternoon thread followers, 

 

A number of forum readers follow these threads, this thread has gone to Personal Messages for a some follow up.

 

We will post a follow up here when the problem is located. Then again after it is repaired.  

 

 

[Dave-1997 R850R]

Okay--Dirtrider and I took this offline in order not to clutter up the post. I will provide a synopsis and what we found as a solution. All I can say is a GIANT THANK YOU for Dirtriders time this morning. His understanding and the ability to communicate that to a completely ignorant individual speaks dividends. I was able to diagnose the problem immediately with his help. Here is the dialogue we had.

 

Dave---I have found and can identify wire colors in relation to pins.  

 

Pin 2--RED/WHITE--is a 12v B+ source for power. You are simply by-passing the turn signal relay by running that 12v B+ RED?WHITE directly to pin 12. BLUE/RED. That 12 v then goes directly out to both L/H side turn signal bulbs to light them.  (this proves the L/H side turn signal circuit is good & will allow proper lighting IF the turn signal relay COULD  provide the 12v).

 

Dirtrider---Next, use a wire or opened paper clip and jumper terminal 2, red/white wire socket pin , to the terminal 12 blue/red wire socket pin.

Dirtrider---Do the L/H side front & rear turn signal bulbs light up???? yes/no?

Dirtrider---If they do & then you probably have a bad turn signal relay (assuming the R/H is still working correctly)

 

Dave--Red/White—to—Blue/Red—produced steady power to both left side front and back lights---no blinking. Idiot dash light stayed on. Key was not necessary.

 

Dirtrider--OK, that pretty well points to a failed turn signal relay.