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Windshield Motor Relay


haildamage

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my windshield stopped working. it would go up but not back down. now it's stuck in the full up position. i've been reading the archives and that sounds like a relay problem, right?

 

if so, which relay do i need? i think it's under the dash? how hard would it be to get in there and wind it down by hand for a short term fix?

 

thanks

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duh, i forgot to say it's a 96 R1199RT. running an aeroflow shield in the winter (now).

 

it finally stopped raining long enough so i tried holding down the windshield rocker and turning the bike on and off. it worked the first time and brought the shield down. i then foolishly pushed it back up. it required four or five more on/off tries before it came back down again.

 

i'm really happy to have it down. that's where i want it if it's not adjustable! i had to ride for three days looking through that shield as it got stuck on the way to a two night camping trip.

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Anton Largiader

I'd be looking at the switch before the relay. Unfortunately the left combo switch is something like $90 now. Do you hear any clicking when you try to lower it? If you pull the switch off the lever housing you may be able to jumper the wires needed to lower the windshield. That would focus the fault as being the switch rather than the relay.

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The relays (there is one for up and one for down) are located behind the front edge of the front faring / nose somewhat left of center. The easiest way to get to them is to remove the front faring. Possibilities for what you are seeing are switch issues, the relay sockets are corroded (common), or a bad relay itself.

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I'd be looking at the switch before the relay. Unfortunately the left combo switch is something like $90 now. Do you hear any clicking when you try to lower it? If you pull the switch off the lever housing you may be able to jumper the wires needed to lower the windshield. That would focus the fault as being the switch rather than the relay.

 

i don't hear any clicking. what does that mean? switch or relay?

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Joe Frickin' Friday
I'd be looking at the switch before the relay. Unfortunately the left combo switch is something like $90 now. Do you hear any clicking when you try to lower it? If you pull the switch off the lever housing you may be able to jumper the wires needed to lower the windshield. That would focus the fault as being the switch rather than the relay.

 

i don't hear any clicking. what does that mean? switch or relay?

 

Still uncertain. A bad contact on the pin that powers the coil in the relay would mean you don't hear a click, even though the switch is working fine.

 

FWIW, the microswitches (one at each end of the rocker) on the left grip are fully sealed/waterproof; the problem is likely to be on the connection pins of the relays under the fairing. You may not even need new relays: just pull the fairing, pull the relays, clean the pins and put some dielectric grease on them (to prevent future corrosion), and put it all back together.

 

fairing removal:

 

-remove tupperware

-remove windscreen

-remove mirrors

-remove dashboard

 

Now, in the holes where the turn signal wires sockets pass thru to get to the mirrors, look for a very large phillips-head screw at the bottom of that hole. Remove those screws, one on each side of the bike. Tilt fairing forward; relays are at right/rear/upper portion.

 

You don't have to fully detach the fairing to complete the job. But if you need to for some other reason, the headlight assembly stays with the fairing; just remove electrical connector and pull out the parking lamp.

 

Have I missed anything? crazy.gif

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just pull the fairing, pull the relays, clean the pins and put some dielectric grease on them (to prevent future corrosion), and put it all back together.

 

fairing removal:

 

-remove tupperware

-remove windscreen

-remove mirrors

-remove dashboard

 

Now, in the holes where the turn signal wires sockets pass thru to get to the mirrors, look for a very large phillips-head screw at the bottom of that hole. Remove those screws, one on each side of the bike. Tilt fairing forward; relays are at right/rear/upper portion.

 

You don't have to fully detach the fairing to complete the job. But if you need to for some other reason, the headlight assembly stays with the fairing; just remove electrical connector and pull out the parking lamp.

 

Have I missed anything? crazy.gif

 

thanks for the step by step. i'll try to find some dielectric grease and do that. clap.gif

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Survived-til-now

Do a search on the Oilhead site this has come up before.

 

On my 1150 RT (do you really have an 1199RT?) it was the connector that was the problem not the relay and as you have two that can be swapped over i would check that out first. It is not that difficlut to drop the headlight unit but a tip I would give is to have a couple of straps handy so that you just drop the unit forward enough to get at the relays without having to take the whole unit off the bike.

 

Good luck

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indeed, i have an 1100. shoulda sprung for the backlit keyboard or previewed my post dopeslap.gif

 

anyway, the relay seemed to appreciate the dielectric massage, and the windshield motor is working for now.

 

thanks for all the great tips. i could have never done it without this forum! bmwsporttouring rocks! thumbsup.gifclap.gif

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I had similar problem and the Micro switch was the problem.

 

 

If you have a meter, check the switches out first before going through the hassle of taking the front fairing apart. It is easy to take the switch assembly off and access the connections on the back of the switch.

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If it happens again, you may want to check the micro switches on the cable hub. If either of them are not transferring properly, it can hang up in either direction.

 

I've fixed a couple of these micro switches by snapping them apart, cleaning the contacts and putting the tension springs back in the correct spot. The first time you take one apart, do it inside a large plastic bag. smile.gif Also, take a good digital picture of the hub before you do.

 

Mick

Tucson

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