//ArrowChat Code
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 36

Thread: 200s headlight works but not bright

  1. #1
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354

    200s headlight works but not bright

    Ok got on my bike from making an evening hunt it was dark took off had my light on high was working fine about halfway back it started flickering going from bright to nothing light was still on but couldnt see anything well it flickered like that for probably half mile then finally gave out it the bulb was still on but wasnt bright enough to see anything. Does anybody have any ideas what it could be? Bike was running fine like normal

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Do the Ohm test on the lighting coil. The 200S has no regulator or anything else to effect the power, so unless you have an LED headlight or some wild card it might be a sign the lighting coil in the stator is going bad (shorting out internally).

    At the engine connector test ohms between yellow and green wires. Service manual doesn't give actual numbers, but it should be around 0.1-1 ohms based on other service manuals.

    Did you replace the headlight recently? It's a bit of an odd ball wattage, it should be a 45w/45w bulb, but I think 55w is more common. Not 100% sure if overloading the stator would cause it to overheat, but I have a feeling that could be what happens. Tail light should be around 5w, stator's max output is 50w (45w + 5w).

    Another possible thing which would be kind of weird is the bulb burnt out, and the bumps was just right for the filament to get connection and loose connection over and over, but in my experience, once it touches again, it basically welds back together and doesn't loose connection till the light is turned off and it cools enough to break the weld. Aka, tap on your blown tail light and if it lights up, your good for the trip till you turn it off again. Haven't really had headlights that kept enough of the filament to have this effect though.

    Maybe the headlight bought has dual filaments, one for normal usage, and one high resistance one so when it blows it gives a tiny bit of light as a backup?

    Either case, pull the headlight bulb and inspect for wattage rating and check if it's blown.


    If you need to replace the bulb, I happen to sell replacements, not sure if anyone else sells them for a better price, but it's an option atleast and I know it's the right wattage. Not trying to run this into advertising, just stating if you need it, it's atleast the right part.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/202650489730

  3. #3
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354
    Quote Originally Posted by ps2fixer View Post
    Do the Ohm test on the lighting coil. The 200S has no regulator or anything else to effect the power, so unless you have an LED headlight or some wild card it might be a sign the lighting coil in the stator is going bad (shorting out internally).

    At the engine connector test ohms between yellow and green wires. Service manual doesn't give actual numbers, but it should be around 0.1-1 ohms based on other service manuals.

    Did you replace the headlight recently? It's a bit of an odd ball wattage, it should be a 45w/45w bulb, but I think 55w is more common. Not 100% sure if overloading the stator would cause it to overheat, but I have a feeling that could be what happens. Tail light should be around 5w, stator's max output is 50w (45w + 5w).

    Another possible thing which would be kind of weird is the bulb burnt out, and the bumps was just right for the filament to get connection and loose connection over and over, but in my experience, once it touches again, it basically welds back together and doesn't loose connection till the light is turned off and it cools enough to break the weld. Aka, tap on your blown tail light and if it lights up, your good for the trip till you turn it off again. Haven't really had headlights that kept enough of the filament to have this effect though.

    Maybe the headlight bought has dual filaments, one for normal usage, and one high resistance one so when it blows it gives a tiny bit of light as a backup?

    Either case, pull the headlight bulb and inspect for wattage rating and check if it's blown.


    If you need to replace the bulb, I happen to sell replacements, not sure if anyone else sells them for a better price, but it's an option atleast and I know it's the right wattage. Not trying to run this into advertising, just stating if you need it, it's atleast the right part.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/202650489730
    The bulb isnt blown i need to check it at night and see how it does when it first starts maybe somthing is overheating causing it to do that and go from there if its not bright from the start or if it goes dim once being ran for awhile once i figure that out that will give me a better idea whats going on and ill check everything with ohm meter

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354
    Quote Originally Posted by Fullsizechevy9 View Post
    The bulb isnt blown i need to check it at night and see how it does when it first starts maybe somthing is overheating causing it to do that and go from there if its not bright from the start or if it goes dim once being ran for awhile once i figure that out that will give me a better idea whats going on and ill check everything with ohm meter

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
    Its a dual filament light 1 for low and 1 for high maybe the lighting coil is going bad

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354
    Quote Originally Posted by Fullsizechevy9 View Post
    Its a dual filament light 1 for low and 1 for high maybe the lighting coil is going bad

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
    My tailight has never worked even with a good bulb i played with connections and never could get it to work wasnt really that worried about it long as the headlight worked

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    No tail light means the headlight is over driven (over voltage) slightly, basically the voltage design is for 50w, and you're only using 45w, excess power shows up as higher voltage since there's no regulator to add the load dynamically.

    I guess I should mention other possible causes could be wiring, connections, and light switches. Since you have issues with the tail light, maybe that's a sign there's some issues with the wiring. The wiring to the tail light should have ~12v AC with the machine running and lights on. Also this machine is nice enough you can disconnect the brown wire at the handle bar controls too, so you could unplug just that one wire and test on the switch side for the 12v AC. We already know the power supply into the switch works (atleast did), so for the tail light issue, it's between the switch assembly and the tail light bulb (socket could be rusty etc too).

    If the tail light was working, it could indicate what's going on too, like if the headlight is dim but the tail light is bright or blows, the power supply is fine, but the bulb would be at fault.

    Anyway the lighting system really doesn't have much going on, just lighting coil -> headlight switches -> bulbs in stock form. Other models mix in the ignition switch, voltage regulator, battery, fuses, etc.

  7. #7
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354
    Quote Originally Posted by ps2fixer View Post
    No tail light means the headlight is over driven (over voltage) slightly, basically the voltage design is for 50w, and you're only using 45w, excess power shows up as higher voltage since there's no regulator to add the load dynamically.

    I guess I should mention other possible causes could be wiring, connections, and light switches. Since you have issues with the tail light, maybe that's a sign there's some issues with the wiring. The wiring to the tail light should have ~12v AC with the machine running and lights on. Also this machine is nice enough you can disconnect the brown wire at the handle bar controls too, so you could unplug just that one wire and test on the switch side for the 12v AC. We already know the power supply into the switch works (atleast did), so for the tail light issue, it's between the switch assembly and the tail light bulb (socket could be rusty etc too).

    If the tail light was working, it could indicate what's going on too, like if the headlight is dim but the tail light is bright or blows, the power supply is fine, but the bulb would be at fault.

    Anyway the lighting system really doesn't have much going on, just lighting coil -> headlight switches -> bulbs in stock form. Other models mix in the ignition switch, voltage regulator, battery, fuses, etc.
    Ill start playing with it more see what i can figure out no tailight meaning the headlight is getting a little to much power making it overheat would make sense ill see if i can get the tailight going and go from there

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354
    Quote Originally Posted by Fullsizechevy9 View Post
    Ill start playing with it more see what i can figure out no tailight meaning the headlight is getting a little to much power making it overheat would make sense ill see if i can get the tailight going and go from there

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
    I fixed it thanks for the help they really are simple machines once u learn how everything works turned out to be just bad connections going from,the harness to the socket on the back light i played with it before but never with a tester i tested if before the switch and after the switch and had power and the socket looked good so i got some needle nose pliers and made sure the bullet connecters were seated good and that was the problem i guess or they are just wore out and needed to be tighter either way its all working good headlight works fine cold so i think it was getting to much voltage like you said and overheated now i got the tailight working so it should work fine now guess ill find out this weekend when i go hunt thats why i always keep extra flashlights never know what can happen hate to be stuck in the dark with no light and cant see where im going to many twists and turns for that again thank you for the help your always helpful

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Not a problem =). Have to love those bullet terminals, even when they fail you can get more life out of them with the pliers lol. How did they look corrosion wise? I'm pretty sure most bullet terminals are tin plated brass, so corrosion would be similar to copper, green or dark like black. Sounds like the terminals just lost their spring tension a bit from age though. If it's corroded, unplugging and plugin it back in a few times should knock it down to clean brass again. There's a couple spots where they rub together where the actual connection is made the best. On the new ones I have, those spots are so sharp they are really hard to unplug (like 20-25lbs of pull to pull apart). I should get one of them force meters/scales and market that on my listings, like hang a 15lb weight from a single bullet terminal and advertise my connectors actually connect, then show a Chinese one with a 2lb weight that fell apart from the poor spring tension. Almost needs to be a video lol.

  10. #10
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354
    Quote Originally Posted by ps2fixer View Post
    Not a problem =). Have to love those bullet terminals, even when they fail you can get more life out of them with the pliers lol. How did they look corrosion wise? I'm pretty sure most bullet terminals are tin plated brass, so corrosion would be similar to copper, green or dark like black. Sounds like the terminals just lost their spring tension a bit from age though. If it's corroded, unplugging and plugin it back in a few times should knock it down to clean brass again. There's a couple spots where they rub together where the actual connection is made the best. On the new ones I have, those spots are so sharp they are really hard to unplug (like 20-25lbs of pull to pull apart). I should get one of them force meters/scales and market that on my listings, like hang a 15lb weight from a single bullet terminal and advertise my connectors actually connect, then show a Chinese one with a 2lb weight that fell apart from the poor spring tension. Almost needs to be a video lol.
    There wasnt any corrosion that i could see but i used some corrosion cleaner stuff i sprayed on them to be on the safe side they were def wore out and wasnt getting a good connection when plugged in by hand used pliers and made them fit tighter knew i had power was just a,connection problem i should have used a tester before but wasnt worried about it i didnt think about the headlight would be getting to much power this is a great site learn alot from here but yea good connectors are a must i see that isnt somthing you want to go cheap on for sure love these bikes they just run and run cant kill them and are so simple to work on screw these modern bikes i love my old 3 wheeler it gets the job done and i can throw it in back my truck dont even need ramps and can get it unstuck out of anything even that suction mud its so light i love it perfect hunting bike i can probably get places some of those big 500s cant and dont need a winch or another bike when im stuck cant beat it may not have as much rack space to haul stuff but theres ways around that

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Haha, well if you want to have a fun read on a "modern" machine and it's problems, follow along the thread linked below. Took me a while to find the full wire diagram in the service manual, once I found that I could figure out where power comes from and such and we have it narrowed down pretty well now. Only been about 3 months trying to find the source of the problem and 5 pages of replies xD. That post + my internet searching validates I don't want a Kawasaki Brute Force.

    http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthr...rce-wont-start

  12. #12
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354
    Quote Originally Posted by ps2fixer View Post
    Haha, well if you want to have a fun read on a "modern" machine and it's problems, follow along the thread linked below. Took me a while to find the full wire diagram in the service manual, once I found that I could figure out where power comes from and such and we have it narrowed down pretty well now. Only been about 3 months trying to find the source of the problem and 5 pages of replies xD. That post + my internet searching validates I don't want a Kawasaki Brute Force.

    http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthr...rce-wont-start
    Modern machines are so expensive the can am x3 turbos are the price of a new vehicle or a new single wide trailer they are awesome but so expensive and once that warranty is up your on your own now im sure with time and research you can probably figure out just about anything with the internet now days if you have the brains and patience but im a simple person im happy with my 06 z71 and 84 3 wheeler i like being able to fix things myself the few times they do break and save money like they say more money more problems and thats true with just about anything in life long as i can make it in the woods into a deer stand im happy my dream is to own about 1000acres and go off grid live off my land dont have neighbors for miles

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Man 1000 acres, you'd have to move to like texas or something to find that kind of land. I'd be happy with 80, currently have almost 6.

    Yea quads + turbos = more things to go wrong than just fuel injection, you have turbo, the oil for the turbo, ECU lean/rich conditions based on boost etc.

    An 06 Z71, such a new vehicle xD, My newest is a 1998 Toyota T100, but my daily is a 1990 LS400 Lexus (Japanese V8, sooooooo smooth running). I linked the commercial below for the LS400, you might remember it as it stood out pretty well to be memorable. Mine's not quite that smooth any more with like 228k on it, but I also have to do 20 years of maintenance on it and change out the O2 sensors because the kick up valve for the power steering was sucking power steering fluid and probably took out the O2 sensors. It's a v8, doesn't need that kick up valve, so just took the valve apart, welded it shut and used it as a plug.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1vZenBX4-0

    To be completely honest, I don't care about the Luxary options on the LS400, just RWD + V8 powered car that gets ~20-22mpg, up to 25-27mph on the expressway. I switched from a Corolla with about 30% the power and almost double the mpg. The smoothest ride I've ever had in a car is a nice perk though.

    Also here's a recreation of the commercial by bbc top gear back in the early 90's and they show the test done on the other luxary cars. You can rewind the video and watch the whole thing, long story short, Lexus was the cheapest, had the best specs, and I think the top speed was 1 mph slower than the fastest (149mph vs 150mph). I also think it had the best mpg rating.

    https://youtu.be/FXSRn_rC-KI?t=81

  14. #14
    Fullsizechevy9 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    354
    Quote Originally Posted by ps2fixer View Post
    Man 1000 acres, you'd have to move to like texas or something to find that kind of land. I'd be happy with 80, currently have almost 6.

    Yea quads + turbos = more things to go wrong than just fuel injection, you have turbo, the oil for the turbo, ECU lean/rich conditions based on boost etc.

    An 06 Z71, such a new vehicle xD, My newest is a 1998 Toyota T100, but my daily is a 1990 LS400 Lexus (Japanese V8, sooooooo smooth running). I linked the commercial below for the LS400, you might remember it as it stood out pretty well to be memorable. Mine's not quite that smooth any more with like 228k on it, but I also have to do 20 years of maintenance on it and change out the O2 sensors because the kick up valve for the power steering was sucking power steering fluid and probably took out the O2 sensors. It's a v8, doesn't need that kick up valve, so just took the valve apart, welded it shut and used it as a plug.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1vZenBX4-0

    To be completely honest, I don't care about the Luxary options on the LS400, just RWD + V8 powered car that gets ~20-22mpg, up to 25-27mph on the expressway. I switched from a Corolla with about 30% the power and almost double the mpg. The smoothest ride I've ever had in a car is a nice perk though.

    Also here's a recreation of the commercial by bbc top gear back in the early 90's and they show the test done on the other luxary cars. You can rewind the video and watch the whole thing, long story short, Lexus was the cheapest, had the best specs, and I think the top speed was 1 mph slower than the fastest (149mph vs 150mph). I also think it had the best mpg rating.

    https://youtu.be/FXSRn_rC-KI?t=81
    Lol thats why i said dream i will never have that much land but would be nice if i ever got rich would never have to worry about neighbors or having deer on the property tennessee has good tracts of land cheap around $1000 per acre some tracts are even cheaper and they have some good deer in tenn its really all about management keeping plenty food and mineral licks on the property along with water year round is the main thing and of course cover and you can grow some big deer i dont think ill ever buy a new vehicle ill stick with used would love to buy a 2016 duramax they have held up pretty good so far with minimal problems thats probably the newest i would go unless somthing newer was proven to be reliable i love my 06 its manual 4wd shifter on the floor with the 3.73 rear end with the locker when it slips single cab so i can get places the bigger heavy crew cabs never could those old toyotas lexas and nissans really hold up well and hold their value

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Yea, sadly when Toyota T100 became the Tundra, they went to electric 4x4 button. I don't think they are as problematic as like a chevy one, but still a failure point that basically was never a problem for manual shift transmissions. You could also "feel" if there was something going on, can't feel the button too easy and say humm somethings not right. Like when my uncle first got his Tundra we all went out in state land and off roaded a bit, he got off the ground on 3 wheels on a hill so he stopped and pressed the 4x4 button, but he didn't put it in neutral first, so the wheel off the ground was going like 20mph or so, so when it locked it it went ca thunk and he was like wtf was that. No damage or anything, he still drives the truck, been like 5 years now. I think he's around like 250k on it. His son's truck was at 300k, he was off roading beating the snot out of it and the radiator tank broke and he didn't notice the temp gauge, so he over heated the engine so bad that it stalled. My dad checked the engine out and AL from the pistons transferred to the cylinder walls, so correct fix would be to bore it to the next size, new pistons etc.

    Kind of funny his cooling system fail him, while my corolla's cooling system was amazing (made in USA just like the Tundra), I did a system48 treatment which requires a hot engine for 15 mins. Did the typical thing, let it idle to warm up, dump in the system48, then let it idle for another 15 mins. Well we got talking and it was out there for about an hour. Checked it and the temp gauge was in the red, scan gauge said peak temp was 278F. Didn't boil over, no head gasket issues, etc. Just drove the car to cool it down and put 80k miles on it. About 2 years later the radiator tank got a small crack in it so had to replace it.

    Pretty much all the Toyota trucks came with 4.10 gearing and the ones with big tire packages came with 4.56 gearing. Rare cases 4.88 was an option. 2wd pickups got higher geared rear ends, 3.48 to around 3.73. The old 4 speed trucks (no over drive) had around a 3.32 rear end to make up for the no overdrive. My 2wd 86 pickcup 2.4L 5 speed manual with 3.48 gearing and over sized tires (jeep stock tires) and a front caliper that was hanging up, and the carb float wasn't working (engine flooded at idle), I got around 30mpg. Great little truck, super simple, and nearly nothing that goes wrong with them, I just wanted 4x4, more power (v6), stick, extended cab which I got as a 96 Tacoma 3.4L 4x4 stick. Had it about a year the frame issue showed up, sold it for $1000 and got my $500 beater T100 fixed up. T100 has a bad injector now, probably my fault, I put the wrong computer in it and it took out the igniter, all 3 coil packs, so the injectors would make sense too. Live and learn. Good thing I have parts engines, parts vehicles etc.

    Cheapest I've seen land was around 6-7 years ago, north of me about an hour drive 40-80 acre lots were being sold for $600 per acre for vacant wooded land. I was so tempted to try to get a loan for it, but that area has nothing, probably be a 45 min drive to the nearest city. Nothing that a freezer and having some animals wouldn't fix. I wouldn't mind living off the grid, but I'd rather have the grid hooked up atleast for backup (like $7/month based on my bill). I guess generator backup would work too, just be a lot more expensive to deal with an outage/issue (fuel vs power grid prices).

    Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, Honda all have something in common.... Japanese companies. There really seems to be something to that, heck most of those brands are more American made than American branded vehicles. I'd have to find the chart again, but around 2012 or so, the Toyota Camry was one of the few vehicles that could be in the top 10 most american made cars list.... around that time the next year it was only a top 7 list because so few vehicles with 50%+ of the parts made in usa.

//ArrowChat Integreation Code //