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Loss of low beam

AlanNZ

Cruisin' Guzzisti
GT Contributor
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Messages
220
Location
Auckland
I have lost low beam on my '12 NTX (both lights). High beam is fine but nothing when I switch to low beam. I pulled the right hand bulb (hi/lo) and connected it to a battery and both filaments work fine. I suspect a relay but the actual wiring colours don't match the wiring diagram (grrrrr) so I'm not sure if I am looking at the High Beam relay or the Light Logic relay? The wiring diagram only shows 1 relay with 5 wires (Light logic relay) but my bike has 2 relays with 5 wires (grrrr)??? When I gave one of the relays ( I think it was the start-up maintenance relay) a small tap my low beam lights came on - so it points to a relay problem? Bike is still under warrantee but its a 100km to the dealer so I'm trying to solve the problem myself.
Is there a fuse on low beam? There is a wire that goes from the alternator to the low beam with no fuse. A can't figure out how the Light Logic and Start-up maintenance relays work? I assume it is so the high and low beams do not operate at the same time and to shut the lights off on start up???.
Any suggestions?
Do these relays give problems? I know the OEM relays on the Quota were known for being problematic.
Regards
Alan NZ
 
AlanNZ.

Sounds very much like the problem I had, it was a faulty relay, it wasn't until they swopped the relay from a new bike that cured the problem, I now carry a spare just in case, shouldn't happen.
The machanic did say the wiring has changed in recent years for the lights, hence not on diagram.

Marshy.
 
john zibell said:
AlanNZ said:
It was a relay problem. All good now.
Alan NZ


Just out of curiosity, which relay?

Yes, and where are they found? This sounds like a relay I would like to carry as a spare. Sure would like to know exactly where to look. Photos appreciated too.

Peter Y.
 
Because the wire colouring does not match the wiring diagram I'm not exactly sure whether it was the light logic relay or the startup maintenance relay. Relays are all located under the right side panel tucked up under the tank at front. They are mounted on the front subframe bracket.
Unlike the wiring diagram both lights dip and both lights go to hi beam - not just the right side hi beam as described in manual. They must have changed the wiring on the later bikes.
Alan NZ
 
Do you remember the colors of the wiring to the relay that was your problem?

I understand that the light relay is also for the charging system.

My charging system and lights are both out of service. The wiring diagram colors don't match at all. Not one of the relays can I identify! Goodness.
 
Never mind on above request for wire colors. I fumbled around until I found the correct relay, which does indeed control both low beams and the charging system on my bike. I was able to pull the plastic cap from the relay, remove the movable contact from the locator slot (thought still connected to the base by the soldered strand wire) and clean the contacts. I reassembled and all works fine so far.

My low beam relay was the most rearward of the relays lined up on the harness and it was a 5 wire relay. Not sure if all Stelvio's are the same.

When removing the plastic relay cover I noticed some oil on the relay. I'm wondering if this oily substance got on the contacts and left residue after burning from the inevitable contact sparking. Not sure if oil cause the failure, but it's odd to have this relay fail after only 3000 miles. Anyone have feedback on such an issue??
 
Oil and Relays do not mix well! First find the cause of the oil (if it still keeps coming) otherwise clean the relay (contacts) with a good electrical contact spray. If there is oil on the contacts, it will act as an insulator when the contacts close.
Another thing to check is if there is scale/burning on the contacts - this can be cleaned up with a points file (you all remember those don't you?) and returned to service after a good spray.

Keep an eye on this as it may recur especially if the source of oil is not found. It might have been a Friday component too!
 
This sounds like another argument for using sealed relays. As I recall, someone in the Guzzi community used to sell sealed relays due to persistent problems with the OEM ones.

Here's a link to another source for sealed relays: http://motratech.com/MGR-C20.html
CORRECTION, a close read of the specs for the MGR-C20 states that it WILL NOT FIT the newer Guzzi bikes, only the spine frame Sports or +1994 Tonti bikes.
FWIW, Ducati had/has a similar problem. When I had an ST2 it was common to carry at least one spare relay. I can remember a couple times my riding buddies needed my spare!

Peter Y.
 
Oz1200Guzzi said:
Oil and Relays do not mix well!

It might have been a Friday component too!

Being an ex Ops Mgr, your "Friday" comment made me laugh. I used to find assembly workers making up their own repair processes when something went wrong. Though applauding them for their ingenuity, sometimes it was necessary to do a little training about how their fix worked for now, but longer term would have a negative result. Not saying it was the cause, but I could easily imagine someone squirting a little oil on the movable contact to make sure it "worked" enough to get through test.

Thanks for the feedback on cleaning process. Under duress, I did what the assemblers would do and used starting fluid to clean it. I did just what I would tell my guys not to!!! :oops:
 
pyoungbl said:
This sounds like another argument for using sealed relays. As I recall, someone in the Guzzi community used to sell sealed relays due to persistent problems with the OEM ones.

Here's a link to another source for sealed relays: http://motratech.com/MGR-C20.html

FWIW, Ducati had/has a similar problem. When I had an ST2 it was common to carry at least one spare relay. I can remember a couple times my riding buddies needed my spare!

Peter Y.

Thanks for the sealed relay source Peter. (Cheaper than I thought too!)
 
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