Headlight malfunctioning

[Ernie_imp]

Hi All
My light and low beam are not working, however the overtaking high beam flasher works and the low beam flickers on during engine starter engaged during starting. Anybody here experienced anything similar before I start quessing.
Thanks DT

 

[Houtman_imp]

Check the fuse first and try a new bulb.

 

[Cormanus]

Clean out the ignition switch. A dirty terminal can cause low beam not to work. It’s something to do with the part of the switch that turns the light off as you crank the bike.

 

[Lord Popgun]

What Cormanus said. Then we can go from there.

We aren’t good at guessing here. Logical troubleshooting will lead to problems getting fixed without throwing parts at it or just guessing. We can help with that.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Does the headlight circuit disable when the starter is asserted?

If so, could it be a flakey relay?

 

[flynrider]

Hi All
My light and low beam are not working, however the overtaking high beam flasher works and the low beam flickers on during engine starter engaged during starting. Anybody here experienced anything similar before I start quessing.
Thanks DT

This is a good clue. There is a switch that is supposed to cut out the headlight when the engine cranks. It's purpose is to reduce the load on the battery when starting. The fact that your low beam is flickering with the starter engaged would suggest that the switch or its connections are going bad.

I've never had a problem with this, but I know that the cutoff switch is located in the housing with the starter button.

Edit : It seems that this is a common Honda issue. Google "honda headlight cut off switch" and you'll see a lot of similar problems.

 

[Ernie_imp]

Hi All
My light and low beam are not working, however the overtaking high beam flasher works and the low beam flickers on during engine starter engaged during starting. Anybody here experienced anything similar before I start quessing.
Thanks DT

This is a good clue. There is a switch that is supposed to cut out the headlight when the engine cranks. It's purpose is to reduce the load on the battery when starting. The fact that your low beam is flickering with the starter engaged would suggest that the switch or its connections are going bad.

I've never had a problem with this, but I know that the cutoff switch is located in the housing with the starter button.

Edit : It seems that this is a common Honda issue. Google "honda headlight cut off switch" and you'll see a lot of similar problems.

This is a good clue. There is a switch that is supposed to cut out the headlight when the engine cranks. It's purpose is to reduce the load on the battery when starting. The fact that your low beam is flickering with the starter engaged would suggest that the switch or its connections are going bad.

I've never had a problem with this, but I know that the cutoff switch is located in the housing with the starter button.

Edit : It seems that this is a common Honda issue. Google "honda headlight cut off switch" and you'll see a lot of similar problems.
Thanks all.
I will clean up contacts in the engine start and cutoff switch housing on the weekend and report back. I suspect this component is faulty as the engine cutoff switch did have an intermittent fault some years ago but it self repaired.
I have looked at the fuses and tried a new bulb...... no joy.

Thanks for the tips
Ernie

 

[max]

Ernie Flynnrider is on the ball, the headlight uses the normally closed contacts of the engine start switch ( the black one that starts the engine ).
It normally conducts the headlamp supply unless the switch is pushed to start the engine, it then brakes the circuit ( to save energy and re-connects the headlight to low or high beam.
This switch is independent of the high beam signal switch on the left hand handle bar.
which explains why this switch is functioning as intended.

The previous issue with the red engine stop switch suggests some moisture has worked itself into the handle bar switches.
Here is a simplified diagram if that helps;


Could be some contact spray and some motivation of the switch may solve the issue for you or simply bypass that switch and connect the wires of the normally closed contacts together so the headlights are just on all the time, cheers.

 

[Lord Popgun]

Max, thanks for that. I was going to have to delve in to the diagram and now I don’t!!

NZ to the rescue again!

 

[Ernie_imp]

Ernie Flynnrider is on the ball, the headlight uses the normally closed contacts of the engine start switch ( the black one that starts the engine ).
It normally conducts the headlamp supply unless the switch is pushed to start the engine, it then brakes the circuit ( to save energy and re-connects the headlight to low or high beam.
This switch is independent of the high beam signal switch on the left hand handle bar.
which explains why this switch is functioning as intended.

The previous issue with the red engine stop switch suggests some moisture has worked itself into the handle bar switches.
Here is a simplified diagram if that helps;


Could be some contact spray and some motivation of the switch may solve the issue for you or simply bypass that switch and connect the wires of the normally closed contacts together so the headlights are just on all the time, cheers.

Thanks Max
A quick tap of the starter switch bought the headlight back on, so that is my problem. A cleanup and away again.
I have been using my CB to commute to work for the last month now and I notice that it runs very smoothly with the constant use.
Ernie

 

[Lord Popgun]

Excellent Ernie! I glad it was a simple fix!

 

[max]

Nice work Ernie, not only are the lights back on but the feedback lets every one else know what the cause was so if it happens to anyone else they now know how to repair it, even on the net which checks key words and provide answers to searches in relation to it, that's why we appreciate the outcome of a case study, happy 2021!