no gauge lights? 81 750ltd

  • cott10r
  • Topic Author
  • Offline
  • User
  • Motorcyclist for life!!!
More
27 Dec 2008 08:49 #254901 by cott10r
no gauge lights? 81 750ltd was created by cott10r
i have no tach or speedo lights, hard for me to believe all the bulbs are blown, i do have nuetral, oil, brake and all those lights but no dash

2012 kawasaki concours 14
2014 suzuki gsxr 1000
2014 honda crf 250L
1983 kawasaki gpz 550

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Dec 2008 09:05 #254903 by MFolks
Replied by MFolks on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
Do you have a wiring diagram? I'd first check the fuses as the old glass tube ones may look o.k. but have failed internally either from age or vibration. A test light or multimeter will help in troubleshooting this.

If the fuses look good then open up the back of the gauges and check the wiring. It sound like a broken ground wire causing all lights to go out like this. On most Kawasaki's of this era the ground wire is usually black with a yellow stripe.

1982 GPZ1100 B2
General Dynamics/Convair 1983-1993
GLCM BGM-109 Tomahawk, AGM-129A Advanced Cruise Missile (ACM)

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Dec 2008 09:36 - 27 Dec 2008 09:37 #254909 by kztee
Replied by kztee on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
Do you have a tail light? On my '80 750 LTD I have a blown fuse, caused by a yet to be found short, that causes me to loose gauge lights and tail light (the brake light still works).

1977 KZ 1000A - Currently rebuilding
1980 KZ 750 LTD - Mostly stock daily rider
1979 KZ 1000 LTD - Parts bike and/or future project
1979 KZ 1000 ST
1980 GS 750 L
2003 ZRX 1200 R
Last edit: 27 Dec 2008 09:37 by kztee.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Dec 2008 10:13 #254918 by RonKZ650
Replied by RonKZ650 on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
On one of my KZ650s it was a broken wire in the harness. They use wire splices better known as a "T" that makes one wire into 2 or more. Wires can break at these points. It can be either a power problem or a ground so check for 12v on the bulbs. You can then simply tear into the harness, (not the easiest thing), or make your own "T" from a working bulb to the non-working as a hack repair.

321,000 miles on KZ's that I can remember. Not going to see any more.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • cott10r
  • Topic Author
  • Offline
  • User
  • Motorcyclist for life!!!
More
27 Dec 2008 13:07 #254944 by cott10r
Replied by cott10r on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
kztee wrote:

Do you have a tail light? On my '80 750 LTD I have a blown fuse, caused by a yet to be found short, that causes me to loose gauge lights and tail light (the brake light still works).


ya i still have a working tail light. i tried to go out to the garage and work on her but its to damn cold, only in ks is it 70 one day and 20 the next:S

2012 kawasaki concours 14
2014 suzuki gsxr 1000
2014 honda crf 250L
1983 kawasaki gpz 550

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Dec 2008 13:13 #254946 by kztee
Replied by kztee on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
I know the feeling. In Iowa it was 50 degrees yesterday and melted most of our snow. Now we are in the middle of an ice storm with some snow forecast on top of it!

1977 KZ 1000A - Currently rebuilding
1980 KZ 750 LTD - Mostly stock daily rider
1979 KZ 1000 LTD - Parts bike and/or future project
1979 KZ 1000 ST
1980 GS 750 L
2003 ZRX 1200 R

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Dec 2008 19:39 #255004 by violentvintagecycles
Replied by violentvintagecycles on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
Hey bud.. The tach and speedo usually use 2 different connectors. There will be 2 common wires, power, which should be brown and comes from the ignition switch, and grounds, which should be black/yellow or yellow/black. The grounds are behind the headlight, youll have to remove it. The signals, if your bike is similar to mine, run thru that headlight bucket, and there are brackets of sorts attached to those signal stems with the grounds attached to them. Those grounds are mucho important, pretty much grounding out your whole lighting system except for the oil, nuetral. If thats not ur problem, then make sure your getting power from the ignition switch to the gauges. Good luck

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • cott10r
  • Topic Author
  • Offline
  • User
  • Motorcyclist for life!!!
More
28 Dec 2008 02:07 #255053 by cott10r
Replied by cott10r on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
violentvintagecycles wrote:

Hey bud.. The tach and speedo usually use 2 different connectors. There will be 2 common wires, power, which should be brown and comes from the ignition switch, and grounds, which should be black/yellow or yellow/black. The grounds are behind the headlight, youll have to remove it. The signals, if your bike is similar to mine, run thru that headlight bucket, and there are brackets of sorts attached to those signal stems with the grounds attached to them. Those grounds are mucho important, pretty much grounding out your whole lighting system except for the oil, nuetral. If thats not ur problem, then make sure your getting power from the ignition switch to the gauges. Good luck


ok man im going to try this, i went out after my heater got things warm and i couldnt find squat

2012 kawasaki concours 14
2014 suzuki gsxr 1000
2014 honda crf 250L
1983 kawasaki gpz 550

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jan 2009 18:44 #256487 by JR
Replied by JR on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
cott10r wrote:

........ hard for me to believe all the bulbs are blown..........


Thats exactly what I said when I got the beast 5 years ago but indeed all the bulbes were blown. Just old I guess. Remove the backs of the gauges and pull out the bulb holders and take a look.

How did it work out ?

1980 kz750E1, Delkevic exhaust

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
06 Jan 2009 23:06 #256521 by bountyhunter
Replied by bountyhunter on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
cott10r wrote:

i have no tach or speedo lights, hard for me to believe all the bulbs are blown, i do have nuetral, oil, brake and all those lights but no dash

The instrument bulbs blow very easily. Mine always went if the battery was funky because it lets voltage spikes onto the electrical system lines. Those tiny bulbs are the canary in the coal mine.....

1979 KZ-750 Twin

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
07 Jan 2009 06:22 #256538 by Link14
Replied by Link14 on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
Concur with above. When I first got my 400, all the bulbs were blown except the neutral light. Once I replaced them, everything was fine.

My vote would be to try changing the bulbs and see if that fixes the problem.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
07 Jan 2009 17:44 #256616 by keith1
Replied by keith1 on topic no gauge lights? 81 750ltd
kztee wrote:

Do you have a tail light? On my '80 750 LTD I have a blown fuse, caused by a yet to be found short, that causes me to loose gauge lights and tail light (the brake light still works).




same disfunction on my 78 1000 ltd...no tach lite no speedo light, no running lite.brake lite is fine and everything else works...i have guage bulbs....i m just wondering out loud if i change them, will they help restore a circuit and make my
running lite work?....i can twist wrenches, but electrical is definitely not my strong suit!!!!:laugh: ...keith

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Powered by Kunena Forum