Travex
Lost is my destination.
Good job quantifying things! Even better questions. ::008::
I paid my dealer a visit today to show them what I found upon removing the cap.... they did agree that upon visual inspection something did not look right. They are contacting Yamaha regarding the issue and I have full confidence that my harness will be replaced.Obrianmcc said:Looks like I might be the next with harness issues.... found my right side bulb not working this afternoon... popped the cap and found some pretty discolored wires... notice no Blue/Brown .... more like a very faint Lt Blue/White. There is also a white coating on the inside of the cap.
The bike's a 2012 purchased new last Sept .... shortly after I found this thread and as a preventative I removed the plastic connector caps while
at the same time tightening the connectors for hopes of an improved connection to the bulb .... guess it didn't work.
Hello dealer back I come......
IMO this is more of a pure heat issue off the bulb .... I removed the plastic connectors completely last year and at the same time re-crimped the connectors so that I had to work the connectors onto the bulb spades. Wires looked pretty good at that time, but now they are pretty well cooked (Both sides). My dealer jumped right on this and had a response back from Yamaha within a couple of hrs... they asked for pictures and my dealer is pushing for a ASAP replacement (of course they show as being back ordered), we did replace the bulb and it worked, so the harness connection is not dead and for now I have both lights working.bob dirt said:I tried reading all 44 pages...but then just started skipping around.
If it has not been mentioned yet...
If your plug has been overheated, then your male connector of your bulb has possibly been overheated also. If the male plug on the bulb is discolored and you replace just the female part, you will more than likely have problems again in the future because the connection will not be tight enough. Loose connection at the plug is the culprit and was probably caused by replacing burned bulbs, adding aftermarket bulbs, or in most cases here, just not tight enough to start with. Adding after market bulbs or replacing burned ones is not the problem, but not making sure the female clips were tight enough is. 12 volt DC with a 5 amp load only requires #18 wire in this short distance. The wire size is adequate. The connection must start out as tight as possible. It could have been the technician at the factory messing around too long trying to install the plug or the tolerances to loose on the female portion to start with.
I finally checked mine on my 2012 that I bought used and both plugs were very tight. I bent the tabs closer before I re-installed the plugs just to make sure they were tight again after installation. This will be a regular service check for me during oil changes and sometimes on pre-ride inspection.
...again, this is just my opinion. As others would say...YMMV
cb0802 said:37.
That's the number of people on this thread that claim to have had the cooked harness problem (CHP ).
I went through every page of the thread to count them up. 3 people have had the problem twice, and three people have had lights go out but never reported the cause. It also appears that 2 riders have had the entire headlight assembly replaced (one in Italy and one in North America). I wasn't looking for that specifically, so may have missed one or two.
I go today to meet with my dealer. My initial phone call didn't go well, so I'm hoping a visit will help.
Statistically speaking, what’s the magic number required for Yamaha to address the issue? (that's a rhetorical question) And by “address the issue” I don’t mean a full recall. I simply mean that they report this as a potential problem via service bulletin?
That puts it up to 39. I counted you twice in the original tally. I also found out today that mine will be replaced under warranty.sail2xxs said:I've had 4 harnesses replaced to date. The longest lasting harness had an extra ground wire running from the left headlight side to the battery added to it.
Chris
That would be just the 39 that bother to follow/comment on this forum..... ::013::cb0802 said:That puts it up to 39. I counted you twice in the original tally. I also found out today that mine will be replaced under warranty.
Congrats on the 100k!
An interesting observation, but too many people have done just that, cleaned the connectors and applied dielectric grease, well prior to having the issues. I had no indications of melting or heat and did what you suggest at around 36k miles. At 48k miles I lost one light and found a melted connector. This is the only vehicle I've ever had a headlight connector melt on, but it's also the only vehicle I've had that used this particular type of hard plastic connector too. I simply changed to ceramic connectors and have not had further issues so far, now over 65k.CDMartin884 said:I think folks believe its a bad connection, but I dare say its simple corrosion. Even though the case is o-ring sealed, it's not exactly waterproof. I will explain, though it may be sealed from the outside, the bulb generates heat, heat inside creates condensation, though the condensation is minimal, it's enough to create moisture on the connectors, and that moisture turns to corrosion on the inside of the connector over time. That corrosion then causes less contact, which generates more heat, and gone unchecked will caused the current to heat the plastic , and melt it. Viola, you have a melted harness.
Simple solution, clean the connectors and apply dielectric grease.
I see it all the time with high output (Halogen) bulbs in non vacuum sealed environments.
A bit disconcerting though that this one has melted despite the lack of any plastic.EricV said:This is the only vehicle I've ever had a headlight connector melt on, but it's also the only vehicle I've had that used this particular type of hard plastic connector too. I simply changed to ceramic connectors and have not had further issues so far, now over 65k.
While I would agree that there appears to be indication of heat affected wires in that photo, perhaps I missed if OBrianmcc mentioned if the bulb was actually burned out or not. Bulbs do die.twinrider said:A bit disconcerting though that this one has melted despite the lack of any plastic.
It appears so. Physical heat off the bulb is less with HID and you're drawing less wattage thru the actual headlight wire harness since that becomes a trigger signal, not a bulb draw. The ballasts do create heat and should be placed where they get some cooling air flow, (ideally), but out of direct water paths (rain riding).twinrider said:Eric, would 35 watt HIDs run cooler than the stock 55W halogens?