Cooked Headlamp Harness

[Mellow]

Re: Melted Headlight connector

Yeah, I saw that and wanted to reply to add myself as another melted connector.

It should be pretty easy to source a replacement connector and then just add a relay and thicker wire. I emailed Jim at eastern beaver to see if he would be interested in an H7 headlight kit similar to his H4 kits... would make things nice and tidy knowing his work.

I quickly added 65w bulbs after getting my bike so I'm thinking that was my problem. I added HIDs which were back to 55w and never notice the connector melting more than what little it was after my 65w bulb... ran several thousands of miles w/HIDs and no melting but decided to pull the HIDs as I'm really wanting the Squadrons and saw where the remote for those may not work well w/HIDs... only 10 miles after the 65w'ers went back in did they start flickering and the melting was bad.

I put the 55w oems back in and the connector still gets very hot so I think it's compromised and a replacement may be good enough, not sure. I will more than likely just upgrade all that wiring to heavy duty stuff.

 

[mcbrien]

Re: Melted Headlight connector

Yea , I was on the other thread also . As an update my dealer got in a new harness under warrenty
but there busy and there's no rush to install since they cut of plug and added female spade connectors
to wires to keep me on the road . We also want to see if wireing gets any worse with these new connectors .
If wires hold up I'm thinking of adding ceramic connectors to new harness before installation .

 

[Tremor38]

Re: Re: Melted Headlight connector

Yea , I was on the other thread also . As an update my dealer got in a new harness under warrenty
but there busy and there's no rush to install since they cut of plug and added female spade connectors
to wires to keep me on the road . We also want to see if wireing gets any worse with these new connectors .
If wires hold up I'm thinking of adding ceramic connectors to new harness before installation .

Good stuff Mcbrien. As I recall, there was at least one other member who did that test and found that at least the ground wire was still inadequate. It will be interesting to see if those results are repeatable. Those wires have an awefully small diameter for sure.

Sent from my F-05D using Tapatalk 2

 

[avc8130]

Re: Melted Headlight connector

Your HIDs were probably "better" for the connector. They take the connector away from the "heat" of the bulb.
If you plan to stick with HIDs, just cut off the stock connectors and install a nice weatherpack or similar connector to power the HIDs.
ac

 

[Mellow]

Re: Melted Headlight connector

Your HIDs were probably "better" for the connector. They take the connector away from the "heat" of the bulb.
If you plan to stick with HIDs, just cut off the stock connectors and install a nice weatherpack or similar connector to power the HIDs.
ac

Yeah, the more I thought about it... the HIDs provided a better solution wiring-wise than the OEMs... LOL go figure..

Here's a good source for the high temp ceramic connectors. I'll probably put one of these in just to see if it makes a difference, keeping an eye on the oem wiring where I solder this.

http://www.headlightplugs.com/H7.ht.html

 

[Maybert]

I too have joined the ranks of cooked harness owners. Right side has melted at 12500 miles. Left side looks servicable but black wire is starting to turn grey. Now lets see what the dealership says....

 

[simmons1]

Mine are slowly cooking them selves as well.

I am going to change the connectors to ceramic ones and watch the factory wiring to see what it does.

 

[Koinz]

I wonder if Yamaha will issue some sort of a service bulletin on this - Has anyone in the land of Ozz had any issues?
The bikes have been there longer and temperatures are certainly a contributing factor. :

 

[markjenn]

I had my left headlight go out on a stock bike at 11K miles. I pulled the bulb and it tested fine. Reconnecting it solved the problem so the issue was in the connector. Wiring/connector looks Okay, perhaps ever-so-slightly discolored due to heat. I can certainly see how one of these connectors developing resistance might cause wiring overheating issues. I put some di-electric grease on the connector and worked it a bit to try and make sure I am getting a good low-resistance contact. We'll see.

- Mark

 

[Firefight911]

I wonder if Yamaha will issue some sort of a service bulletin on this - Has anyone in the land of Ozz had any issues?
The bikes have been there longer and temperatures are certainly a contributing factor. :

No, they will not do anything if , 1 - the dealer does not document the issue through the system. This, of course, means an owner had to take it in to the dealer and have them document it, and, 2 - the NHTSA is not notified thru their website.



---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?eenowd
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[creggur]

No, they will not do anything if , 1 - the dealer does not document the issue through the system. This, of course, means an owner had to take it in to the dealer and have them document it, and, 2 - the NHTSA is not notified thru their website.



---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?eenowd
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is the key - getting it documented through Yamaha's dealer network via warranty claims. That's how they know there are widespread issues that need to be resolved.

 

[woodgnome]

Got back from A 2000mile + ride to germany ::012:: on the way home noticed the left headlight wasnt working, so 5 days later got round to buying a new bulb to pop in ,
Took the back off and the conector with the black wire on ( this has now turned grey )has completly melted.
I rang the supplying dealer sent some pics and they told me they would be in touch with YAMAHA UK.
In between time ive solded on a new connector as a temporary fix, also had alook at the right bulb , this is also showing signs of the connector melting.
I have the standard 55w bulbs in and have coverd 5600 miles from new,
The cable on the headlight harness seems quite thin, and not man enough for the job, whrn i spoke to the dealer , i stated that it neads a nerw headlight harness but if its the samwe the problem will reoccur, so get out there take the caps off and check it out .
To be fair this and the spokes tarnishing is the only problem ive had, and have no doubt the issue will be adresed.

Regards paul

 

[Tremor38]

Got back from A 2000mile + ride to germany ::012:: on the way home noticed the left headlight wasnt working, so 5 days later got round to buying a new bulb to pop in ,
Took the back off and the conector with the black wire on ( this has now turned grey )has completly melted.
I rang the supplying dealer sent some pics and they told me they would be in touch with YAMAHA UK.
In between time ive solded on a new connector as a temporary fix, also had alook at the right bulb , this is also showing signs of the connector melting.
I have the standard 55w bulbs in and have coverd 5600 miles from new,
The cable on the headlight harness seems quite thin, and not man enough for the job, whrn i spoke to the dealer , i stated that it neads a nerw headlight harness but if its the samwe the problem will reoccur, so get out there take the caps off and check it out .
To be fair this and the spokes tarnishing is the only problem ive had, and have no doubt the issue will be adresed.

Regards paul

Yepper! It's only a matter of time before a large enough 'body of evidence' is built, because it's only a matter of mileage before we see more failures. If the problem is also happening in the UK, where the weather doesn't really get scorching hot, that further supports the idea that there are many more harness failures waiting to happen.

I 'might' have extended the life of mine a bit my adding contact paste, but I also noticed the insulation on the ground wires had changed from black to an ashen color prior to adding the paste, so who knows. I could build a heckuva harness, but refuse to do so as a matter of principle. I will have Yamaha replace the harness as many times as necessary just to add data to the pool, thus helping (hopefully) to force the issue. I can gaurantee that each complaint coming from within Japan will get more weighting assigned to it.

 

[Koinz]

Yepper! It's only a matter of time before a large enough 'body of evidence' is built, because it's only a matter of mileage before we see more failures. If the problem is also happening in the UK, where the weather doesn't really get scorching hot, that further supports the idea that there are many more harness failures waiting to happen.

I 'might' have extended the life of mine a bit my adding contact paste, but I also noticed the insulation on the ground wires had changed from black to an ashen color prior to adding the paste, so who knows. I could build a heckuva harness, but refuse to do so as a matter of principle. I will have Yamaha replace the harness as many times as necessary just to add data to the pool, thus helping (hopefully) to force the issue. I can gaurantee that each complaint coming from within Japan will get more weighting assigned to it.

+1 ::003::

 

[ErnsTT]

I have the standard 55w bulbs in and have coverd 5600 miles from new,
The cable on the headlight harness seems quite thin, and not man enough for the job,

Thats no problem at all, the same wire is used in teh SR500 which i ran with the switch looped through, so dipped beam stayed on, when igniting High beam, so gobbling 105 Watts through the same gauge wire in an enclosed steel lamphousing...never had any melting, modify the plastic a bit as described earlier and your out of the danger zone, without any cost, dont forget to scrape of the oxides and molten plastic from the contacting ridges inside the brass B...

they must ensure that the fix they come up with is correct, cost-effective as possible, and will pass the test of time.

Its just bad luck, by sloppy maintenance of a OEM supplier, if the connector supplier had refurbished its castings, there would be no problem at all, and teh solution is verry costeffective, ita actually costs almost nothing, just a little filing will get the job done...
Look at the standard connector housing, and at my modified, you actually dont have to file this far, but when i applied a little pressure the "lid" broke out.
Technically speaking it would be even better to ditch the housing completely, so the connector can dissepate the heat easier, but makes changing a bulb in the dark very tricky...

Pry open the connector as describe in my first post, and widen the gap, remove the molten plastic debris, and oxides from the connector with a small file or some emery paper, and gently restore the pressure of the connector, and test it loose on the prongs of the old lamp, ditch the lamp because its prongs are oxidised too, but if you remove that, you will always get fatty residu on the glass which will make it opaque or even black and cause considerable lampheating. A new lamp will give more light and save you a harness

 

[markjenn]

Although my harness doesn't appear to be showing outright distress, for $10, I took a flyer in the Ebay pigtails discussed earlier in the thread. I tried installing one and have decided not to use them, at least not for now. I wasn't comfortable with how difficult it was to stuff the extra connector into the confines of the headlight housing and I was having difficulty getting the rear cover to engage - if felt like I was putting a lot of pressure on the rear of the connector.

If I ever have the headlamp housings off the bike, I may reassess the fit. But my judgment right now is that this mod is as likely to cause problems as solve them. Just my judgment call, YMMV.

- Mark

 

[mingo]

Although my harness doesn't appear to be showing outright distress, for $10, I took a flyer in the Ebay pigtails discussed earlier in the thread. I tried installing one and have decided not to use them, at least not for now. I wasn't comfortable with how difficult it was to stuff the extra connector into the confines of the headlight housing and I was having difficulty getting the rear cover to engage - if felt like I was putting a lot of pressure on the rear of the connector.

If I ever have the headlamp housings off the bike, I may reassess the fit. But my judgment right now is that this mod is as likely to cause problems as solve them. Just my judgment call, YMMV.

- Mark

I got those ceramic connectors posted on ebay and encountered a similar dilemma.. I thought the back cover was hitting the connector and was ready to give up, but I wiggled around with the wires and then I was able to close the cover without much resistance. I thought this way, the ceramic connector is exposed to the heat of the bulb.. we'll see.

 

[ErnsTT]

getting the rear cover to engage - if felt like I was putting a lot of pressure on the rear of the connector.

Yep thats never a good idea, it would also build a vibrational bridge to the bulb itself connecting it fisically with the outer frame, and blocking the adjustment system, or at least put it under duress too, just take off the plastic from the connctor widen its slots and the problem is for as far it ever was there, gone ...

Its not the wire or the brass female or the wire thats problematic, its just the plastic housing preventing optimal contact when the slot is not wide enough causing a intermittent contact with sparks of the brass surface untill its oxidised enough to cause serious resistansnce to cook the complete harness.

You may place another set of connectors in the line, but the errant gap will still cause the same sparking/oxidising, but now beside the reflector with possible deformation of it from the heatsources next to it...

 

[snakebitten]

Well, count me in. Noticed the left side (facing forward) headlight was out after starting the bike. Simply removing the plastic cover and touching the connector caused it to light back up.

I was at the office, so I rode home with the intention of doing a once-over at the house today.

Found what most of you have found. Discolored insulation on the now-grey\was-black wire on both headlamps. Only the left lamp had any evidence of the plastic connector getting hot. (small amount of corrosive dust)

Also verified both connectors slipped off with too little effort. AND, as has been excellently diagnosed here, the plastic connector housings are misshaped. Very easy to see with the naked eye.

Filed the plastic to get needed clearance . Cleaned up the connectors. Crimped them a bit to get more bite on the bulb prongs. Reassembled.

While I feel that it is likely I have addressed the real cause, and shouldn't have any further problems, I still might order new connector housings.

Love my S10. Plan on keeping it until it lives out its natural life. But Yamaha should have acknowledged this by now. It can't possibly be unknowned.

 

[Firefight911]

Why would you say/assume that Snakebitten????????

Did you personally call them to tell them? If you did not personally take the responsibility and time to properly and accurately tell them through proper and officially documented channels then it can only be viewed that they; do not know about any problem, they do not have a fix because they are working on one because they have heard from EVERY single person who has experienced this issue so there must be a problem; or they have only heard from one or two people and, therefore, view the issue as isolated and too small to expend engineering energy to rectify as it isn't really a problem.

Take it to the dealer, document it, report it to the NHTSA reporting site, get a case file with case number through Yamaha corporate but do NOT ever assume anyone knows anything unless you have documented proof they they are aware.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk