Light Harness Fix

Boondocker

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Started the bike and the headlights winked out. Having already done the headlight socket replacement I looked for some other cause, especially since the headlights and marker lights went at once. Research lead to a plug behind the upper right panel. I pulled off the panel(s) and found the plug, checked the lights again, and they worked.
The plug is in this bundle.


Since I couldn't find the problem, I buttoned it up. 2 weeks later, lights out again. I slapped the right panel, lights on. So I rode it to work and back, all in daylight, lights were on when I checked. Next day, lights out again, slap trick didn't work, so problem getting worse, but pressing and holding the panel kept the lights on. Closer inspection of the plug revealed a brown spot, like an electrical arc burn. No. bueno.
Brown spot not good.


The offending wire looked corroded. Maybe a loose connection or maybe water got in. This calls for replacement. For generic electrical stuff, I like to patronize Eastern Beaver. Ordered what looked like the right plug - 2 of everything because I don't always get it right the first time. Also decided to finally invest in that good crimper tool I always wished I had whenever I mashed wires into a connector with pliers or the cheap crimper.

New plug installed


I was careful to write the wire colors on the new plug halves, especially since they are not the same on each side. There is just enough slack in the wire to cut the original ends off, but it's tight quarters to manipulate the nice wire stripper and crimper. In the end, job done and the lights all work. I'll keep an eye on it for a few cycles before I claim success.
 

Don in Lodi

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Never liked that protective boot's open end facing forward. That's what my right light bulb connector looked like way back when.
 

WJBertrand

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What year bike and if an older one was the headlight harness recall done?


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Boondocker

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The bike is a 2012 with 68,000 miles. I'm the original owner. Headlight harness recall was done and the replaced part has not failed.
Don't know why this connection went bad but it's something I can inspect occasionally and the failure symptom is obvious. I have an auxiliary light that switches between 4 power settings and is on an independent circuit. Note the fuse block in the first picture.

What year bike and if an older one was the headlight harness recall done?
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R

RonH

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I believe this burned plug is the harness they replaced during the recall isn't it? Not the point that burned normally though.
 

Boondocker

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The recall is for the harnesses that attach to the bulb fixtures.
Yamaha Motor Corporation USA (Yamaha) is recalling certain model year 2009-2013 YZFR1 motorcycles manufactured October 2008 through August 2013 and 2012-2013 XTZ12 motorcycles manufactured October 2011 through August 2013. In the affected motorcycles, use of the headlight may generate enough heat to cause the bulb connections to expand, resulting in arcing in the headlight bulb socket which could cause the socket to overheat, melt and cause the headlight to malfunction.

I believe this burned plug is the harness they replaced during the recall isn't it? Not the point that burned normally though.
 
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RonH

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The harness they replace during the recall starts as a 4 pin connector with wires blue, red, black and green, then the wiring is fed to the bulbs ect at the headlight. They of course modified the harness adding larger guage wire, but I believe the part that burned on yours is indeed one end of the harness they replaced, the other end plugs into the bulbs ect ( where the burn normally happened) Just trying to get my head straight on this.
A guy was asking of why his high beams quit working a couple weeks back. This connector would be the first place to check volts.
 

Pole_Position2034

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Having same issue with a burnt connector. Anyone know the description of this connector? Or a brand name? If I walked into a parts store or yamaha dealer how would I describe this to them? & is it only the connector that's an issue or the entire harness needs to be replaced?
 

Don in Lodi

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Yep, just called the headlight harness. You can find it on any on line parts fiche and order it yourself, fairly simple install. Or if it's a '12 that never went in then it's covered. I did my own, burned right side socket, my dealer is over 50 miles out and they wanted me to leave the bike. Before the recall came out I installed a pair of ceramic sockets that handled the heat fine.
 

SparrowHawkxx

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I had the same problem with this connector a few weeks ago where all lights in the headlight assembly were out, both headlights and both auxiliary lights out.

Checked the headlight fuse – good
Checked the headlight relay – good
Checked the headlight bulbs – good

I then found this thread and checked the connector on the headlight harness – not good.
See the first reply on this thread, Boondocker has a good description and picture of the connector location.

I thought the connector housing would need to be replaced, but the terminals might be salvageable and may not need to be cut off. So before I did much more I got some new connectors, terminals and a crimping tool on order.

20220920_0153e.jpg
Old connector on top – you can see where the ground wire was located. The connector was melted around the metal terminal inside.

New connector that I ordered is on bottom.
 

Don in Lodi

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The recall replaces the whole headlight harness.
 

SparrowHawkxx

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The recall replaces the whole headlight harness.
Yes thats correct, however the reason for the recall was not for this connector, it was for the other end, for the sockets the bulbs plug into.
I'm pretty sure Yamaha would not replace it again, nothing in the recall mentions anything about this connector.
You could order the harness yourself and replace it. You would have to thread all the sockets and wires through the headlight assembly. I just chose to fix it at the connector.
The new harness you get with the recall replaced the sockets on the end where the bulbs plug in but you get the same connector on the end that plugs into the bike electrics.

Reference: RCRIT-14V044-3309.pdf (nhtsa.gov)
"... due to improper heat resistance of the headlight bulb terminal connector, thermal expansion of the terminal connector can cause arcing between the terminal connector and the headlight bulb contact, resulting in coupler melting."​

My take on this is the female socket was expanding which kept making the connection more loose making a more resistive connection that progressively got worse until it burned up. This takes out all the lights in the headlight assembly so it was a safety issue.

It looks to me this connector is doing the same thing. I took a male terminal and inserted it into each of the female terminals on the connector at the end of the harness and their was no resistance at all, very loose.

This is for Gen 1 bikes in case anyone else did not catch that.
The Gen 2 bikes have a different part # and the connector that plugs into the bike electrics is different. Its more than 4 pins (6 I believe) and its a sealed connector I believe.

I searched to see if I could find other Gen 1 bikes that have reported this problem. I only found 2 other threads, besides this one, where a problem with this connector was reported. I only found 6 that I believe were Gen 1 bikes reporting this problem. Only 2 reported their mileage. There was a 2012 at 28,000 miles and a 2012 at 68,000 miles. My 2013 failed at 140,000 miles in early September this year. The recall was done on my bike in March 2014.

The other 2 threads were:
Thats not many that have reported the problem but there's probably others that have had the problem. I think it would be a good idea for Gen 1 owners to check this connector occasionaly to see if the terminals in the connectors are getting loose. Thats easy to do if you just happen to have an extra male Sumitomo 090 terminal on hand, which I did from another project.
 
Last edited:

rutto

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Jan 12, 2022
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Frinton on sea, Essex,UK
Started the bike and the headlights winked out. Having already done the headlight socket replacement I looked for some other cause, especially since the headlights and marker lights went at once. Research lead to a plug behind the upper right panel. I pulled off the panel(s) and found the plug, checked the lights again, and they worked.
The plug is in this bundle.


Since I couldn't find the problem, I buttoned it up. 2 weeks later, lights out again. I slapped the right panel, lights on. So I rode it to work and back, all in daylight, lights were on when I checked. Next day, lights out again, slap trick didn't work, so problem getting worse, but pressing and holding the panel kept the lights on. Closer inspection of the plug revealed a brown spot, like an electrical arc burn. No. bueno.
Brown spot not good.


The offending wire looked corroded. Maybe a loose connection or maybe water got in. This calls for replacement. For generic electrical stuff, I like to patronize Eastern Beaver. Ordered what looked like the right plug - 2 of everything because I don't always get it right the first time. Also decided to finally invest in that good crimper tool I always wished I had whenever I mashed wires into a connector with pliers or the cheap crimper.

New plug installed


I was careful to write the wire colors on the new plug halves, especially since they are not the same on each side. There is just enough slack in the wire to cut the original ends off, but it's tight quarters to manipulate the nice wire stripper and crimper. In the end, job done and the lights all work. I'll keep an eye on it for a few cycles before I claim success.
I’m just at the slapping the r/h panel stage. Although they didn’t come back on last time. Lost the aux lights too. Have t had the panel off yet but this does seem to be the same problem as described. Will have to check and let you all know. Any links for sites in the uk to get the sockets. Anyone just soldered them
Up to fix this permanently ?
 
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