On/off switch, headlight switch electrical help needed.

[hang&rattle]

(85' Tecate) I have a new (or new used) 85' Tecate run/off kill and on/off headlight switch that works (thank you jeswinehart). It wasn't working properly in below zero but now that its a balmy 30 degrees I see it is now functioning because of the warm weather, but my wiring harness is incomplete (and somewhat hacked) and I have a weak knowledge of electrical on the Tecate (in other words I really suck at it, lol). I copied the wiring in the manual, as close as I could understand it. My questions are this: 1. I fallowed the original wiring from how I recieved the trike and found out the kill switch is wired backwards, run is off and off is run. I left it this way, so when I run into the post office or co-op, no jokester will take it for a joy ride, does the off switch also close the circut to the lights (even thought the bike is running)? Started up just now and the light came on for a few seconds and then off, it was working for 15-20 minutes when I rode it in below zero a couple of days ago and quit (& in extreme cold the kill switch didn't work either, does now). So #2. I cannot even find the tail light wires, gone off the harness, why would the light work, then not? and do I have to have the full circut (with rear taillight) to have the headlight function? If so, why did it work before?, I'm very confused and sorry so long- have trouble explaining- Robby.

[dcreel]

I know that you don't have to have the tailight hooked up to have the headlight work. My 84 has never had a taillight, and I use the headlight on occasion. The light switch is on or off at the switch regardless of whether the bike is running or not. What I mean is if the light switch is in the on position when you start the bike, the light will come on once it starts. Let me take a look at mine and I'll see if I can get some good pictures.

Have you taken some light sandpaper or emery cloth to the contacts in the switch? Sometimes they get corrosion on the contact so it doesn't make good "contact" :-) Also check the contacts in the headlight plug..

[hang&rattle]

O.k.. The switch is clean and functions well (got it from jeswinehart and he even did all the testing on it), and the bulb is new, but the plug the bulb posts goes into looks dirty to me. How do you clean inside that female connection (<keep it clean guys)? And it works off and on (I mean sometimes). Just wiggle the cloth down in there? You can tell I'm a little nervous a I have never had good luck with the electrical on vehicles, thank you dcreel, I'll run out again and start it to see iffin' the light comes on again.

[dcreel]

On a female plug end like that tear off a small piece of sandpaper and fold it over to make it the same size as the male plug end. Insert it and sand it down some, you don't need to get crazy with it but you should see fresh metal in the plug. I've also wrapped sandpaper around the end of a paperclip to use and small terminals. Could you have a short in your wiring? Did you solder and heatshrink or twist and tape? ;-)

[hang&rattle]

O.k., now I did the sand paper thing to the female connector to the bulb till' I saw gold, didn't make it come on. I used the crimp type electrical connectors where you slide the wire in both sides of the tube and crimped it in 3 places. Then I wrapped in electrical tape. I'll go out (while its 30+ degrees) and pull off the tape while its semisoft and check the light connections in the big plug type harness next. Thanks for helping me eliminate starting places, it's hard to know where to even start. I'm afraid to take apart the on/off little phillips screw and plate in the controls, but like I said, it was tested and was working. IDK, but don't think it could have corroded or got wet or dirty in 1 day, could it have?

[Dirtcrasher]

Can you post up the wiring diagram?

[dcreel]

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w182/dcreel/Decorated%20images/001-4.jpg

[hang&rattle]

^Thanks dcreel, beat me to it. Thanks dirtcrasher, know you got the wheels turnin' up there also.

[hang&rattle]

O.k., here's the scoop. Went through the electical system with emery cloth and cleaned the connections dcreel told me about (and every other one), checked the ground while the tank was off and was good. Traced and checked connections here and there thinkin' I had a rotten wire. New control switch and bulb and all new connections and clean:confused: . Pulled off the head light to check the brand new bulb, blown. Sooooooo...was it the cold?, riding in sub-zero, did that blew that bulb? Sucks because it was only $10 and the dealer wants $26. Another thing that was strange is eventhough it was blown it continued to work off and on, is that even possible? I mean the little fillament wire is melted and has an 1/8" gap.:crazy:

[Dirtcrasher]

If you compare the lighting switch to the run switch, it appears that "run" is open to function and closed to shut it off. Off grounds it to Blk/yellow, the same Blk/yellow that grounds the 2 lights also.

The lighting switch clearly shows it must close (or be turned "ON") to turn on the lights.

That kill switch Black/yellow should be ground, yellow is hot from the magneto (12V) to the lighting switch. From there it changes to red for the tailight and red/black for the headlamp and they share the engine kill ground.

Black/yellow is ground and should shut it off or it's wired wrong either in the switch or how you plugged it in.

The whole circuit doesn't have to be complete to the tailight but the red wire heading back there can't be grounded.

There are so few wires there that it would be easy to OHMM them out and see if something is screwed up. You have to unplug all the connectors and check each wire. I'd fix your kill switch wiring and add another somewhere hidden if you "like it wired" that way. The engine has to run to power the lights but it doesn't turn the lights on, the switch does..... Yellow from the magneto goes to the switch (and if turned "ON") red comes out hot for the 2 lights.

[hang&rattle]

Thank you for explaining. And sorry, still a little confusing to a novice. But for learning sake I still need to ask a question or two. Weather the kill switch is wired backwards as long as the motor itself is producing electricity and the light will work (?). So because I have the kill switch backwards, when I shut it off to kill it (actually clicked to 'run') could that have blown my bulb? Hard for me to even get into terminology, when I switch the lever to run to kill it, did that trigger a type of charge of electricity to much for the bulb? So with the bulb blown (the continuous circut severed) now the ground can work in the opposite function, after my bulb was blown my kill switch then worked(?). Sorry, I really want to learn this, just so confusing. You expained it fine I'm sure Dirtcrasher, but my understanding is ignorant. I know now that I want to get a complete wiring harness to see how a non-hacked system looks. But still need to figure this out to learn or it will plague me wondering. I hope I did no damage to the rest of the electrical components. Don't think I did though, because before I hooked up the light I had over 30 hours on it.