Neutral/Reverse Light Issues

[toddsf150]

I have a 85 Honda Sx. Everything works great on the three wheeler. Except, the reverse light on the center handlebars works about 25% of the time. The trike switches into reverse gear everytime but the light won't. Sometimes the neutral light will not come on either. Any ideas?

[toddsf150]

Oh and let Me add also that the bulbs are good and I have found no shorts in wiring. I think whatever tells the lights to come on isn't doing its job all the time. Just dont have any clue what tells the lights to illuminate....

[tri again]

Hey there.

Free manuals in the world class help section, btw.

I have one out of 10 that has a funky ignition key switch.
If I turn it on like a normal key, it stays off.
If I wiggle it back a little, the indicator lights come on.

Neutral and reverse lights are triggered by switches in the transmission
under a sheet metal cover and they sometimes get loose. Brake pedal (R) side.

The neutral safety switch needs to work for the electric start to work but it will start with the kick.
well? That'll get you started (thinking).

It's all kinda complicated and the electric and manual start are interrelated in some ways.
It will kick start with no ignition wires connected at all, for example but it will Not E start without an intact neutral safety switch / ground.

I never tried to kick start in gear but I guess that would also come under the electrical topic of
'bump starting'.

sooo?
does it start normally with both electric and kick?

[Dirtcrasher]

You most likely have a crappy ground somewhere.

Look at your machine, if it is well used, then a dirty ground is most likely the issue.

Otherwise you have some wire tracing to do. I usually remove all the electrical tape and inspect it as well as the connections.

Usually the wires within the harness are good, it's the grounds or the ends...............

[the great gazoo]

Yup,what DC said- a lot of the time you'll have a bad/broken ground @ the bottom of the key switch, sometimes it'll work & other times it wont.

[atc007]

Get on your knees by the right footpeg,Or ,turn the gas off,run her till the carbs empty and lay her on the left side. Your N and R wires hook to your engine behind a little black tin shield in behind your Rt footpeg.. You have loose/dirty connections there. Sticks can grab that tin and pull at your wires,then they get dirty. Take them off,clean everything,pinch the female ends of your N and R wires back tight w needlenose,put back on,straighten out and reinstall that tin sheild the best you can,problem solved!

[toddsf150]

Thanks a lot. I didn't consider checking the grounds. I will look into it today.

[badass350x]

Dirty connections! Also were the bulbs go in the socket need too be cleaned as well as the first connections going too them on the wiring harness!

[toddsf150]

Thanks for the info guys. I will go out there and locate and clean the grounds this evening. I will let you know how it goes!

[toddsf150]

Update- so I cleaned where both bulbs go into the sockets, I pulled the plug off of the motor at the foot peg, and even pulled the battery cables off and cleaned the battery terminals and connectors. The neutral works everytime now but still no reverse light. (The neutral light will go off but the reverse light will not come on still). Ant more thoughts?

[badass350x]

Take a test light and see if your getting power on one side of were the bulb goes in! With it running and in rieverse.
If power is there then you know its the bulb, if its not then go to your first connection down from there and see if you have power at that point.

[badass350x]

Guess you don't have a test light?

[TatTooL23]

i was also just gonna say seems like a ground problem. would they both be grounded the same place or together? just asking to maybe try to rule that out cuz the neutral works. if same or together ground then know thats not it.

[Headsup]

Well seeing that the N and R light run off the same Ground. I would imagine its the Only wire left. hey feed threw behind your headlight/ Try to check it out. dont remember what color it is, but yes the N and R Negative or Black wire is one solid wire then splits into to.
So if it works for your N it must be teh Color coated wire running from the R. Make sure it didnt get a Sudden Serge and blow the bulb also..

[tri again]

Update- so I cleaned where both bulbs go into the sockets, I pulled the plug off of the motor at the foot peg, and even pulled the battery cables off and cleaned the battery terminals and connectors. The neutral works everytime now but still no reverse light. (The neutral light will go off but the reverse light will not come on still). Ant more thoughts?

The easiest may be to pull the wires back off the footpeg area.

The switches they hook to look like tiny sparkplugs with springs that switch on and off
(ground or not) to make the lights work.
You can simply touch those wires to the engine case creating a ground and see if they light up.
That will eliminate a bunch of intermediate steps to figure it out..

If they both do, you might need a reverse switch..12$ locally.
If still no light, then go for the other suggestions as well.
Ignition switch wiggle, grounds,, frame grounds etc.
Grounds are everywhere on the wire diagrams but no real info on where they
actually are on the machine.
Did you find the manuals?
Oh, one other oddity, which I seem to be famous for,
I have one with all 4 ignition switch wires hanging in free air, not connected to anything OR each other.

It starts with 1/2 kick every time and the neutral light glows.
If I put it in reverse, the reverse light comes on too.
No battery, no ignition switch.

Hope that helps eliminate some confusion.

DC mentioned one time that there is a wire somewhere near the battery box that flexes with the
suspension and breaks or comes loose, but I forget what the exact problem was about but seemed to be specific to the sx.

[toddsf150]

I am getting a test light today. I am going to do some wire tracing now. Also I am going to try to locate other grounds on the machine. I really appreciate the help guys.