Anyone ever seen this shutter problem?

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Yesterday as I was driving in traffic I noticed my left headlight wasn't shining as bright on the car ahead as the right one. I just now did some checking and discovered the left light has a shutter problem. Normally, when you switch to either high or low beam you hear a single clunk. You can also feel it with your hand on the lens. When I switch to bright the right light goes clunk, but the left one goes clunk clunk in rapid succession, and goes into dim. When the lights are on bright and I switch to dim the right light goes clunk but the left one does not as it is already in dim position. Obviously, the left shutter goes into bright position but doesn't stay there.

I don't know the details of the shutter design, but I know the shutter physically moves down for bright beam and the light beam is inverted 180° going through the projector lens. For dim position, and which is the fail safe position, the shutter is pulled up by springs, based on what I remember seeing when I installed the LED bulbs. According to the wiring diagram the solenoid is constantly powered when in bright position, which adds to the mystery of why the solenoid gets powered and suddenly loses power. At least that's the way it's acting.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on with the shutter? I haven't taken it apart yet but will need to shortly.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Yesterday as I was driving in traffic I noticed my left headlight wasn't shining as bright on the car ahead as the right one. I just now did some checking and discovered the left light has a shutter problem. Normally, when you switch to either high or low beam you hear a single clunk. You can also feel it with your hand on the lens. When I switch to bright the right light goes clunk, but the left one goes clunk clunk in rapid succession, and goes into dim. When the lights are on bright and I switch to dim the right light goes clunk but the left one does not as it is already in dim position. Obviously, the left shutter goes into bright position but doesn't stay there.

I don't know the details of the shutter design, but I know the shutter physically moves down for bright beam and the light beam is inverted 180° going through the projector lens. For dim position, and which is the fail safe position, the shutter is pulled up by springs, based on what I remember seeing when I installed the LED bulbs. According to the wiring diagram the solenoid is constantly powered when in bright position, which adds to the mystery of why the solenoid gets powered and suddenly loses power. At least that's the way it's acting.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on with the shutter? I haven't taken it apart yet but will need to shortly.

If you switched to LED's, a few folks here had the same issue .... depending on what LED"s they are the wiring harness can interfere with the shutter .....you could spray them with DRY silicone, if it's not the wiring .... good luck .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

depending on what LED"s they are the wiring harness can interfere with the shutter

Good point. However, I had to do quite a bit of finagling to prevent that exact problem when I put the LEDs in, maybe 3 years ago. The shutters have been working good ever since, although maybe some of the wiring has shifted over time due to shakes, bumps, and vibration, and is now interfering. I hadn't really thought about that. Thanks.

 

[ARtraveler]

Good point. However, I had to do quite a bit of finagling to prevent that exact problem when I put the LEDs in, maybe 3 years ago. The shutters have been working good ever since, although maybe some of the wiring has shifted over time due to shakes, bumps, and vibration, and is now interfering. I hadn't really thought about that. Thanks.

I am thinking the clunk/clunk sound is the shutter trying to activate but failing. When I had LED's put into my 2014, the dealer did not fit them in properly on the RIGHT side and they ended up having to make a small adjustment. The shutters for both lights then worked as long as I kept the 2014.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I am thinking the clunk/clunk sound is the shutter trying to activate but failing. When I had LED's put into my 2014, the dealer did not fit them in properly on the RIGHT side and they ended up having to make a small adjustment. The shutters for both lights then worked as long as I kept the 2014.

Three reasons why I doubt my problem is like that, unless something has changed with time. They've been working fine for 3 years, the clunk sound is identical for each light, and I see the bright beam show very briefly when I switched from dim to bright. The shutter moves like it's supposed to. It just doesn't stay put.

 

[Lew L]

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Dirty contact points in the solenoid???? BTW----- thanks again for the advice on the LED driving lights hooked to the fogs---- Works perfect and is VERY bright even in the daylight.

Lew L

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Dirty contact points in the solenoid????

That would be a possibility except for the fact that the only contacts are in the headlight relays (main, high, and low) which feed both headlights. Since the right one works properly contacts can't be the problem.

 

[pegasus1300]

I haven't looked at the parts book but is there a spring that holds the shutter? And could it have broken?

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I've got it figured out, I think! There is a circuit board inside the light housing that is in the shutter power circuit. What it does I've not sure, but I think it prevents the shutter from opening again if it loses power. When power is turned off and back on the circuit resets. The wire coming to it from deep in the bowels of the housing was riding on top of the shutter arm. Whether this is the way it's made at the factory, or if I moved the wire while installing the ballast for the LED bulb I don't recall. Anyway, it appears the wire must be broken inside the housing from the constant movement of the shutter opening and closing.

I can power the shutter and have it stay open, but when I tug on the wire the shutter drops out. Getting inside the housing isn't a simple job. One way would be to pull the lens off but it's glued on pretty firmly. What I think I'll do is cut a hole in the housing so I can reach, and hopefully fix, the wire, and then patch it closed. If that doesn't work, or if I can find one cheap, I'll just take the easy way out and buy a replacement headlight.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Problem solved!

I found the culprit! After 2 or 3 hours of tugging and wiggling wires to try to figure out what was breaking the shutter power circuit I pinned it down to the three wire connector. Sadly, this was after I cut a big hole in the side of the light housing, but that did help in troubleshooting. Now I have to patch it up. One thing I know for certain, the circuit board breaks the circuit to the shutter solenoid if the power to the solenoid is broken. I thought the incoming power to the board was the controlling factor but I discovered if the power from the board to the shutter is broken the board holds the circuit open. The board is reset when the light switch is changed to dim or the bike is turned off. I'm pretty sure what board does is ground the power into the solenoid to prevent residual magnetism in the solenoid from holding it open, or delaying its closure.



Here's what the female side of the connector looked like. I suspect the damage is a combination of improper plugging together when I installed the LED bulbs, and the wire to the solenoid being moved up and down when the shutter operated.



The easiest way to repair was to cut the connector off and solder the wires together.



For those who are curious about the insides of the headlight assembly here's the view from the back end showing the shutter.



Here's a view of some of the inside. You can see the projector lens which shines into the reflector. The metal piece is a heat shield to keep the original halogen bulb heat from damaging the outer housing. The wire is the power lead to the shutter circuit board. I pulled it out of the housing as part of troubleshooting process.



This shows the importance of keeping all the wires away from the shutter mechanism when you install LED bulbs. Now all I have to do is patch up the housing and put everything back together.

 

[pegasus1300]

I am awed at your patience and diagnostic skills. Way to go, fixing the problem instead of just throwing parts at it until it worked. An almost lost skill. Congratulations.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I am awed at your patience and diagnostic skills. Way to go, fixing the problem instead of just throwing parts at it until it worked. An almost lost skill. Congratulations.

:agree: ..... Mike :thumbup:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Thank you, guys!

 

[davev1pa]

I installed LEDs the other day ...I obviously stuff a lil to much wiring in the LH assembly --I mean it is large amt of extra stuff in the housing ...I test it before before putting it all back together but after a few rides the LH shutter requires that I knock on the headight to return to the Dim position....looks like I gotta go back in...dang it