1998 Venture 500 electrical issue

J

john 89 phazer

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Joined
Jan 29, 2011
Messages
8
Location
severna park, md
I picked up a 1998 Venture 500 at the end of last season. I noticed the low beam headlight wasn't working (high beam was working) so I bought a bulb. Well, that did not fix it. Also, I noticed at the time that the taillight isn't working and the reverse beeper is not working either.

So, I've got no - low beam headlight, tailight, or reverse beeper.

The sled runs and charges the battery at about 13.5 volts or so. The gauge lights work and the brake light works. It has electric start but apparently chewed up the gear before I bought it so they removed the ring gear. The starter turns over.

I am trying to learn more about the regulator/rectifier, it seems as if that could be the culprit? I have an online owners manual that I downloaded and I've been looking for wiring damage. There are 2 fuses by the battery that seem to be for the starter only, they are okay.

Thoughts?
 
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sounding like the power is not getting to the bulb. have you tried putting 12v from the battery to the power lead on the dimmer switch? that is how i fixed the sx700 that my brother got. fed power in and fixed where there was a problem to make the lights work properly.
 
Thank you for the response. I will check the dimmer switch but I am still suspicious that something upstream is keeping the taillight and reverse beeper from getting power as well.

I guess the stator must be making electricity or it would not run without a battery (which it does).

I will keep digging:)
 
Thanks for the link on the low beam high beam. I really studied the wiring diagram for the VT500 I found and it looks like all three issues I have may be unrelated. I'll dig into the headlight switch and the the tail lamp wiring to see what is going on there as well. I'm not really worried about getting the reverse buzzer going I just thought that was noteworthy.

Does anybody know what the round circle with b and c are in this diagram above 21 (rear warmers) are?View attachment VT 500 wiring .pdf

Thanks for all the help folks!
 
Well, I pulled the rear lens today, and bingo, the rear bulb was burned out for taillight, although the brake light worked. Put in an 1157 and both the tailight and brakelight worked! That's a victory.

Figured I had it running so I would check the grip warmers, no dice. Pulled the handlebar pad and found a mouse nest and multiple wires chewed through or damaged. I'm going to fix them and hope that helps with my grips, low beam, and backup buzzer, none of which are working.

I really appreciate everyone's help!
 
Well, I cut out a damaged section of harness connectors and wires, I think green/blue/yellow but I can't remember for sure. I used weatherproof connectors that can come apart, fired it up, and the low-beam light works. Another victory! The grip heater wires are damaged and the grip heaters are not working, the thumb heater is, so that's the next thing I go after.

The end is knocked off my left grip, and there are wires showing from the heater I guess. Any recommendations on replacing the factory heated grips?
 
Any recommendations on replacing the factory heated grips?
Click to expand...

My grip heaters were not working correctly and I replaced the control units with a used set from ebay. They work great now.
 
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