Neutral Light Stays On

[chazmofo]

Hi,
I just returned from a fantastic two week road trip through Colorado. When I left, the green neutral light on the instrument cluster worked as it should; namely, only when in neutral. As the trip went on I had more and more instances where the neutral light would come on while I was in gear until eventually it remained on at all times (and still does). It is slightly more intense when actually in neutral, but the light stays on all the time. I'd like to get it back to the way it is supposed to operate. Can anyone help me out? The bike has 39k original miles and works like a... well, like a Goldwing. That's really the only problem my baby has.
Charlie

 

[joedrum]

gee that sucks ...the neutral switch is realy hard to mess with ....i cant remember right now but i think its in different spots depending on which year 1100 you have .....but its inside the motor and way to much trouble to mess with ......

im not sure and maybe someone else has better insite and memory on this than i do.....

 

[mcgovern61]

The wire on my neutral switch runs in front of the right side of the motor behind the cam cover and into the front of the engine. Could be a chafed wire shorting.

 

[dan filipi]

This explains what's happening https://www.gl1000.info/NeutralLight.shtml

I had the same thing happening. After doing this short out the light was still on but then after shorting it in neutral for just a second it's been working good for the last year.
The other day it came on again while in gear. Tried the short out again but didn't work, I think if I change the oil it'll be ok since it's pretty dirty right now. I'm thinkin there's alot of carbon causing the light to shine, sort of a built in "change oil" light.

 

[chazmofo]

Thanks Dan,
When you say you had better success after "shorting it in neutral", are you suggesting you did the one thing the guy say to avoid and shorted it back to the positive battery source while it was in neutral? And that is what conquered the problem? I'm not disputing it, but I don't want to damage anything if I try what you did. My inclination is to get a high wattage resistor as he suggests to see if that'll work.
Charlie

 

[dan filipi]

Thanks Dan,
When you say you had better success after "shorting it in neutral", are you suggesting you did the one thing the guy say to avoid and shorted it back to the positive battery source while it was in neutral? And that is what conquered the problem?
Charlie

Yes, that is what I did.

Since the "fix" didn't work as he outlined in gear I figured there was nothing to loose at that point. If I couldn't get it to work I'd have to replace the switch anyway.

Make CERTAIN you've disconnected the neutral switch wire from the wire harness. Shorting it like this can burn out the special diode in that circuit.

Right now a year later my neutral light stays on but not every time so I think this is a temporary fix but might be because my oil is pretty dirty too.

 

[chazmofo]

Hi Dan,
Thanks for the reply. At the risk of sounding stupid, doesn't disconnecting the neutral switch wire eliminate the path through the switch you want the electricity to take? I'm a little confused as to exactly what you're doing. Also, any idea where the 5 pin wiring harness connector would be for my 81? It doesn't seem to be in the general vicinity of the battery, so I assume it's somewhere under the fuse/terminal block in the false tank.

 

[dan filipi]

The instructions at that site are for a GL1000 which is different than the 1100.
There's no 5 pin connector.
The connection you want to unplug is from the neutral switch wire coming up from near the bottom of the engine on the right side in front of the oil level site glass. There should be a single wire plug on that switch wire. Follow it up to find the inline plug, unplug that then connect a wire to the switch side of the plug. That wire you then short for an instant.

 

[chazmofo]

Thank you, sir, I much appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge with me.
Charlie
P.S. I'll let you know if I burn down the neighborhood trying this fix.

 

[toytender01]

:swoon: I think i will try rhe black tape for this riding season...better to play with it when if something goes wrong it won' leave me without a ride....at least untill i get the 82 on the road :builder: :builder: :builder: :rtfm: :whistling: :whistling:

 

[chazmofo]

Hey Dan,
I tried your version of the fix to no avail. All the symptoms suggested I was on the right track with respect to the test light diagnosis, but even a zap straight to the switch from the (+) battery connection while in neutral didn't work. I only just touched the lead for a sec, and did it a couple of times, but didn't dare leave it there for longer. I'm thinking an oil change and then I'll try the resistor trick.

 

[RBG]

Not just oil change..drain a quart add solvent..sea foam, deisel, etc..run easy for 100 miles drain and put in good oil and new filter