Electrical Issues

[IN Skuter Dude]

Triked out my 1989 Aspencade over the winter, (http://www.triketalk.com/forum/honda...-phoenix-9071/) and after getting her reassembled there are a few electrical issues I am having a fit with. First is an important issue, the headlight wont come on with the ignition switch. After the motor is running it will come on but not untill then. The second issue is not a safety issue like the headlight but the radio station indicator light on the dash only works sometimes.

On the headlight I have removed it from and cleaned the connection to insure good contact and still no luck. The radio is the same have checked the connections to be sure they are clean and making good contact.

Any Thoughts?

[Tip Schwartzbeck]

Hi,
probably not much help but I would suggest you check the wiring diagram in a shop manual for the headlight problem.Sounds like a wire is connected wrong - or not at all.I think the headlight comes on with the switch and goes off while cranking to lessen the battery load.
Someone will give a better answer but it's a start.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
Tip

[Ol' Grey]

The problem with the headlight might be in the switch housing for the starter button. When one pushes the starter button, it's actually pushing a slide inside the housing that has 2 rows of electrical contacts that either line up or get pushed out of lining up, depending on position of starter button. For example, when pushing the starter button, the contacts for the headlight "On" get pushed out of lining up and the headlight goes "Off" temporarily (as Tip mentioned to conserve battery juice for fire-up) With the Aspencade being a 1989, it's quite possible that the contacts inside the switch housing have a build-up of dust, corrosion, etc. You can buy a spray can of Electrical Contact Cleaner, open the switch housing and spray some cleaner on the contacts, pushing the starter button a few times while it's open to get some cleaner in as many areas as possible. Let it stand for a few seconds, then wipe off any excess and please be careful to not get any Electrical Contact Cleaner on any paint.

Since you've already checked the connections for the radio indicator light, it might be a loose bulb (could be a simple, small push-in type of bulb) or there might be a cracked or broken wire between connection on one end and bulb on the other end.