B/Bl on one side of the connector and W on the other is the low beam hot wire. The dots on a wire are not part of the color code but help with length measurements when the harness is made. A headlight relay kit is a good option and may solve the problem. The connection only has to deliver enough current to throw a relay. A relay kit is usually thought of as prevention but it can sometimes be a solution.

 

Having had my woes with headlights, and having looked in depth at the schematic, I would really, really recommend going with the relay kit to resolve this problem.

As it stands, Suzuki sends all 9 amps (55W x 2 @ 12V) of current through the ignition switch and the starter button, not to mention the high/low selector switch, which, in my opinion as an electrical engineer, is right on the edge of what I would consider OK.

 

As it stands, Suzuki sends all 9 amps (55W x 2 @ 12V) of current through the ignition switch and the starter button, not to mention the high/low selector switch, which, in my opinion as an electrical engineer, is right on the edge of what I would consider OK.

So you're saying this is at the upper limits of what should be sent? What would be optimum - 7 or less amps?

Sorry, I'm electrically challenged and like to understand these things.

 

Thanks for this thread. Same issue with an '08 Wee - low beams disappeared. The wiring connector socket looked the same as yours. Sort of fried at the hot wire. A little scraping of the connector with an eyeglass screwdriver, and all was well. I would never have started looking for the solution at that connector without your thoughtful comments. EB switch time for me.

 

I lost high & low tonight ?

Everything else working fine then when I got home (had to limp home with hazards on) turned ignition on & all working again. Looking at the drawings I have there seems to be no logic to losing just headamps with every thing else workng. If it was a ground problem then turn indicators wouldnt work s they use a common ground.

Even the overtake switch wouldnt work & that uses a seperate supply.

anyone else had this issue?

 

The most common problem with lost lights is the normally closed contacts on the starter switch. If they don't connect, you lose both headlights and nothing else.

 

I had this exact same problem earlier this year on my 09 Wee, at first I thought it was the right switchblock, and after having a crack at cleaning it my lows returned briefly, took it to a Suzuki trained mechanic, who found this fault and made a new lowbeam connection outside the connection block, no further issues. Good to see I'm not the only one to burn one of these out.

 

Thanks guys that seems exactly what it is, I have a wiring diagram (old sample service manual someone emailed to me) but it does not show the closed contacts maybe the older wee's did not have this, mines a 2010.

I flicked the switch a few times & they came back on. It seems a lot of load for a crappy little switch, time to update to a relay circuit I think.

Taking it apart now its light no doubt it will be water damage or maybe a nice spiders web inside (my girlfriend has a 83 GS400 and thats what I found inside her front brake switch when that stopped working)

 

The headlights were routed through the starter switch starting in 2005 on Vee and Wee.

 

Well now I have it all apart the problem is the switch housing is devoid of any kind of gasket (this is first time I have had handle bar controls apart on a newer bike I wrongly assumed there would be some kind of water protection on a newer bike) though the casing is a tight fit water & crud will get in there.

When the switch is in postion there is a hole in the bottom of it. You can see the contact (or at least part of it) the hole sits at the bottom of the housing so any damp/water/crud will sit there & if enough gets in will get into the contacts.

I didnt want to take the actual switch out of the housing (as I want to use it the next few days before it gets really cold) so I blasted some conact cleaner into the switch through the hole & blew it all out. Then forced contact grease into the hole while working the switch to try & spread it into it. Hopefully now any liquid that gets in there will not get into the switch again or at least not contaminate the contacts. I didnt want to block the hole completely as if water gets in from above it will not be able to drain out.

any thoughts on this theory?

 

It might help to blow some ACF50 in there. It's designed to handle just such jobs.

 

DeoxIT

I have worked on electronics for over 40 years and am formally trained in electronics and have worked in the semiconductor industry for over 30 years.

I highly HIGHLY recommend CAIG DeoxIT.

DeoxIT® D-Series
Caig DeoxIT Product Reviews

This stuff is not cheap... but it really does what it says. A very thin layer of DeoxIT on all connectors and switches actually conduct BETTER as current is passed thru them.

I can almost guarantee if DeoxIT had been on the connector... it would not have melted like we see in the OP photo.

Why do you think the military and aviation industries apply DeoxIT during manufacture of critical electrical components such as switches and connectors?

 

chuckle

Why do you think the military and aviation industries apply DeoxIT during manufacture of critical electrical components such as switches and connectors?

Because they are using the cheapest possible components, and hope they work long enough to get paid?

On a more serious note, I'm sure it is easy (but not cheap) to design and build connectors and switches that would easily, reliably, and permanently (relatively speaking) handle the necessary loads. I too had the low beam blues recently, resolved by applying contact cleaner to the wimpy black plug and working it. I was quite shocked to see how small/cheap the metal contacts are, considering they are carrying nearly 5 amps. Kinda seriously considering bypassing the connector and hard-wiring the lighting circuits next time the problem comes up. Can always cut and re-solder the wires in the unlikely event that I need to take the fairing completely off. Or maybe I'll find a nice water-tight 3 pin connector set with gold-plated contacts, rated for 10 amps or so.

 

Headlight relays with quality connectors are a good fix.