Running lamp front & brake light & gauge out

[[email protected]]

My 2007 buddy 125 has some sort of electrical issue.

My headlights/running & hi beam lights are out.
My running/low power brake lights are out, but when I apply brake it works.
My cluster speedometer lights are out.

Bulbs are good. Put new ones in. Old ones are good anyway.

Battery reads 11.7v when I start it from 50 degrees here in Minnesota
Warms up to about 12.7v idle
Half throttle at about 13.9v

No voltage going to headlight.
Turn signals work all around and in gauge cluster.
Brake light only works when handle is depressed.
It makes no difference if it's in park on the stand or on its wheels.

So why?? What is causing my lack of running lights?

Plz help

[Stanza]

Will it electric start, or do you have to kick it? Check your main fuse.

[[email protected]]

Electric start works well.

All fuses we could see are good

Took all of the front body off to find fuses.

Didnt take rear body panels off yet... trying to avoid that.

[ucandoit]

I''m having similar, but in a way, worse electrical problems with my 125 Buddy. My battery is good, fuse good, ground good, but get NO power at all when I turn on ignition. Dash is completely dead. I think the ignition is good but am not positive because I don't know for sure how to check it. I've spent weeks trying to find the problem and have asked for help. I'm thinking most people don't know how to help with wiring/electrical issues. Am now studying wiring diagrams, multimeters, etc., but there is a lot to learn. I've heard that 49ccscoot is a good forum site so will ask them. Good luck. I was so eager to begin riding this Spring and so far am going nowhere. LOL

[[email protected]]

SAME! SO EAGER! Lol.

Well, when i find out I'll share my knowledge.

Going after the voltage regulator currently.

[BuddyRaton]

Ok..I voted. Electrical sucks. I usually start by checking continuity between switches and bulb or whatever.

I know...not much help.

Keep us updated!

[Syd]

Could it be a fuse?

[[email protected]]

Not looking like it's a fuse issue, they seem to be fine.

I have narrowed it down to these 3 possibilities:

Voltage Regulator

Yes the people at Scooterville MN said this is probs it, but i don't quite want to submit to that yet. Out of my headlight socket, I have ZERO voltage. If bulbs are burnt out, I cannot physically see it. I'm no pro, but the bulbs do not look they are bad.

The CDI

I only consider this possibility because the blue with black wire coming out of my ignition has no power. It goes to the CDI.

Lastly-
The wires that are covered in electric tape. The wire harness! Somewhere something could be super wack

I have concluded that the results are that the circuit has been broken in which the running brake lights, the running headlights, and the bulbs that illuminate the speedometer.

When i pull my brakes, the brake does light up.

My blinkers on the gauge work fine.

PS still stuck

[Christophers]

The wire harness!

:(

It's sort of sounding like that.

[k1dude]

Hunting electrical ghosts is my worst nightmare. Been through it many times with many vehicles and it's never a good time. There's also no one that can help you but you. It's takes time, effort, patience, cursing, and a lot of trial and error. If you have multiple continuity problems in your wiring harness, well, good luck with that. Worst case scenario is you'll have to virtually strip the entire scooter down to the frame and install a new harness.

That's why no one has been offering suggestions. It's a tedious and painful process that only you can do. If you pay a shop it could cost a fortune. Good luck.

[Stanza]

I can tell you that it's not your cdi. The blue and black wire is the kill wire for your ignition switch, it grounds out the CDI to stop the spark from firing. Under normal operations, you shouldn't be getting any voltage off that.

Your voltage regulator should be putting out something at least. That it isn't, is alarming. Can you do a voltage test on the plug/socket coming from the stator? See if you have any voltage from those wires? Yellow, white, etc?

[az_slynch]

The lights you identified are only powered when the engine is running. The turn signals and brake light work because they are powered through the battery.

Follow the yellow wire from the stator to the regulator. Check for 12.5-14V DC between the yellow wire at the regulator plug and a chassis ground while the engine is running. If that checks out, locate that wire at the handlebar plug to the headlight switch and check again for similar voltage to a chassis ground.

Based on your reports, I suspect the stator/regulator leg is fine and the issue lies between the regulator and the bulb socket.

My money is on a broken headlight switch or a broken connector under the front cover. If I was really going to place a bet, I'd suspect a failed solder joint in the switch assembly.

The wiring diagram is available on this site:

http://www.modernbuddy.com/pdf/buddy_wiring_diagram.pdf

[[email protected]]

I bought a new voltage regulator only to have not needed it.
I put the new volt regulator in to see no changes.

Out of the voltage regulator i learned that the red and white have power when the machine is running. THE YELLOW DOES NOT!

That was why i tried the volt regulator.

Now I'll try to go after the head light switch connections.

[az_slynch]

Yellow at the regulator has no power with the engine running? OK, don't head to the switch. Your issue is probably closer to the engine. Red/white is connected to the battery and wil show voltage. White looks like the batery charging circuit from the stator.

Check the harness coming out of the fan/stator. Power for the yellow lead originates there and runs a split path; one to the headlamp, gauge lamp and tail running lamp, while another path runs to the regulator to keep the stator from overvolting the lamps and blowing them when the engine runs at higher RPM.

Pick the yellow wire at the stator connection plug and ground to the chassis.The engine must be running to read voltage. See what your measured voltage is there.

[ucandoit]

Just got finished spending countless hrs. with "electrical problems". And in the end it was the FUSE, which I had sworn was good because it looked good. But it wasn't. It had separated at a place hidden by the little end cap.

Make absolutely sure your fuse is good by testing it with a multimeter. (Set it to ohms, about 20K and touch the two probes together. It should read zero. Then, hold one probe to one end of the fuse and the other probe to the other end. Should read zero. No resistance.)

Or, just insert a new fuse.