Rear running light keeps blowing.

[Carlos840]

So, my friend also has an FZ6, 2009, 10000 miles.

Since he bought it last year he keeps blowing the rear running light, always the running light filament, the brake filament never blows.

When he changes the bulb it will not instantly go, it can last for as long as a week, and then suddenly the running light filament will go, but the brake light still works fine.

I have tried cleaning the oxidation on the socket but it didn't help.
The fuses look alright.

What could be doing this?

 

[ozgurakman]

I'm using osram or narva, Philips brand is not fine for me. So Choose a fine bulb and when replacing, don't touch the bulb with naked hand or if you touch accidentally, clean it with a rag which contains some alcohol or solvent.

tapatalk ile gönderildi.

 

[Carlos840]

I'm using osram or narva, Philips brand is not fine for me. So Choose a fine bulb and when replacing, don't touch the bulb with naked hand or if you touch accidentally, clean it with a rag which contains some alcohol or solvent.

tapatalk ile gönderildi.

This is definitely not the problem, good bulbs were used, and changed properly.

I am pretty sure it is something to do with the bike's wiring...

 

[mattwitt]

Maybe go to an LED if you need a quick easy fix.. Not that expensive on EBay.. (not sure of quality)

LED Tail Light for Yamaha FZ6 Fazer 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Smoke | eBay

 

[Carlos840]

Maybe go to an LED if you need a quick easy fix.. Not that expensive on EBay.. (not sure of quality)

LED Tail Light for Yamaha FZ6 Fazer 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Smoke | eBay

That's not really a fix, if it burns the LED it's just more money thrown down the drain...

What i really need is to know what could cause this specific filament to burn, and what i can test to troubleshoot it.

 

[mattwitt]

You are right, it's not a fix but LEDs can take more abuse than a filament bulb. I had a problem like this with my truck and it was a grounding issue in the lighting circuit. Took the dealer though to find out.


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[Erci]

Maybe rectifier is not doing it's job and it's allowing voltage to shoot up over 14? Easy enough to measure. Attach voltage meter to battery and rev the bike up to 7-8k.. it should never go over 14.

Mind you I'm terrible at troubleshooting electrical issues, so someone please correct me if what I said makes no sense, but that's where I would think to start.

The other item I would check: make sure tail light is mounted loosely. You should be able to move it up and down easily by hand. When I converted my bike to naked, I used stock turn indicators on the front, but I hard-mounted them to headlight bracket. My running lights would only last a week and I went through 3-4 bulbs, before I got aftermarket indicators with rubber mounts and same bulbs never burned out again.

 

[Motogiro]

The FZ6 tail light lamp is a special lamp that has a physical bridge at the filament for stronger mechanical rigidity. If you replace the tail lamp with just an automotive type it will not last and is also not as bright as the OEM lamp.

If you have an over voltage problem there should be other problems on the bike. LED's will actually blow out fast under conditions of over voltage even though they are mechanically/physically stronger. To replace the tail lamp with an LED you will need to find an LED type that shines a radial pattern because of the reflector. You could go with an aftermarket tail light like the Motodynamics.

Chances are the bulb has been replaced with an 1157 type automotive lamp and although it may be a high quality heavy duty lamp it may not have the ability to resist the vibration on the bike cause it to fail prematurely.

Here is the part number from ronayers.com 137-84714-61-xx The 1157 number is the lamp configuration type but does not denote the physical build of the internal filament. Your tail lamp should be called (12v32/3cp) 1157 type and you will see and additional attachment to the filament that a standard 1157 does not have.

Again, If there is enough over voltage to toast an incandescent lamp you will have other components failing

 

[Carlos840]

The FZ6 tail light lamp is a special lamp that has a physical bridge at the filament for stronger mechanical rigidity. If you replace the tail lamp with just an automotive type it will not last and is also not as bright as the OEM lamp.

If you have an over voltage problem there should be other problems on the bike. LED's will actually blow out fast under conditions of over voltage even though they are mechanically/physically stronger. To replace the tail lamp with an LED you will need to find an LED type that shines a radial pattern because of the reflector. You could go with an aftermarket tail light like the Motodynamics.

Chances are the bulb has been replaced with an 1157 type automotive lamp and although it may be a high quality heavy duty lamp it may not have the ability to resist the vibration on the bike cause it to fail prematurely.

Here is the part number from ronayers.com 137-84714-61-xx The 1157 number is the lamp configuration type but does not denote the physical build of the internal filament. Your tail lamp should be called (12v32/3cp) 1157 type and you will see and additional attachment to the filament that a standard 1157 does not have.

Again, If there is enough over voltage to toast an incandescent lamp you will have other components failing

Thanks,

This is weird though, because i have been using a regular philips 1157 in my tail light, which by the way is a lot brighter than stock, and it has already lasted a year with no trouble.
But, in my friends bike they only last between a couple hours and a week before the filament burns.

I will check the mount to make sure it moves freely and try checking the voltage.

Apart from this bulb burning there are no other weird things happening.

 

[FinalImpact]

A couple things come to mind.

• Inspect all mechanical connections for corrosion. Especially the one under the left pod as tire debris is thrown up there. Bad connections reduce bulb life.
  
• Another factor is if there are lighting mods to this bike and something is using this bulbs running light at return path to ground. When it burns out, is anything else effected in anyway?
  
• Brighter is not helping this. Reducing the power / light output extends the life of incandescent bulbs. As they get hotter/brighter the filament is shedding tungsten at a high rate making it thinner and more fragile. To hot/bright and filament simply gets thin as the tungsten is not redeposited onto the filament; it sticks to the glass.

Yes, going back many years I was in on miniature bulb burn-in for medical equipment. The goal was a stable filament that doesn't move over time. We used to burn-in the bulbs, measure the light output, current, voltage, and change over time. As Eric said, more VOLTAGE is LESS LIFE!

In short - bright bulbs are far more unstable. Bad connections induce failure. As Cliff mentioned, the OEM bulb has 3 times the support to keep the filament from shaking. Without it, they can fail much sooner from high frequency vibrations.
Hint: maybe its time to look at the plug wires into the caps...

Because the headlights are not failing, makes me wonder if something is using it for return ground path....

 

[Carlos840]

A couple things come to mind.

• Inspect all mechanical connections for corrosion. Especially the one under the left pod as tire debris is thrown up there. Bad connections reduce bulb life.
  
• Another factor is if there are lighting mods to this bike and something is using this bulbs running light at return path to ground. When it burns out, is anything else effected in anyway?
  
• Brighter is not helping this. Reducing the power / light output extends the life of incandescent bulbs. As they get hotter/brighter the filament is shedding tungsten at a high rate making it thinner and more fragile. To hot/bright and filament simply gets thin as the tungsten is not redeposited onto the filament; it sticks to the glass.

Yes, going back many years I was in on miniature bulb burn-in for medical equipment. The goal was a stable filament that doesn't move over time. We used to burn-in the bulbs, measure the light output, current, voltage, and change over time. As Eric said, more VOLTAGE is LESS LIFE!

In short - bright bulbs are far more unstable. Bad connections induce failure. As Cliff mentioned, the OEM bulb has 3 times the support to keep the filament from shaking. Without it, they can fail much sooner from high frequency vibrations.
Hint: maybe its time to look at the plug wires into the caps...

Because the headlights are not failing, makes me wonder if something is using it for return ground path....

The bike is completely stock, no electrical modifications whatsoever.
Nothing else is acting up other than the rear running light, the brake light has never burnt once, he went through a lot of bulbs, many brands, and it is always the same filament.

Actually, i still have my OEM lightbulb, i replaced it by a philips vision plus which is brighter and that i prefer. I will try it on his bike, see if the OEM bulb lasts any longer.

I experiment a bit more, see if i can figure out what is going on...

 

[FinalImpact]

The bike is completely stock, no electrical modifications whatsoever.
Nothing else is acting up other than the rear running light, the brake light has never burnt once, he went through a lot of bulbs, many brands, and it is always the same filament.

Actually, i still have my OEM lightbulb, i replaced it by a philips vision plus which is brighter and that i prefer. I will try it on his bike, see if the OEM bulb lasts any longer.

I experiment a bit more, see if i can figure out what is going on...

FWIW: if the glass is clear when the filament sheds its last breath, its likely mechanical failure. If the inside of the bulb is hazed in grey, black, blue, its too hot either from too much voltage or bulb design (element shed its tungsten to the glass, gets thin and breaks). You might look at "where" it breaks too. Assuming you can see inside. Considering the lower wattage of that element, I suspect its mechanically induced.

Again - engine vibes can kill it. Feel the tail at various RPMs it may be oscillating at high frequency. Plug wire???

 

[Carlos840]

FWIW: if the glass is clear when the filament sheds its last breath, its likely mechanical failure. If the inside of the bulb is hazed in grey, black, blue, its too hot either from too much voltage or bulb design (element shed its tungsten to the glass, gets thin and breaks). You might look at "where" it breaks too. Assuming you can see inside. Considering the lower wattage of that element, I suspect its mechanically induced.

Again - engine vibes can kill it. Feel the tail at various RPMs it may be oscillating at high frequency. Plug wire???

The ones i saw when i inspected them were always clear, with a completely intact brake filament and a broken running light filament.
Sometimes they last as little as a few hours before burning.

When you say mechanical, do you mean induced by vibration rather than to much juice?

 

[FinalImpact]

Yes... so that could be limitation of the bulbs mechanical ability to withstand vibration or induced by the bike from high frequency vibes.

Again - inspection of all connections not just the socket as it seems odd the headlights are not failing if it vibration induced.