2002 ST1100 Headlight bulb retainer ring issues

Hi,

I have two questions. One - I recently started up the ST and the low beams were on... when I switch to high they came on for a short time then suddenly both went out. Now I don't have high beams. Two - I thought maybe one or as hard is it is to believe both high beams blew. So, I am trying to check and possibly replace one bulb or both. I am having a heck of a time getting the retainer ring to pop open so I can remove the bulb. It's very hard to see up there with a mirror and flash light but, it seems that just pressing on it should have it release. I see a phillips head screw and plate where the retainer end is inserted. Do I have to remove that screw and plate to get the thing to open? If so, I'll take it to the shop.

Thanks,

Mark S

I'd rather start by cleaning and lubing the HIGH/LOW switch on the LHS handlebar...

No you don't need to remove any screws.
I had to push my phone up there and take a picture in order to orient myself and understand what it needed to release the bulb.
It's simple if you understand it, near impossible if you don't.
Ditto on cleaning the high low switch first.

Yep, I just read about cleaning the switch... Thanks guys!

The high beam relay could be the problem, too.

If cleaning the switch doesn't fix the problem, you could always do some logical troubleshooting. The easiest thing to do next (IMHO) would be to remove the "shelter" , or phony gas tank and check the voltage at the 9-Pin black connector going to the left handlebar switch. The voltage on the Blue/White wire should be a constant +12 volts and with the switch in the High Beam position, you should have +12 volts on the Blue wire. Wiggle the wires going to the connector to see if the high beams come on. I would next disconnect the connector and look for corrosion on the pins and check to see if any of the pins have pulled out - this happened to me with the starter switch connector. Check for the previous voltages on the underside of the connector, with the connector plugged back together.

If you have the above voltages, you may have a bad high beam relay. You could switch the low & high beam relays to see if the problem switches to the low beams. Of course, you possibly could have both high beam filaments blown, but the chance that both went out at about the same time is really small. Any chance that one of the high beam filaments has been blown for awhile and it wasn't noticed ?? This should be an easy problem to troubleshoot if you have a meter & wiring diagram. Good luck, and have fun !!!

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm a mid-level kind of mechanic on the bike so, I can go so far and then freak out and take it to the shop. I did remove and clean the switch on the handle bar and still no joy. But, your tip on the connector under the airbox cover sounds good. Don't have a volt meter but, I can check to see if the connection is corroded at least. I had come to the assumption that the relay had gone bad. Any help on where that relay lives. I talked to the honda shop here in my small town and they were not sure... figures. I'll continue to mess with it. This bike is an 02 but, only has 26k on it so, one would think that issues like this would not arise... I guess that's what I get for thinkin'. Thanks again!

my 99 had a no headlight prob last yr,turn out to be a dirty starter switch. try spraying cleaner and wiggling the switch

Mark S said:

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm a mid-level kind of mechanic on the bike so, I can go so far and then freak out and take it to the shop. I did remove and clean the switch on the handle bar and still no joy. But, your tip on the connector under the airbox cover sounds good. Don't have a volt meter but, I can check to see if the connection is corroded at least. I had come to the assumption that the relay had gone bad. Any help on where that relay lives. I talked to the honda shop here in my small town and they were not sure... figures. I'll continue to mess with it.

Click to expand...

Both relays are next to the headlight, right side - mounted in rubber and with a 4-pin connector. Gotta remove a bunch of plastic to get to them. The schematic says the low beam relay has a red connector and the high beam relay has a white connector, but I discovered the colors were actually the reverse on my bike when I tapped into the high beam coil voltage when I added another relay to power my HID aux. lights.

Sounds like it might be time to invest in a basic voltmeter. Check out MCM Electronics. I bought several digital meters that were on sale for only $8.00 each . And they look half-way decent, too ( Christmas stocking stuffers for some the boys in the family ). They have several decent meters for under $20.00 .

stevep said:

my 99 had a no headlight prob last yr,turn out to be a dirty starter switch. try spraying cleaner and wiggling the switch

Click to expand...

That would make logical sense IF the low beam wasn't on before he switched to high beam. But Mark said the low beam was already on.

I had the problem of neither low or high beam not working and it was a dirty start switch, since the "START" switch id really a START & Headlight OFF Switch. Probably a good idea to give the START/Headlight OFF Switch a shot of spray clean periodically.

Thanks Guys!