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Hell finding brake light wire on '04 GSXR 600

15K views 37 replies 7 participants last post by  MadisonMotorsportUK 
#1 · (Edited)
Help finding brake light wire on '04 GSXR 600

I'm trying to find the wire that goes to my brake light...so I can hook in a wireless transmitter for my wireless helmet brake light.

I have an integrated LED taillight installed(by PO)...and have been using a test light(that pierces the wire insulation) trying to figure out which wire gets energized when I press the front brake lever. I found the blinker wires, but am having no luck finding the brake light wire.

Anyone have any info on this? I suck at electrical stuff.
 
#2 ·
What year and model do you have?
 
#3 ·
'04 GSXR 600. (I put that info in the title of the thread.LOL)

I have one green, one black, and one red wire going to the integrated taillight. (and 2 blinker wires that I've already identified).

I tested....and The green wire and the red wire are "hot" when the key is in the "on" position....the black is a ground(I'm guessing).
 
#5 ·
Update:
I spliced into the white wire w/black tracer...and it worked. Apparently the wire is hot when the key is on, but a larger voltage runs thru the wire when the brakes are applied.

Helmet brake light is working, but I'm still not sure all is well. My battery is really drained now. I'm not sure if I grounded it incorrectly...or simply drained the battery by constantly turning the key on and off while figuring the wiring out.

Battery is charging now. Once that's done, I'll check the wireless brake light again....to see if it quickly drains the bike battery.

(I do have the wiring diagram btw....I just suck at reading wiring schematics)
 
#6 · (Edited)
from the wiring schematics w/b is power to your brake lights.

But there should be no power on it at all until one of the brake light switches is used.

there may be a poor earth or a problem with the tail light assy and it is feeding into that wire.

I would disconnect the tail light, from the connector on the main loom you should have taillight power to Brown, power to the W/B only when brakes on and B/W is earth,
 
#10 ·
from the wiring I am looking at orange/green will be power to the switch, there should be no power to the other side of the switch until you brake,

Both front and rear brake are connected together so the same O/G wire supplies power to them as well as the horns and probably more.

But the W/B wire out of the switches only goes to the rear light.

Disconnect both brake switches and check that there is no power on that W/B wire
 
#12 ·
Three wires going into the brake light (harness side, once changes color on the light side of the connector).

Black / White stripe = ground.
Brown = tail light power.
White / Black stripe = brake light power.

The White/Black wire will only have power when either brake is applied.
 
#13 ·
Currently my brake power wire is def energized as soon as the key is on.....why isnt my brake light coming on as soon as the key is on?

On a side note....Is my turn signal flashing too fast? Just wondering if my electrical issues may be affecting the turn signal rate also.

 
#14 ·
Currently my brake power wire is def energized as soon as the key is on.....why isnt my brake light coming on as soon as the key is on?
?? Are you saying that your brake light comes on as soon as the key is turned on? Otherwise, when you press either brakes the light does not get brighter? (Normally the tail light comes on with key on, and then light gets brighter with brake application)

On a side note....Is my turn signal flashing too fast? Just wondering if my electrical issues may be affecting the turn signal rate also.
When a signal bulb burns out or is replaced with an LED type that draws less power, the system will blink faster.

Yours looks a little faster then stock but it would not bother me.
 
#15 ·
My brake light is seemingly functioning properly. The taillight comes on when the key is on(or bike is started) as it should. The brake light also works properly when either brake is depressed.

The issue at hand...is that I'm supposed to wire in the wireless transmitter(for the helmet brake light) to the brake light wire. The instructions to the transmitter assume that the brake light wire is only energized when a brake is depressed. In my case, ALL wires are energized as soon as the key is on.

When putting a test light to the wires....the light is on(indicating power) at all times when key is on, not just when a brake is depressed.

If memory serves me, the test light showed power to brake wire when the key was on....and when a brake was applied, the test light got brighter. Which indicated that the wire was getting more juice when the brake was applied.
 
#17 ·
Now I understand.

I think you have a bad ground connection (high resistance) at the B/W wire. The other lamps are trying to seek ground through the brake light when it is not operating.

To test, just put a jumper wire between the B/W and a good ground and see if you loose the potential that you are seeing on the W/B brake wire. If you do, you need to track down the ground problem or add another ground.

I'm guessing that you are using an LED type test light. I don't think you would get this indication if you used an old incandescent bulb tester. (it take more potential to light up).
 
#18 ·
Are you saying that a non-LED test light would NOT light up because the W/b wire isn't actually getting enough juice to light up an incandescent bulb?....so in essence, the LED test light is indicating that the wire is "hot", but in reality it's not energized?
 
#19 ·
Yes, my guess is that if you put a voltmeter on the W/B wire with the ignition on that you would read 4-5 volts less then battery voltage (7 or 8 volts?) and when you pressed a brake, it would jump to battery voltage.
 
#20 ·
Ok. Let's get my head wrapped around the "jumper" wire scenario.

The wire colors are black, red, green on one side of the connector(engine side of bike) and then change to W/b, Brown, B/w coming out of the tail end of the connector.

What color wire should I be running a "jumper wire" to another known-good ground?
 
#26 ·
I'm not sure if the PO hacked up any wiring other than under the seat(to install LED taillight). All wiring harnesses that I can visibly see....are factory, and untouched.


When I get home tonight(after 9pm)....I'll post a quick iPhone video of me testing the wires with the test light etc.

Maybe that'll help you better visualize what's going on.
There is no red or green wire in the factory wiring to the tail light..... I'm sure the PO hacked something up... :0001136745-rtfm:
 
#22 ·
Talking about black/red/green wires on the engine side of the bike has me convinced there's something else hacked up further up in the system. Here's the factory diagram.

Ignition power to tail light and license light = Brown
Common ground = Black/white
Right signal power = Light Green
Left signal power = Black

Brake light power = White/Black.

Text Font Line Design Parallel
 
#24 ·
I'm not sure if the PO hacked up any wiring other than under the seat(to install LED taillight). All wiring harnesses that I can visibly see....are factory, and untouched.


When I get home tonight(after 9pm)....I'll post a quick iPhone video of me testing the wires with the test light etc.

Maybe that'll help you better visualize what's going on.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I think I explained it backward.....the green, red, and black wires are coming from the aftermarket tail light. The W with black tracer....becomes the green wire on the other side of the pigtail. The black with white tracer becomes the solid black wire...and the Brown becomes the red wire.

I unplugged the taillight...and then tested the White with black tracer wire. It works properly when taillight is unplugged! No power to the wire unless I apply brake lever(just as it should be). Does that mean I have a ground problem with the taillight assembly?
 
#30 ·
I unplugged the taillight...and then tested the White with black tracer wire. It works properly when taillight is unplugged! No power to the wire unless I apply brake lever(just as it should be). Does that mean I have a ground problem with the taillight assembly?
Post 6 I told you to do that, as the tail light may be causing the problem.

Post 7 you told me you had and that it made no difference:0001136745-huh:
 
#35 ·
Success! Threw on a 3a-400volt diode and now the brake wire is only energized when I apply the brakes.

I VERY POORLY soldered the diode to the wires just to see if it solved my problem(which it did).

Now I need to learn how to solder properly....so this repair is permanent.
 
#36 ·
A big THANK YOU....to those who chimed in on this thread and helped me solve it.

The diode is now properly soldered in...and all is working fabulously now.

Make sure to check out the thread I'll be starting later tonight on the helmet brake light. I'll be doing a short video review on how well it works.
 
#37 ·
Help finding brake light wire on '04 GSXR 600

I'm trying to find the wire that goes to my brake light...so I can hook in a wireless transmitter for my wireless helmet brake light.

I have an integrated LED taillight installed(by PO)...and have been using a test light(that pierces the wire insulation) trying to figure out which wire gets energized when I press the front brake lever. I found the blinker wires, but am having no luck finding the brake light wire.

Anyone have any info on this? I suck at electrical stuff.
Help finding brake light wire on '04 GSXR 600

I'm trying to find the wire that goes to my brake light...so I can hook in a wireless transmitter for my wireless helmet brake light.

I have an integrated LED taillight installed(by PO)...and have been using a test light(that pierces the wire insulation) trying to figure out which wire gets energized when I press the front brake lever. I found the blinker wires, but am having no luck finding the brake light wire.

Anyone have any info on this? I suck at electrical stuff.
Light green I not 100 but I'm pretty sure
 
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