So my 2012 Superglide's indicator lights (Left turn, high beam and Neutral) had gone out a few years ago. I asked for help at that time about it and although it was a common enough problem, no one had a solution for it other then replacing the whole unit from Harley. Well, in Canada that part is about $275.00 as you have to buy the whole harness assembly and not just the little circuit board that holds the LED lights.

Now a lot of people think its cause water gets into the board and causes a sort. Well after a ton of research and scouring the net I can across this fix and the root cause of why these lights go out. This is not my fix, but someone a lot more clever then I am...I am passing this along to anyone else who is in the same boat as I am and wants a cheap fix for this.

First water has nothing to do with it...if water got in there in the first place it would short out the whole board, not just a few lights on the left side. What I have been able to find out is that these boards, have a weak spot on them between R9 and C4. This spot get hot and over time melts the plastic and shorts out. This is why only the left side goes out. See pic below. See the little white spot on the board between R9 and C4...this is the spot that has worn though and shorted out.



Now the fix is to soldier a little wire in between these two spots. basically bridging these two components. Now I am in the middle of doing this myself and although others who have done this say it works, I personally won't know for a few weeks as my bike is torn down for paint....but it is one solution instead of spending a whole lot of money on something that is going to do it again....



If anyone has done this or knows of another solution ...please post it here...

 

Well done sir ! This could help many riders !

 

I don't see any pic?

 

I see them fine on both my IPad and my home PC....even when I am not logged in...maybe try a different device?

 

Thank you Sir!

Excellent research and a simple solution. That's the way I like it!

I will check if the board of my Fat Bob MY 2012 shows up with the same issue. If yes I will try your solution for sure as in Germany the replacement harness 72667-12 costs about 329€.
Only alternative is buying 69029-11 for 70€ in Germany cut the wires and solder it in as replacement. No guarantee that the issue never appears again.
Have you been successful with this meanwhile?


Best regards

Edit:
Just an additional question....
I see the interruption on the board but it is not clear for me why it should be a heat issue at this single point? What heat source could cause this there?
Could it be a mechanical issue caused by vibrations because e.g. there is a contact point between board and board housing?
I just want understand the reason to ensure that the issue is gone after repairing it and not appearing again there after a couple of month.

Thanks a lot!

 

Usually a failure like that is caused by a current overload, either because the trace on the board is too narrow, or the load is too great. If this trace is feeding an incandescent light, failure of the light can cause a very high momentary draw. (Are DS1-4 LED indicators? If so, this is not the cause.)

What the fix is doing is replacing the trace on the board with a heavier conductor. Sometimes this works, and some times it just moves the failure to the next weakest link. Either way, you've likely got nothing to loose.

Just for clarification, the problem is not that the circuit "shorts," rather the end result is an open circuit, sort of the opposite of a short.

 

John, that’s for the clarification on this...I used the term “short” simply due to familiarity.....and you are correct, it’s actually an open circuit...but I think the solution is viable...

with mine I accidentally solder the end off of the tab rendering my board useless ( I am horrible at soldering)....so I had to buy a new one at $275. cdn.

 

Couple more jumper wires and it'll be good as new! Yes, delicate soldering jobs require good equipment as well as good technique. In one of the courses I used to teach the students build a magneto timing box. I spent most of the semester troubleshooting their mistakes and patching circuit boards.

I mentioned the term "short" because there's more than enough confusion about electricity as it is.

Send me the bad board and I'll try to hack it up even more!

 

Many thanks for the explanation.

I think I will give it a try as it is broken anyway and order the 69029-11 for much less money as a fall back solution.
329€ for a complete harness is way too much and to be honest why should I buy the same bad designed board again for a huge amount of money?
Anyway! Soldering six wires is much easier than soldering the board.

Thx for your help!
Greets!

 

If you don't have a proper soldering station already, spend the money now. It'll pay for itself in no time.

I own, use, & recommend the Hakko stuff for bang/buck. (I also have Weller and Metcal)