Diagnosing the clock.

[Ted Schefelbein]

I imagine most guys have given up on the factory clock. Mine seemed to work for a while after I bought the bike, but, has gone haywire in the time since. The display comes and goes, and appears to rapidly flick back and forth from having power and not while the bike is running. I did correct a bad voltage regulator and was hoping that would resolve the issue, but, no such luck. Taillights last longer, however.
I would like for it to work, and notice the original clock itself is available, a bit spendy, but, if I knew for sure the problem was the clock movement, I'd replace it.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Ted

[Waiex191]

Mine just works. Always has.

[red]

I imagine most guys have given up on the factory clock. Mine seemed to work for a while after I bought the bike, but, has gone haywire in the time since. The display comes and goes, and appears to rapidly flick back and forth from having power and not while the bike is running. I did correct a bad voltage regulator and was hoping that would resolve the issue, but, no such luck. Taillights last longer, however.  I would like for it to work, and notice the original clock itself is available, a bit spendy, but, if I knew for sure the problem was the clock movement, I'd replace it.  Any ideas?  Thanks in advance.
Ted

Ted,

As the lead technician at my job, I wish I had a dollar for everybody who came saying "It does not work" but once we applied power and ground, all was well.  The FJ is prone to bad grounds at the instrument panel.  Solder a new, dedicated ground wire from the best ground available to the ground side of the clock.  If you do not solder, find somebody who can solder well to do the job.  La-Co flux (US$5.00) makes most people into good solder techs.

Without seeing the clock panel, I might suggest installing a flat generic digital clock at the present location of the clock, and just let it run at all times, instead of switching it off and on.  Here is one style, but a smaller one might be better:


.

[Ted Schefelbein]

Red,
Thanks for that. As I recall, the wires back there were a bit crusty, I replaced all the lights bulbs, cleaned what I could, and smeared dielectric grease where I could. Everything worked great, until a few months after I did it. Just the clock is problematic, today.

What you are saying makes sense, as the clock is intermittent, not dead. If I recall correctly, the wire is eye-openingly fine (small) that runs it.

Something to mess with. I'd rather have the factory clock, rather than something else, but, want it to work as designed. Need to know when I'm running late to work. Or, late for home.

Ted

[aviationfred]

If after checking the wiring, and your clock does not get better. I have a spare clock unit that I could send you. It came off of my 95 when I installed the Speed Hut gauges.


Fred

[Ted Schefelbein]

Thanks, Fred! I'll keep you posted.

Ted