My '03 450 Kodiak had a dim headlight bulb. I took it apart, and found bulb a little loose in the socket. if i push just a little, it's bright again. I tried some di-electric grease (it's almost like vaseline), and it did nothing to help. I tried a zap strap through the socket and it worked for less than a day. NOW, my other side is dim, and i assume it's loose too.

anyone else have these problems? how do i make it tighter? Oh, BTW, the YAmaha manual is a useless POS when it comes to giving directions on how to change bulb. It says to push down and turn bulb to get it to release from socket, but that does nothing. you need to push plastic lock tabs outta the way. you'll break the bulb in your hand trying it the way Yamaha says to do it.

thanks for any solutions.

 

i was getting one light working on low beam and then the opposite ONLY working on high beam. this lasted a few hours, and now NONE of them work, AT ALL!! I checked the fuse.. it's fine. SO where do these ground, cuz that's my next guess.

OR, can anyone offer advice??? this really sucks cuz lights are important for day-riding, just to be seen.

 

LIke, I got NO HEADLIGHTS!! anyone??

 

SMEAR LOTS OF POOP ON IT >_<!

 

WOW, gee, thanks.

 

D3athShad0w, you got some issues...

Ive got a service manual, and youre right..not much for detail.
I havent gotten around to my headlights yet, I want to put brighter ones in, these stock ones suc.
Once the bulb, and pigtail, are loose from the bodywork...how is the bulb held in the socket? I know on some autos, the bulb is captured, by a u shaped wire, which goes into the socket, perpendicular to the bulb coming out. Does this have one of those wires?
Those plastic tabs...were they holding the socket to the bodywork, or the bulb to the socket?
If I get some time, Ill head out to the garage and look over the bulb situation on my 04, which should be identicle to your 03.

 

On my Wolverine I had the same problem. I kept replacing bulbs and they would work for a while and then nothing. What I found is the solder contacts on the bulb itself were melting and there for losening up. Now when it happens I pull the bulb and solder another bead on the end of the bulb and they work good as new. Check the end of your bulbs.

Ganz

 

I looked at the owners manual, and it gives better instuctions for removing the bulb.
It looks like the bulbs are automotive style, where the bulb is attached to a metal flange base.
Make sure the bulb isnt loose from the metal base. Dont leave any oil, or fingerprints on the glass. That will create hot spots and lead to premature failure.
Id start by, ohm checking the bulb. I think the connection between the glass part and the metal part is broke.
If the bulb ohm checks good, then maybe you need to bend the tabs on the base of the bulb, to make it a tighter fit in the socket.

 

i was gonna post a sarcastic reply here, that when i post a problem in the Honda forum, the Honda guys are generally very helpful, yet the Yamaha forum which averages 10Xs the posts produces nothing..... unless ya wanna chat about how my *****'ing Banshee can stomp your *****'ing zilla or 250R.... then you'll incite lotsa replies....if not a near riot. Lo and behold, Hondabuster tries to at least help me, someone who has helped me frequently on the Honda forum. Thanks for the reply, and you too Ganz.

Thanks for trying, but i think we're off on this one. there are no "tabs" to bend in my socket (you're thinkin almost like a carb-float tab), it's like 2 raised nubs, similar to the bottom of the bulb. that's why i tried loading up the di-electric grease, like what you see in a Ford truck socket.

what does your owner's manual say about removing the bulb? mine is totally incorrect, and another 450 owner posted the same thing awhile ago ( you have to push the plastic lock-tabs while prying up on the bulb, NOT push down and turn the way the manual says).

Ganz, i may try your fix with some extra solder blobs melted on. the heat didn't burn out your element? how do you make it raise the profile vs. making a bigger/wider blob of solder? and how do you hold bulb upside down while doing this?

I guess i'll have to tear into this one and see what happens. it's odd both went at the same time.

 

I'm not sure if your lights are the same as mine, but mine just have 2 contact points on the end of the bulb one for high beams one for low. I really don't think the solder melted on the bulb I think it gets wore down from vibration. I just heated the contact points with a soldering iron and melted a blob of solder on it to build it up again. The bulb wasn't burnt out it just wasn't making contact any more. Worked great for me.