I'm trouble shooting a problem with my windscreen where is will not always go down when I press the switch. It will start down and then stop. I let off the switch and press it again, sometimes two or three times and it will go down further, sometimes all the way or just a bit more and then I would have to press again.

I've replaced the relays for the motor and still have the same problem. The only two things i can think of is that the switch is going bad, or the motor is.

Can anyone chime in with some suggestions on figuring this out before I start taking more of the bike apart?

Thanks

I got some advice from a friend, spray some electric contact cleaner in the switch. I used the little tube that comes with the CRC contact cleaner to spray through the crack between the switch and the housing and that fixed the problem. Did even have to take the housing apart.

When I first posted this I had visions of dollar signs floating in my head thinking I would either be buying a motor or a switch. Dodge that one this time, knock on wood.

Try spraying some WD-40 on the pivot points on the windshield arms. It sure helped mine when I had that problem.

Looks like I was wrong about the contact cleaner fixing the problem. It's either the switch or the motor, and I hope its the switch.

Anyone have a suggestion on how to trouble shoot the switch?

I did lube the pivot points, didn't help.

Multitester with probes having a "L" type clip on the end so they will grab and hang onto a piece of wire.

You can attach the probes to the electrical connection on the relay and check for continuity with the electrical system off. Depress the switch and it should go from an open circuit to one with almost infinite resistance, a closed circuit.

You can then check for DC voltage with the system energized, switch ON.

You want to check for voltage on one side of the relay, and then the other with the relay closed, then at the motor.

I don't know much about the LT's electrical system. but, I would also clean connections as I check them. Denatured alcohol and a Q-tip works good. Spray contact cleaner, designed for electrical contacts seems like good insurance. Spray into the contact points, connect, then disconnect the contacts a few times. the idea is to remove any oxidation that may have built up on the contact points.

Best from Tucson
bob

Thanks for the help. I'm going to get into the switch this coming weekend and see if I can narrow it down to where the problem is.

My 2004 has the same problem but I won't be looking at it until the end of next month. I got 10 days off at the end of the year and my list of things to do just keeps growing. Keep us posted on what you find.

As an FYI, if you do find that the problem is the motor itself, do not buy new! If Beemerboneyard or Tony (LTParts.com) does not have one, we do, and the price is much better from any of us than buying new would be!

John

Thanks for the offer on the motor. Do you happen to have the switch assembly in case I need that?

This weekend I plan on checking to see if I have voltage to the relay that controls the windscreen going down. If the voltage is intermittent when I press the switch then I'm going to take the switch apart as far as I can and spray the heck out of it with contact cleaner. If that doesn't fix the problem then I'll be looking for a switch assembly.

Of course if I have power to the relay every time I hit the switch then I'll most likely be contacting you for a price on the motor.

Bob, yes we do have the switch assembly as well if you need it.

Good Luck with the voltage checks, and one item to remember is to try to check for the proper voltage under actual loaded conditions. You can actually measure 12V at an open ended (or no load) connection, but still have a loose or corroded connection. This is because the minimal current required to drive the meter movement will not cause the voltage drop you will normally have across a bad or loose connection under normal load conditions.

Remember Ohm's law: V = IxR. If that "I" is minimal enough, the "V" will also be minimal at any point of resistance! Doesn't matter if it is a resistor, a loose connection, or corrosion. DAMHIK!

PM me for additional details on either one of the parts if you find you need them.

John

Thanks, I'll let you know what I discover this weekend when I get a chance to play with it between setting up Christmas decorations.

How much work is it to replace the windscreen motor?
My screen just stopped working without notice a few months ago. Now that the cooler weather is here I should probably fix it. Any suggestions or comments that would be helpful would be apprecaited!

Remove the Windshield, remove the "hood" over the Instruments (don't forget about that one screw hidden behind the map light!) and you should be able to see the Windshield Motor and Mechanism. You may need to move some wires, I don't have the Bike opened up right now, but can check later, like this coming weekend, if you need more help. I am traveling most of this week and will not have access to the Bike untill I get home.

HTH,

John

I finally got a chance to work on this problem over the weekend. Since it was easier to check first, I decided to take the switch apart as far as I could and give it a good cleaning. When I had first sprayed it with contact cleaner, it had work a little bit better so I hoped that by getting inside of the switch I would be able to clean the contacts better.

I’m not going to try and describe how to take the switch housing off the handle bars, just refer to the manual. I will mention that there is a screw inside the housing for the volume control for the radio. You take a screw out from the rear of the housing and then you have to unsnap the front of the housing from the base. Its clipped on at the top of the switch and I used a combination of pressing down and up on the housing to get it unhooked. Once you get the screw out that’s located in there the whole front switch assembly will come off the handle bars.

To get inside the switch housing for the windscreen and the other controls you will need a # 7 torx driver. There is one screw in the rear upper corner and a second one hidden under a label just about dead center. Once you get those out you have to unsnap the front to get it off.

Once I was able to get to the contacts, I removed the rubber sleeve from around the one contact I was having problems with and sprayed it will contact cleaner and then worked the contact. I repeated this several time and then turned on the ignition to power everything up and tried it. It worked better then it had been.

I ended up having to spray the contacts several more times to get it to the point where it worked every time, but that was it.

It ended up only costing me some time and about $10.00 bucks for the kit with the small torx drivers that I purchased from Lowes.

Sorry no pictures, I thought about that after I was just about done.

I am facing a similar task with a 2000 LT I purchased that appears to have seen more outdoor time then previously recognized.
I can't eve make out the switch labels anymore! Disassembling the many switch wires is proving to be a fun puzzle, except for the grip heater wires...yup tore those in the process. Looking forward to similar successful results.

Well...
It appears time reveals all wounds.
I also have a 2000 LT w/sidecar and in the midst of:
- Hyperpro-ing the suspension
- Speigler-ing the brake lines
- I am also debugging the same windscreen motor issue
(already have a new/used switch and new/used motor and new/used relays (getting the right one ending in '415' was like a global internet scavenger hunt)

I only today took out my meter to attempt to debug at the source...(embarrassed to say)

So if anyone has successfully triumphed over this particular adversity I , (and probably a few others) are MOST interested in hearing your take on this issue. Other than this I am most pleased with my LT and look very forward to having it all back together and finally functional.