PIAA 520 Driving Lights

Recently encountered an issue with my PIAA 520 driving lights not working. About a year ago the same thing happened and I replaced the relay and they came back to life. This time I replaced both the CID switch and the relay to no avail. Power have been tested and traced through the relay/fusible link harness and up to the connection where the CID switch plugs in and it is good through those points.
Before they quit working entirely, they were typically on with the key, providing the CID switch was in the on position. Then they stopped working, key off then back on and they worked. I also turned the CID switch on and off and they came on, but since the green LED light was not on on the switch, it was inconclusive to me whether the ignition switch turned the lights back on or the CID switch did. I would appreciate any input, thanks.

grounds! go over your grounding points.

Thank you for your advice Leon. Never considered a grounding issue. Trying to wrap my head around how the harness would be grounded. Power is from the positive side of the battery. ultimately there is a connection to the ignition switch. Key on closes the circuit and would allow the CID switch to turn on the lights. Do you think the ground is in the lights themselves, as I see a spade connection for power and ground inside the lamp housings. OR is there another ground in the system, either frame or back to the negative side of the battery? Someone else suggested that the harness should be grounded back to the negative side of the battery.

there will be a ground for the switch (it lights up) ground for the lights and a ground for the relay.

the switch controls the relay, odds are the relay may be bad or the contacts in the switch are corroded and not sending enough power to trigger the relay.

Thanks again Leon. I did install a new relay and new switch when the lights stopped working.

Unfamiliar with your CID switch. I tried net search and didnt see anything relevant. Would you further decribe what that is or define the acronym?

For deeper troubleshooting, try bypassing the switch and relay independently. That may help isolate the trouble spot.

Be sure your control signal power from the ignition switch is reaching the circuit (unclear if that is to the relay or this CID switch thing). You wrote power to the relay was verified, but not if the activation signal was verified.

dukey33 said:

Unfamiliar with your CID switch. I tried net search and didnt see anything relevant. Would you further decribe what that is or define the acronym?

For deeper troubleshooting, try bypassing the switch and relay independently. That may help isolate the trouble spot.

Be sure your control signal power from the ignition switch is reaching the circuit (unclear if that is to the relay or this CID switch thing). You wrote power to the relay was verified, but not if the activation signal was verified.

Click to expand...

I am not sure of the acronym either but the stock piaa switch is pretty much the same as the denali switch. push to click on and it has a color changing led so one color is on and the other is off. three wires, red, black, and white.

step #1 check for full battery voltage at connection at battery, good go to step two, bad fix connection

step#2 check for full battery voltage at battery lead at relay, good go to step three bad fix bad fuse or break in wire.

step#3 check for battery voltage to switch at plug(white wire with red dots), good go to step 4, bad repair or replace harness

step#4 check for voltage coming back down from switch at relay, good go to step 5 bad replace switch

step#6 key on cycle switch for lights, does the relay click? yes got to step 7 no check ground for relay

step #7 check for power at both lights, good check the grounds for lights or replace bulbs. no rip out whole system and replace with a LED system from Denali.

dukey33 said:

Unfamiliar with your CID switch. I tried net search and didnt see anything relevant. Would you further decribe what that is or define the acronym?

For deeper troubleshooting, try bypassing the switch and relay independently. That may help isolate the trouble spot.

Be sure your control signal power from the ignition switch is reaching the circuit (unclear if that is to the relay or this CID switch thing). You wrote power to the relay was verified, but not if the activation signal was verified.

Click to expand...

Sorry, that should have read Hid. It is a halogen lighting system. Rechecked power through the wiring harness up to the relay harness which is good. No power at the Hid switch plug in connection. Leon is correct, the Hid switch is nearly identical to the Denali switch. I may drop back 15 and punt & rip out and replace the harness. Would hate to scrap the lighting system completely, but LED would be brighter.

OOOO hid?? yeeks that changes things

do you have power (switched) to the white wire with red dots?
the straight white wire goes direct to battery + and sends power to relay for the lights but the switch gets its power from a white with red spots wire that is connected to a switched source.

HID=high intensity discharge.
Now that we know that, I'd conclude the ballast is shot given the system used to work (so it is not miswired) and you have already replaced the relay and the switch (presuming the replacement parts are not defective). Otherwise, the bulbs are both coincidentally failed.

Looks like your plan to go LED might be the best answer.

Woohoo! Driving lights up and running. Figured out the culprits were a combination of a bad fuse and a wire issue in the PIAA harness that has been on the bike since first owner had the system installed.
5 amp fuse looked fine. No apparent broken element. Checked both sides with a test light with fuse in place and one side had no power. Put in new fuse and replaced the wiring harness, replete with relay and switch.

Ah, the wonders of testers and multi-meters.

Indeed.