hi all, new to the yamaha xt 500 scene after buying a 78 which i believe to be an "E" model. indicators came in a bag so before i begin a strip down over the winter i need to be sure that all is well with the electrics. so i connected them up but no power to the switch, bypassing the relay gives me power. when doing a search for a new relay i get 2 types, one cylindrical with bullet connections the other squarish with flat connectors, which is correct ?

some are 2 wire and some are 3 wire...buy the one that equals the number of wires you have. At a guess i would say the cylindrical ones are 3 wire and the square ones 2 wire...thats often the way with DT's which have similar electrics

the one i took off has 3 wires 2 brown and 1 black, the black 1 was taped off and not used. i can only see 2 wires with bullet connectors on the harness for the 2 connected, when these are connected together i get power to the indicators even tho its static proving that the relay is knackered/stuck.

befor rushing into buying a new one try connecting the black of your 3 wire relay to ground....it may well work

It should be a 3 wire cylindrical flasher relay , the black wire is just an earth / ground wire so Oldgitonabike is correct in saying make sure it has a good earth, this also this applies to the earth leads under the seat and also under the top yolk. you could try undoing the flasher and cleaning the relay points and see if it makes any difference, as sometimes it will work again.

TTB

okay, so i opened the relay, played about and refitted it, now got the ind bulb to light up but not flash even if putting the black wire to earth so reckon its knackered. is there a wire in the loom for the earth coz i took the battery box out to look but cannot see a connection point for it.

just earth it at a convenient chassis point, for example at the ignition coil mounting screw, also check the indicator bulbs are the correct wattage specification.

i got a relay ordered today, not a 3 wire version but a 2 wire, spoke to an elec who said it should be fine so ordered a cheap one to try, in the meantime set about why the horn dont work, stripped the button, cleaned contacts but no joy so started tracing it back and found that the live had been cut cleanly in the head light, touched them together and got the horn working. why the hell cut that? seems that there are a few insulated tape wraps in there so may as well go for a new loom