Ok 2 weeks ago took Pilot out riding,after an hr or 2 of riding with a few stops here n there,I parked Pilot and after a few minutes I turned key on hit starter button and heard a fizzing sound and electrical went dead.Got home,hooked up battery charger,battery tested full voltage and it fired right up.Couldnt find any loose connections.I had just purchased new battery so I went ahead and switched out batteries.Put old battery in 3wheeler I just bought.It started 3wheeler fine with no problems.Well I had a hard time starting 3wheeler yesterday and it took several times cranking it so after i was done I hooked up battery charger to fully charge the battery back up.Well the charger gave me code f3 meaning dead cell in battery somewhere SO I FIGURED IT MUST HAVE BEEN A BAD BATTERY AFTER ALL.
So today Im out riding pilot,same circumstances.After couple hrs riding with stops in between I turn key on and nothing lights up.Turn it off and turn back on,lights on steering wheel will come on for 5 seconds then go off.It does this every time.Tried to jump it at park,still did same thing.Got it home,battery shows fully charged.I know your gonna say check all the connections but I was hoping maybe someone might know what direction to get started

sounds like a burnt wire mate, all i can say is start at the easy to get to places first

Starter relay maybe? I have had starter relays on automobiles do this before never a problem like this on ATV's

i had the same problem like this on an forklift

u would use it then it would stop after like full day of use

took a week to figure out what was wrong with it
it was the main pos lead wire that went to power the harness was crowded to shit


so i would check there
or ur switch could have some corrosion in it ?

Load teat your battery. You may find it is bad and shorts under load. Have a friend hold a tester on it when you try to load it by hitting the starter switch and then do it agian placing the probes on the positive side of the battery and the load side of teh starter relay. Then place he leads on the positive side of the battery and the starte mootor terimal. Thes test will give you an indea where the problem is. My stand up jet ski batterys are a vented wet cell and short like this. Another reason to use the yusa unvented wet cell. Mean while read through you trouble shooting section and section 16 in the service manual. Good luck.

I don't know if you read my whole post but this is a brand new battery.So 2 different batteries with same problem,except last week{with other battery} dash wouldn't even light up when key was turned on.
I don't have a friend with a tester to test it :(

Just checking wires,I see nothing out of the ordinary.I see no evidence of corrosion.Checked fuses,their ok.Only wire I cant get to is the one that connects to starter itself.
One thing I just discovered that seems odd,when I turn key on,even after the lights go off on my dash,my headlights will still turn on and off

I started thinking about it,and I wondered if the headlights are still working maybe it would pull start? Well I tried it and it started first pull,key on but no lights on dash lit up

Wish I could help I'm stumped also, maybe check all the wires where they tapped in all their crap that you removed.

Gotta be a bad connection some place check the fuse box inside and out, all connections on the whole harness?

If your talking about the 2 blue boxes that hold the 2 fuses I checked them,everything looked good

This happend to me a long time ago. In my case it was the hot wire at the starter.

Totaly egnore my dumb a _ _. sorry about that. Some days I don't read so well.

Lets try this agian. This time with a little more reading on my part. I reread and watched the video paying attention this time.

What I noticed is the following. First whne you turned the key on the temp and fuellight came on and timed out. What I did not see was the netural indacator did not stay lite. SO either its not in netural with the key on or theres an issue.

What year do you have as it make a diff. You stated two blue boxes so I will assume an 89

Lets start here. 19-2 collant/fuel waring system (1) unplug and see if the lights stay off if not theres a short.

Next make sure its in netural and look for the light. If yo have it in netural and the key switch in on and there no light than refer to 19-6 and test the switches at the plug.

If an 89 the power that feeds the instrument cluster also feeds the timmer unit and is the fuse on (R) wire. since the power that supplies the timmer unit is lighting the cluster via the timmer I will assume you have power to the netural indacator light.

If you look at 19-0 for an 89 it showes the one line for the system.

Next move to 18-0 Electric starter.

looking at the diagram for the 89 you will see that (R) feeds the instrument cluster. At this time see if you reverse light works with the key on. If yes and the netrual does not look at the wire on the switch or the switch its self. You can unhook the netrual switch wire and touch it to ground to see if the light comes on. Note here the ground on that switch also activates ( grounds)the the starter relay.

If the pilot runs via pull starter then the wiring in question is whats on 18-0 diagram.

Since you heard a click and then nothing the blocking diodes are doing there job and preventing a back feed from a loose ground on that part of the circuit.

If you go to 20-1 which is the 89 wireing diagram than you can go from the fuse on the (R) wire and follow it to the ignition switch or bat 2 than look down at the bottom of the page and look at the ignition switch and you will see (R) makes to DC or the (BL) wire which feed the light switch, fan,timmer unit and instrument cluster lights. If your head lights work you have power, If you fan runs you have power through the circuit. If not than the voltage is dropping out through teh circuit and tack it down following the wireing diagram. The plug connections are shown as a block.

This only for the 89 if 90 than I will revise as the wireing harness and protection is different.

If you get a netrual light and no start than look at 18-0, 89 wireing diagram and trace out fuse (RW) after ignition switch and run/stop switch . I say after due to the Engine runs and the (RW) feeds the CDI (Capacitor Discharge Ignition) and if you have no power there it will not run.

From the ignition switch it goes to the run stop switch and then to the starter buttonon the wheel from there it goes to the starter relay.

Hope this helps this time and again sorry for the piss poor first post. If this does not work P.M. me and I'll send you my number

If this is a 90 letme know and I will repost.

Its an 89,excellent info,thank you very much.
I have a friend sposed to come over sat with a meter and help me check everything

Just went and checked something real quick,I think your onto something with the neutral thing.Yes it was in neutral in video.Just went out and turned key on,lights go off,I start moving gearshift around to see if neutral light might come on,it does not,however the reverse light on steering wheel does come on when sticking it in reverse

I have had this problem with my pilots as far as the neutral switch goes, pull the connector off at the switch on the transmission and very carefully bend the female part of the connector just a little to get a tighter fit on the switch . I would bet if you go back and jiggle the wire at the switch the neutral light will come on.

If there is any corrosion try and clean or scrape it off.

Can you take a pic and show me exactly what your talking about?
Would it not showing its in neutral cause the starter not to work,because it doesnt.Wire to starter is tight and not corroded.All connections inside steering wheel look fine,little dusty but that's it
Starter will work and fire off Engine with screwdriver to solenoid trick

I am not at home or I would take a picture for you.

Go back to the rear of the machine, under the exhaust at the rear of the transmission look for 2 wires that hook up to the rear of the transmission, they both have rubber covers (if they are still there), one wire is screwed to the switch with a little nut ( this is the reverse switch ) the other wire is a push on connector this is the neutral switch. Before pulling the wire off jiggle it with the key on and the transmission in neutral, watch to see if the light comes on in the wheel, if it does then pull the connector off and tighten the crimp ( female part, plug side not switch side ) + clean any corrosion off.

I am sending you a pm with my phone #.

afastcar read my post and called me {before I read this post}and told me to do the same thing>That seems to be the problem.Its dark here and not going to try fixing it now,but from wiggling the wire neutral light came on so Im pretty sure that was the problem.
Thanks to everybody chiming in with the help,its really appreciated
And thanks again Jacob

Okay worked on it when I got home and yes that was the problem,thanks guys!

Your welcocme.