Honda Fourtrax starting issue

pikapp691

pikapp691

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2005
Location
Raleigh
I got a 97 honda Fourtrax 300 4x4. I am having trouble getting it to start with the electric start. These are the symptoms of what I got going on and have tried. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

1. Can use kick start and four wheeler runs fine.
2. Had battery tested at 2 different places and said it was fine.
3. Charged battery on trickle charge for 8 hours
4. When I turn the key only oil light comes on, neutral does not. Its in neutral.
5. Periodically neutral fades on then goes back out. (like battery is low)
6. Can cross the started solenoid and it will start normally


Now the battery should be fully charged, no green light(neutral), turn the key press start and nothing happens. Will kick start and run fine. I think there is a pwr drain or something. Starter seems fine b/c it works when I cross the solenoid.

Let me know of anything I can try, last resort before having to take it to the stealership.
 
look for the neutral switch down beside the rear brake pedal. theres a small really odd shaped cover with 2-3 8 mm bolts. remove this plate and there will be two plugs behind it, one for neutral one for reverse. dont remember which is which, but they might be gunked up or corroded. no neutral light, no electric start. i did the bypass on the last 3 300s i had so i could crank it in gear if it stalled under water. oil light is supposed to come on as a ECM check, kinda like a check engine light.
 
yeah what he said neutral safety switch is defeating your start attempt.
 
I removed the cover and unplugged the one towards the front and it looked fairly clean. I removed the neutral and reverse plugs and cleaned. They were dirty. Still no neutral light. Reverse light works.

I broke the tip off the front plug, what was that to? Important? Any other ideas. Seems like it could be a ground issue? I am stumped.

Thanks
 
There will be 3 switches there, all with a female wire connector on them. The ones you want are the ones towards the rear of the machine or on the left (they have the conjoined plug). Once you check connection and it checks out the switches can be tested with a meter for continuity. It should have continuity to ground when in nuetral. If not switches should be replaced. They are $14.43 from Honda. Check your wiring by sticking a short piece of wire into the rear-most plug and touch it to a good ground with the key on to see if green light comes on. there is also a plug about 8 inches up from here on these wires that may have dirt in it. (white or green 3 prong)
The frontmost plug is the oil temp sending unit ($47.49) if its broken.
the wire itself is also replaceable for $38.95
 
if the above doesnt fix it let me know, cause i know how to get around the switch and it still work normally.
 
Checked continuity. Unplugged, hooked up end and turned switch, started beeping and numbers going up and down. Neutral light did not come on while checking this.

Tested with the wire. Wire in the R against engine block the reverse light came on. Tested in the N against the engine block and the neutral did not come on.

Thanks for the info and may start looking at the work around.
 
Tested with wire again and got it to fire twice, green light come on. Tried numerous other times and got nothing. Does this mean bad switch?
 
testing it with a multimeter should result in a ground at the switch, key on or off (red lead on switch and black lead on known good ground). intermittent continuity (checked by holding the leads and going from neutral to 1st and back a few times) would say a bad switch. yours is starting to sound like the wire is bad somewhere along the line or the connector in the wire behind the kickstarter cover is gummed up. check this connection if not already, and i'll be looking for my bypass schematic
 
pikapp691 said:
Checked continuity. Unplugged, hooked up end and turned switch, started beeping and numbers going up and down. Neutral light did not come on while checking this.
Tested with the wire. Wire in the R against engine block the reverse light came on. Tested in the N against the engine block and the neutral did not come on.
Thanks for the info and may start looking at the work around.
Click to expand...
neutral light wont come on with it unplugged because it is looking for a direct ground, the meter wont give it that for some reason. the wire against the block (clean and unpainted ground) should have turned the light on. this is starting to sound like part of the harness is bad.
 
Thanks man I appreciate all your help. I am gonna double check with the multimeter to make sure I had it connected correctly.

If I get nothing with the multimeter with the red on the switch and black on good ground what do I have?
 
a bad switch if its constantly open, in gear or neutral. bad wiring if it has constant continuity in the switch when in neutral
 
With red lead on the switch and black lead on good ground there is nothing with the multimeter. I tested again with a wire and got it to light up green once, but that was it.
 
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