Mech

I'd be very cautious about doing that nut up to 100ft.. I'd do it up, despite what the book says, to 65-70..

The pumps are like diesel injector pumps, or even more like the variable displacement hydraulic pumps in excavators. They have very precise plungers in very precise bores and no seals of any sort. They should last for a long time though. The pump, and it's attached hydraulic motor(which is much like the hydraulic motors in excavators), is a very simple piece machinery that doesn't really have much to go wrong with it. The previous poster that was having trouble with his Hondamatic also had a squealing noise. That one came right eventually without replacing the trans unit. I'd highly recommend diagnosing what the problem is before committing to a new trans on a hunch !

I hope that's the right way.. In here before, someone was trying to do the initiate and it wasn't working, then we found a different method in another manual and it did work.. If that method doesn't work TRM let us know and I'll hunt out the other manual.

oops. Forgot to attach this.. Rubicon initiat.pdf Yeah if it sat open for a year it could have rust on things..

If the neutral light is behaving normally it shouldn't have any codes. Ok TRM.. First thing you should do is check the oil pump is working. The easy way to do that, and what they recommend after working on the top end, is undo a nut or bolt somewhere on the head to make sure oil is pumping out. The service manual will say which bolt, or if you know which head stud or gallery the oil gets up going to the head you can generally make an educated guess. The oil check bolt nearly always has a copper washer which is a give away. If you can't find the bolt, pull a valve cover off and make sure there's plenty of oil in there. The second thing you need to do is what they call "initiate" the ecu. After the carb has been disturbed, or the ecu changed or a few other things being done, you need to go through a procedure to allow the ecu to check and adjust it's running parameters. It's also possible, (you didn't say whether it sat opened up for a year) that the gear ratio changing mechanism is stuck. It's operated by al electrical motor and when you turn the key it should be able to be heard moving as it sets the ratio at start-up. The initiation process says to listen for the electric motor operation is step 7 also. Check that because if it was in a ridiculously high ratio it might give some of your symptoms.. At this stage, according to your descriptions, I'm suspecting the centrifugal clutch.. I'll have to have a read up about how that model applies engine braking, but hopefully it will be possible to test the centrifugal clutch without taking it to pieces.

Oh, afterthought.. A bad earth on some component could cause 12v that's meant to be shorted to earth inside the component, to reroute back through some other key switched wire coming out of that component. I'd also disconnect the voltage regulator when I was disconnecting all the fuses and relays.

You can test the switch using an ohm gauge. Disconnect the switch's plug and when it's in neutral, from the wire to the engine should show zero ohms, when it's in gear it should show open circuit. Even better than the gauge would be a test light from the battery positive to the wire. The light should behave just as the neutral light does, on when in neutral and off in gear. The test light is better because it puts some current through the switch contacts so it really tests the contacts under working conditions. Checking for voltage or reading ohms is often not a very satisfactory test because the gauges use so little current that they will read enough voltage when there's no load on the circuit, but once a load comes on the voltage drops right down. If you are going to use a volt gauge you really need to measure the voltage with the load off and then with the load on, and the voltage shouldn't drop by more than about a half a volt in most circuits. If i\a measurement starts at 12v but drops right down when the load is on then there is a bad connection that the simple check for voltage under no load doesn't show. The best way to use a volt gauge is by doing what's called a voltage drop test. A voltage drop test is described online, or, I notice that Polaris service manuals go to some trouble to describe all the different applications of a voltage drop test.

You can test whether it's a bad contact in the neutral switch by using your ohm gauge down on it's connector. With the switch unplugged, in neutral there should be zero ohms to the engine, and in any gear it should show an open circuit..

I can't find a complete wiring diagram. It seems strange they would have so many small wires connected to the battery though. I think the winches connect straight to the battery and that has a blue wire, so perhaps look at/disconnect that first. It sounds like what's happening, is that there's a short somewhere(perhaps in an electronic component), that's feeding power back into the main ignition lines when the key is turned on,(turning the key on makes some relay or electronic unit switch some circuit on), then turning the key off disconnects the power from the key switch but the short/.bad relay is keeping the main power live.. I'm not familiar with Polaris so wouldn't know where or what that would be. I think I'd disconnect the winch, pull all the fuses and all the relays and try reinstalling them one at a time. If you have a complete wiring diagram Chad, post it up and I'll take a look. I'll keep searching for a full diagram.

And are you sure the ignition switch is identical in operation to the old one ? They have a few different ones of those. The relays, they are both identical huh ? And neither of them have a built in diode on the trigger winding ? I've been searching other wiring diagrams and I'm finding other ones that say they do that bike, but they are all different.. haha.

Ok. I don't think there will be any adjustment on the switch. They generally have two bolts going through two round holes. You might get a tiny bit of adjustment by virtue of the holes being a bit loose around the bolts, but it won't be much. The oil temp light is meant to come on when you press the start button.. I don't think there's any reason the neutral light would come on because of that, but it might be worth investigating.. If you don't use the brake, and push the start button, the starter doesn't work, and the neutral light doesn't light up.. right ?

Oh yeah, electrics can be frustrating alright..

Are you really sure that wiring diagram for the 2000-2001BB400 is the right one ? Are the plastic plugs exactly the same shapes and colours, Look at the stator plug and the regulator plug. Yamaha make a lot of changes and they change plugs shape and colours so we won't and can't muddle them up. The two diagrams I posted won't be the only options, and there will be other options that still use that cdi unit and plugs, but have differences elsewhere.. You really need to be completely sure you have the right model manual or you will get lead down the wrong path..

If you are saying that the engine is cranking without the neutral light or the brakes being on, then there is still something not right with the wiring.. That Sb wire that goes to the cdi and neutral switch has to be at earth potential for the cdi to allow the start circuit to work, that wire isn't at earth potential normally because the neutral bulb is letting power through which keeps the Sb wire showing 12v at the neutral switch and the cdi. It's only when the neutral switch shorts the Sb wire to earth, causing the light to come on and the Sb wire to show zero voltage at the cdi that the cdi lets the starter circuit to work.

It goes centrifugal clutch - variable ration Hondamatic - forwards/reverse box. It would seem that either the centrifugal is slipping or the Hondamatic is seriously down on power. I'd be pretty sure that the only going in reverse is a red herring. Reverse is probably a lower ratio and so manages to move the bike.. The noise.. That's a mystery, and I also suspect, not really the cause of the lack of drive. So.. Is the engine down on power, or is it the clutch/Hondamatic. All my questions are always for a reason.. I consider all the possible causes, eliminate what possibilities I can, try to devise a test that will differentiate between the other possibilities, then try to devise a test that will always consistently reproduce the problem, and that will hopefully be the only thing or combination of things that cause it.. Then I know how to reliably test I've fixed it after the repair. That works every time in real life and when I do it.. haha.

Hopefully poster #1 checked oil was getting to the cam after the overhaul. Most manuals say to loosen a bolt somewhere and bleed and check the oil supply to the top end after work like that. It has to have some oil pressure to make it go in reverse. I'm pretty sure if the chain had come off nothing would work. If the oil pressure to the trans was low though it might give very reduced drive which may only have enough power to drive in reverse which in most things is a very low ratio. That's why I asked if it would drive up a slope in reverse, and whether there is any signs of drive at all in forwards.

A couple more questions.. How long was the engine disassembled for ? It hasn't sat opened up for a year has it ? And did you run it after the year sitting and before the engine work, and was the trans working then ?

I tend to agree with Gw that if it was going it should come right. I think the first thing I'd do is leave it running till it got completely warmed up, trying the gears every few minutes. Things like this happen to things that have sat for a long time, and sometimes they come right once the engine has fully warmed up and had whatever limited operation is possible. Other than that, did you do this work in place or with the engine out ? I presume that the gear position indicator on the dash is working correctly ? And when you give it throttle, the engine does rev as it should it ? The engine performance seems to be right, it revs quickly in neutral and idles well ? When you rev it does forwards seem to have any drive at all ? Does it try to load the engine or creep forwards ? When it's in reverse, despite it's limited speed, does it seem to have some power to it ? Will it reverse up a slope say ? Have you checked the oil pressure ? The transmission needs good oil pressure. Changing the oil and filter might be a good idea. If you can take a video of the noise from close to the source it might help..

Yup, I'd suggest fixing the original carb too. The original carb will be set up just right for that engine, climate, altitude, and fuel. aftermarket carbs are set up in a sort of generic way, and will run on almost any bike of the right size, but seldom run well on any particular engine.

What year is that ? I'm having trouble understanding what the problem is. I thought you'd got it to start after figuring how the choke works. If you answer my questions I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it eventually, but you need to answer the questions and when you are describing what you did and what happened with the bike it would help if you went into more detail and use punctuation.. Depending on the type of carb it is, it's likely that the choke only does anything when the throttle is closed right off. Some carbs when you open the throttle they stop drawing fuel through the enrichening circuit and so go lean, and carbs with a butterfly if you open the throttle they tend to draw too much fuel in. If you have the first type of carb the choke won't work properly if the idle is set with the throttle open more than it should be at idle. It's important that you adjust the idle mixture with the throttle closed off as much as possible. If the idle speed screw is wound too far in when you adjust the mixture, then as you open the throttle they get a lean flat spot. When adjusting the idle you adjust the mixture to it's best position, then slow the idle and readjust the mixture. Keep doing those two steps till it's running even and slow. It should tick over real slow and steady, and then you speed it up with the speed screw but don't touch the mixture again. If it won't idle slow and steady then perhaps the carb needs some work or you have a vacuum leak or tight valve or something.

Yeah I thought it meant it returned to idle nicely, but in that case, If it ran nice and returned to an idle, what is the problem ? I thought the hard cold start had been sussed.. the choke lever worked backwards.. #11.. You say it wouldn't start even with starter fluid, did it try to run, did it fire while you were spraying the fluid in ? The float won't be gummed up since it was running in #9. And you better tell us what size and year this bike is so I can read up what sort of carb this has..

#19.. Yeah I think the Sb(sky blue) will be the neutral light wire, and if you short that to the engine the neutral light should come on, and the bike should start. If you short the Sb wire to the engine and the neutral light comes on, but the bike still doesn't start with the starter, then you need to check the Sb wire from the switch to the cdi.

#9 " if I reved gas up it would drop down good any ideas ". Can you explain this a bit better.. Revved the gas up.. That's giving it throttle is it ? And so what "it" dropped down good? And what is this new problem ?

Ok. Good luck,

#13 Johnny.. The first thing to try is pull the brakes on and see if it will electric start. If it does then the rest of the circuit is right and you just need to fix the neutral light. That plug on the engine has two wires and one is for neutral and the other is for reverse. They both earth to the engine when they are on. If you test and figure which is the neutral and which is the reverse wire, then you short the appropriate wire on the bike's loom to earth it should light up the two lamps. If the neutral lights wire doesn't make the bulb come on then it might have a wire problem.