[Busted_Knuckles]

Wife turned on the ignition on the rancher, and heard a pop. Its dead.

12.65 volts at every fuse, no fuses blown,

Turn the key to " on " and nothing works no fuel pump prime, no lights, no instrument cluster, no shifter no nothing.

This happened one day after I replaced the starter with a new OEM unit, but I cant see how one could affect the other.

I have the factory service manual and in the flow charts it does not allow for a completely dead machine, it assumes that at least it has " ignition ".

Any guesses on where to start ?

Thanks for any input, Bill

 

[retro]

Unplug and check the ignition switch first. If your Rancher has a main power relay (& BAS circuit) check that next. Then the big diode near the solenoid/fuses... Beyond thar' be dragons...

Welcome to the forums!

 

[wheelsquad]

Welcome to the forum. To help narrow down which exact model you have so you can get more specific help from others, we need to clarification. You either have a 2007 or newer 420. Or if yours is in fact a 2005, then you have a 400. There was no 420 in 2005. They are completely different machines so knowing which one exactly is important.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Welcome to the forum. To help narrow down which exact model you have so you can get more specific help from others, we need to clarification. You either have a 2007 or newer 420. Or if yours is in fact a 2005, then you have a 400. There was no 420 in 2005. They are completely different machines so knowing which one exactly is important.

Thanks for the welcome !

Yes, you are correct, and Im an idiot, its a 2008 model, no idea why I posted 2005. Its a TRX420TE8, I bought it new. First hiccup, machine has 800 miles, all farm miles never been off the property, hard short miles, several hundred feet at a time.

 

[wheelsquad]

no idea why I posted 2005.

easy to mis-type with busted knuckles.

I won't be much help, I've yet to own an ATV with EFI. Like the others mentioned, I'd check the ignition switch first though.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Unplug and check the ignition switch first. If your Rancher has a main power relay (& BAS circuit) check that next. Then the big diode near the solenoid/fuses... Beyond thar' be dragons...

Welcome to the forums!

Thanks for the reply, I took a hard look at the factory wiring diagram in the book, I dont appear to have a main power relay, although I see I have two back by the battery and fuses. What is the BAS circuit ? Ive got an fuel pump relay and an engine stop relay. The Rancher does have the ESP transmission, or so I think its called, electric shift on the left handle bar, up and down buttons, its not an automatic.

 

[retro]

Since there was a pop then everything went dead, I would go over the battery connections and grounds first. There is a ground cable bolting to the motor next to the starter motor I think? And one coming out of the main wiring harness connecting to the frame somewhere. Start at the battery and follow all of the fat cables... clean them and retighten them. Then pull the fuse box off and see if you have battery voltage coming into the fuse box (and out through that main 30a fuse) under the main 30 amp fuse. If so, the ignition switch is next in line... unplug and check that. Let us know what you learn from those steps...

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Since there was a pop then everything went dead, I would go over the battery connections and grounds first. There is a ground cable bolting to the motor next to the starter motor I think? And one coming out of the main wiring harness connecting to the frame somewhere. Start at the battery and follow all of the fat cables... clean them and retighten them. Then pull the fuse box off and see if you have battery voltage coming into the fuse box (and out through that main 30a fuse) under the main 30 amp fuse. If so, the ignition switch is next in line... unplug and check that. Let us know what you learn from those steps...

So Im farting around the shop, grabbed a DVOM, and ohmed the negative battery terminal to the engine block, high resistance, so I put a jumper from negative battery to the engine, turned the key, get a dash, and fuel pump prime, you nailed it :big-grin .

Starting simple worked,... I just put a battery in it a couple months back, and its stored inside, its pretty clean, including the cable ends, so I will have to find the ground to engine connection and pull it apart and see if the connection failed there or if the cable itself took a dump under the insulation or at the connection ( guessing ) but at least Ive isolated it !

Thanks for the input !!!

I will update the thread when I locate the " open ".

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Okay, so Im an exceptional moron, the ground cable, on the chassis side connects to the starter attachment bolts, hahaha.. someone, was not paying attention, when they put the new starter on, and didnt bother to get the ground cable under the bolt head, of the starter bolt when re-assembling. Apparently, the ground cable must have been laying on the trans case, providing ground while it operated for a day or two. It was used for at least a day doing chores on the farm before it went dark. Helping to confuse me.. not thinking that the starter change out was related to the power problem. I guess I was working blind down there, with my hands, and not really seeing or watching what I was doing.

I posted 2 pics, from overhead, where the air cleaner " harmonics chamber " or what ever its called, sits visibly right over the top of the ground cable. So I just visually missed it upon re-assembly, I suppose if I worked on this stuff for a living, Id know to look for it.. Second pic, Ive moved the air cleaner chamber over to the side, and low and behold there is the ground cable end looking for a home.

Anyway, of the things that Ive lost that I miss the most, I miss my mind !

Thanks again guy for the input with my self inflicted event. :redface:

 

[retro]

Glad it was that simple... co$t nothing! Have fun with it...!

 

[Wsg]

Always great to see a problem found and the courage to post a simple error that I think we have all done at one time or another.


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