Ask The Editors: Kawasaki Prairie Flashing Light Code
When you’re sure your ATV is trying to tell you something.
I just picked up a 2003 Prairie 650 from my stepdad. It has not been used very much, but has been sitting in the garage for about 20 years.
My stepdad purchased a new battery for it the other day and accidentally hooked it up backwards. That ended up blowing the main fuse and resulted in no electrical power. I replaced the 30A main fuse and power returned, however the orange fuel light and the red oil light on the dash panel are now flashing. Code? The fuel level reading is also zero, and the fuel pump is not activating. No fuel moving through the fuel line. The starter is working and the engine is turning over.
I’m assuming this is likely an electrical issue, and a decent chance it’s from the backwards battery installation. But I guess it could be from corrosion after 20 years of sitting.
I have a multi meter. I can’t say I’m an expert on how to use it, but I follow instruction well. If I’m hooking it up correctly, it looks like 2 pins at the fuel pump connection are reading 12V. It’s the blue and brown wires. I also tried resetting the ECU (pulled ECU out, turned on ignition, turned off ignition, then reinstalled ECU). Tried turning on again but the lights were still flashing and no change with the fuel level reading or fuel pump activity.
Any advice on where to start is much appreciated!!!
When you say the lights are flashing, is this also including the 2/4WD Indicator light on the dash? If so, that’s code indicative of an error in one of the actuator control systems. To determine which, use the following guide:
The oil light is designed to flash until 6 PSI of internal oil pressure is achieved. Since the engine isn’t actually firing, you aren’t going to be making adequate pressure, which leads us back to the reason the fuel light is also flashing.
Your electrical diagnosing is a step in the right direction but we have seen this behavior before and it turned out simply to be a fuel pump that was no longer functioning. To test this, rather than checking for voltage at the pump’s pins, you are going to want to set your meter to measure resistance (ohms) and check for continuity. This should be a very low number if it’s functioning correctly.
It’s a bit of a gamble but we’d probably start by replacing that fuel pump before anything else. This should get the fuel system pressurized and moving as it should (which should cure the fuel light) and once the machine is running, your flashing oil light should also go out once the internal pressure oil sensor hits 6 PSI.
