Last year I fixed up my dads old 1986 Trail Boss 250 so I could plow some snow. Put in a new battery and added a winch to it. Worked like a boss all winter. Drained the gas and it sat all summer.

Just filled it up, pulled the pull start. Fired right up. But, I'm not getting any electric to my lights. Not getting a spark back at the battery either.

There a fuse box on the 1986 machines? I couldnt find one. All I see is the rev limiter, the CDI, solenoid. Other than that, I don't know where to look.

 

Welcome! Been too long since I've seen or worked on the trans mounted gear shift machines but under "wiring harness" does show the sealed pouch with the circuit breaker. They will crank without a battery,plus if it's been sitting all summer without the battery on a maintainer,the battery's probably toast.Needs a battery for the lights and electric start. Make sure you have a good battery,check the charging back to the battery,should be 14-14.5 volts. Any less could be a faulty regulator rectifier. If the lights don't work they could be blown or the circuit breaker may be bad,just slice the pouch and see if you have 12 volts on each side. If bad or corroded up you can find replacements at most auto stores. Look here under "wiring harness" and see if this helps.The sealed pouch is below #6 inline with the harness. OPT

 

Thanks for your help. After some more looking and testing, I found a short... corroded wire near the carb. The air intake box looks like its been rubbing against it. Fixed that, and I'm getting a spark back at the battery connection. I put the battery on a maintainer with re-charge function in hopes of bringing it back. Its under a year old, so hopefully it can hold a charge again.

thanks again.

 

Was it the engine/frame ground wire on the top motor mount? Just curious.... OPT

 

It was right near there. Where the wiring harness branches off into all of the connections.

Got the battery back up and almost near 100%. Winch is back online.

I do have a problem though.... no lights. Somehow in my troubleshooting I am not getting power to head light or the GREEN indicator on the ignition column.

I am getting power everywhere else though. Solenoid ticks. Winch works. Backup RED indicator works... Any idea on the head light?

 

If you have extra wire hanging around just temp a wire from a good frame or battery ground to the headlight brown wire. This will tell if its a ground problem or power wire problem. Plus the problem could be if the light and indicator share a common ground together(which I think they do) and this could be the source of the problem,that is if you're sure the bulb isn't burnt out..Like I said been toooo long since I worked on these old ones. OPT