I want to hook up some auxiliary lights to my 2001 300 4x4.
These are warning lights made for motorcycles.
I do not want them on the headlight circuit I will switch them independently.

There are two basic questions.

1. How much extra capacity does the electrical system have? These lights are rated at about 2 amps in total.

I figure that a winch consumes at least that much under load.

2. How and where do I hook them up? On my photo page I have photos of the the plug where the dealer showed me to make the connection. I bought an AC plug from him to connect to the atv but as you can see in the photo they do not match. I have never seen a flat 3 plug before.

I thought that maybe I should buy the AC accessory plug kit also pictured on my photo page but will that solve my problem? It says that it has a capacity of 15 amps. Where and how do I drill a hole for this?

The owners manual is useless for this info as is the 2 inch thick service manual that the AC dealer had. He was not much help either admitting that his expertise was mostly in 2 wheeled machines.

Any Ideas? I don't mind researching if I have a direction to go.

Thanks,
Harry

 

The 300 actually has a higher output alternator than the 400 does at 17 amps compared to the 16 amps for the 400. The winch can use as much as 20 amps under very heavy load. The accessory fuse (#3 in the use box is the fuse that ties to the accessories, however on the early machines (like you 201 300 and my 250) there is no plug for the accessories like there is on the new machines. I would get a doubler connector (lets you have more than one connector off the output of the accessory fuse and then run the wire to your switch and then to the lights. Easy access to the power source this way. You pics not approved yet, so can't see them yet.

 

I wanted to do something similar on my 01 400 manual. We do some night riding around here. The factory lights alone on the 01 were not for me!! I wanted the same as you, a set of lights switched sepratly of the headlights. I mounted 2 automotive fog lights on a section of 2x4. I used some "j" shaped bolts through the 2x4 to hook on to the rack. Makes it easy to remove as well.

Now for power, which was your question. I ran wires right off the battery. In my case I used 10ga (I think it was) up to the front rack routed along the frame. Right off the battery I put a sealed "blade type" fuse holder in line on the Positive side. Always fuse new runs!!! The new fuse is accesable right unde the seat. On the rack end I put one side of a "2 flat" connector. Looks like a 4 flat trailer connector but with just 2 posts. Got it at an auto parts sore for a couple of bucks. Make sure to wire the female (recessed/protected) pole as the positive. On my light bar I mounted a small radio shack project box (plastic box with a removable cover) that I used to home my wiring in to and to mount a swich. The power feed to the bar is the opposide side of the 2 flat connector on about 12" of extra wire.

In my case I made it so the bar was easily removable. Loosen the "j" bolts, unplug the power, its off in like 30 seconds. The side effect is a pig tail up front to can use for anyhting needing 12V. I even picked up one of the 2-flat to cig. lighter adapters from Wal-Mart's auto section. It is designed to use the 2 end connectors on a 4 flat trailer harnes to give the user a cig lighter port out back of the car or truck. It plugs right in and gives my an extra power point (like the one in the side of my 400 factory) should I need it.

Other than that I would make sure all your connections are solid. Use proper terminals and connectors. Tape everything to keep out crud.

 

Thanks Bear and tta583,
I bought that gadget at Wall Mart today for no other reason than to use it on my truck. Now I can hook up a light to fix a flat or in an emergency without running it from the lighter socket in my cab. Neat!

Back to the quad, I would rather connect to the ACC on the fuse box instead of off the battery if I have a choice. That way I know the curcuit is dead when the ignition is off. I still need to know how to do that. The ACC fuse has 3 wires going into it. Do I splice into those or use a blade connector off the fuse block or something else.

I also still would like to know why the accessory connector under the seat has three conductors. If I use the two conductor plug will it work? See the photo.

BTW Bear I ordered the shifter parts. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks, Harry

 

Don't splice into the wires as they will corrode on you, no matter how much you try to seal them up. Use a double blade connector, they make them that push on the outlet spade of the fuse block and give you two spades for your old wire and new wire connectors to go on to, one came in the AC fan kit for my 250. The single wire connector is the output side of the fuse. A two wire plug will work just fine for your lights.

That's not the right plug on your Cat. The original accessory plug should match the one in your accessory plug kit. At least that's not like the ones in my 2001 or 2005 Cats. You can get a 3 pin plug to match that plug and then tie it to a 2 pin plug to match the accessory plug. But if it was me, I would replace the one on the machine with the one to match what the dealer got you.

You will like the shifter a bunch better after the change over.