I have a 2001 300ex that has me stumped. I bought it used about a year ago. It started and ran great. Now it wont even give a flicker of life. The battery is charged and I cant even get the neutral light to come on. So I tried looking for a blown fuse etc. I had my tester connected to the negative terminal and was getting a light on each side of the starting solenoid WITHOUT pressing the start button (this is with the key in the 'on' position). The my test brushed against the motor and it LIT! Every piece of metal on the quad will give me a lite when the ignition is in the on position. When I turn the key off, my lite stops at the battery side of the solenoid. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Firstly, you have a bad earth, the positive voltage is running right round everything and the only route to the negative pole on the battery is through the tester. You may have other problems as well, but clean up the negative leads and you won't have a "live" engine.

 

I never thought of trying that, I have been concentrating on the 'positive' lead. Thank you. I will try it tomorrow.