Hiya Folks,
Been a long time since I've been watching the boards. Was sent overseas for work for a few years and am now just back. I have a 2009 850 XP that has up until now, run very well. That being said, I only got a couple of years with it before heading overseas. Anyway, I'm back now. Fired it up a couple of weeks ago with no issues. Have gotten all my fluids etc... to do a full service on it. A week ago, I fired it up with no issues just to move it into it's parking spot. Later, I went to start it again and nothing....no lights, no display panel, nothing. I disconnected the kill switch connectors and reconnected them and it fired right up. So fast forward to yesterday. I've gotten back up to our cabin where the ATV is now residing and it fired right up. Took it around the "block" again just to get things warmed up as I had planned to do the full service on it yesterday. When I returned, I parked it behind my wife's vehicle. She then informs me she needs to head out so I go to move it. Turn it on and as soon as I turned the switch, I hear a pop in the left rear of the ATV and I'm back to no electrics, lights, etc..... So I pull the seat and start fiddling around. I find that if I jiggled the bundle of purple grounds that attach at the rear ground near the battery, I could get the display, lights, etc...to come back on. So I start tracing those to see what I can find. I'm pretty limited on tools (ie. no multimeter here) so am pretty much just having to visual stuff. I was hoping for some insight into what I might be looking at in terms of repair. At this point, I can't get it on a trailer to have someone else look at it so I may have to leave where it is and come up with the proper tools later. Anyway, my thoughts right now are the fusible links (which I can't find by the way.....unless they are tucked into loom somewhere....haven't removed the rear body panels completely), the 20A Fan relay although I don't believe that would cause a full loss of electrics (could be wrong on that one) and possibly, hopefully not, the ECM. The winch contactor sits right where the sound originated from but I don't see how that would have caused a full loss of power to the rest of the ATV. At this point I'm hoping someone out there may have had something similar happen to them and have some insights. As I really haven't worked on this thing much, I thought I would also ask whether you guys take off all the body panels to get at the electrics? I was considering removing the entire rear just for better access but not sure that will buy me much. Everything is so tight and hidden in there I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to approach this (other than knowing I need to have a multimeter to do this!). Anyway, thanks for the ramble and I'm open to any advice you may give.
Cheers.
Dublin

 

I should add, this atv doesn't have EPS. Have checked all the fuses and they are good. W/O a multimeter, can't check the relays but did swap them around and either they're all good or all bad .

Cheers.

 

Just like the 800s we had some problems on the fuse block wiring. Pins/wiring would slightly pull out causing intermittent power. Plus there is a thermal circuit breaker on the harness leading to the fuse block and relays that could be corroded and causing problems. It should be in a sealed pouch. Check power on each side of it,if in doubt slice the pouch open and replace it.Items #2 and 9.Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Polaris, Suzuki & Kawasaki OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse Some circuit breakers would look ok and still trip and reset later on,others you could tell needed to be replaced.

 

Thanks! That breaker you referenced (Item 9)...does that go to the fan and if so, if that is defective, will it cause loss of all electrics? Reason I ask is that 20A breaker is pretty near where the sound of the "pop" that I heard when things crapped out. It's not in a sealed pouch though....just a breaker hanging off the main harness coming from the battery to up front. I had kind of discounted that only for the reason that I didn't think it would kill all the electrics if faulty. Thanks very much for the help!

 

Yes remember now that this breaker supplies power to the fan relay itself unlike the one in the 800 harness that supplied power to the fuse box. Wouldn't hurt to check it out and eliminate it as a problem area in your checks. Hopefully the manual can help you track down the problem.

 

So it's sorted, I think. I found a positive cable that wasn't attached at the battery. Slipped on the ring terminal and all seems to be well now. I'll check it again in the morning. Not sure what it feeds however, as the FSM only shows two connections at the battery and I have 4 (I added one that I know about...the other was from the factory but I can't find anything in the wiring diagrams to tell me what it is). Whatever it is, it caused the entire electrics to shut down. So I'll check it all over a bit more tomorrow. Thanks again for all the help!
Cheers.

 

Just about bet one cable was the small fusible link.It sends power to the whole machines harness from the battery. Most manuals don't explain very much about them.2203632 Polaris Kit Fusible Link 2mm 6mm Ring | eBay