OK, these techniques to override the reverse rev limiter (yellow) button have been tried successfully on ’99 model Polaris machines without a circuit board. The headlight wiring modification will work on any Polaris with the three light setup.

From William Bashlor we have this method of bypassing the switch. Find the purple wire and the gray w/white stripe wire that comes from the override switch. Cut these two wires and connect them together so the switch is eliminated from the circuit. That’s it. This simple method, will however, leave the reverse indicator light lit up continually in both forward and reverse gears.

The method Jack Schulz employs is a little more complicated but allows the indicator lights to work as they were originally intended. Disconnect or cut the gray/orange wire coming from the speedo and you eliminate the reverse rev limiter. Find the purple wire and the gray w/white stripe wire coming from the switch (yellow button). Instead of cutting them, patch a 12v 20amp (minimum) diode between them with the power able to flow in the direction of the gray/white wire. This allows the reverse circuit to power the AWD while in reverse and does not allow the AWD circuit to power the reverse indicator light when not in reverse. This method leaves the yellow button hooked up so it has the advantage of allowing you to use it as it was originally intended in the unlikely event that the diode would burn out.

The method I use is a combination of these two, for two reasons. First, I want my reverse indicator light to function properly because that’s where I’ve connected the hot lead for my auxiliary back-up light. That way when I shift into reverse both the reverse indicator light and the back-up lights come on. Second, I wanted to isolate the yellow button from everything else so I could use it for a horn button. So I cut the gray/orange wire coming from the speedo to disable the rev limiter. Then I cut the purple wire and the gray w/white stripe wire coming from the switch (yellow button) to isolate it. Between the purple and the gray w/white stripe wires I installed the diode, with power able to travel in the direction of the gray/white wire. That completes the reverse rev limiter override, and now that it’s isolated, the yellow button can act as a momentary “on” switch for whatever you want to hook up to it. To hook up a horn simply patch a wire from a switched power source (like the cig lighter) to one of the cut yellow button wires (install an inline fuse if you wish). Then run a wire from the other cut yellow button wire to the positive terminal on the horn, and another wire from the negative terminal on the horn to a ground. Beep Beep!

I’d like to add a note here about the mechanical aspects of all this “cutting” and “patching”. As tempting as the ease of using a “Scotch Lock” type patching connector is, I personally would not trust anything like that in the harsh environment our machines often endure. The most reliable electrical connection you can make is with solder. To patch another wire into a wire without cutting it, the best method I’ve found is to cut enough of the wire fasteners and/or tubing necessary to get some slack in the wire you want to work on. Then grab it with a small mechanic’s hook and pull it as far away as you can from everything around it. Then I take a small butane torch (mine’s a little bigger than a cigarette lighter) and burn away the insulation at the point I’m holding the wire with the hook. Only about ¼” of the wire needs to be exposed. Tin the exposed portion of the wire with some solder, then tin the end of the wire you want to patch into it. Now just touch them and the tip of the soldering iron together and you have a solid, reliable electrical connection. I reinsulate the finished connection with liquid Plasti-Dip applied with a Q-Tip. This seems to go on thicker and set up faster than the liquid electrical tape, which is about the same thing. After the coating sets up resecure the wiring as possible. I’ll only mention the obvious danger of using fire around things that can melt or explode. Be careful there’s nothing you don’t want damaged in the path of your flame.

For three headlight operation I’ve had a push-button switch patched between the hot wire for my low beams and the hot wire for my high beams on four different Polaris machines with no problems, except for dirt and water occasionally fouling the switch. If you like you can just patch a wire between the two hot leads so that no mater if your switch is in high or low, all three lights will come on. The addition of the switch in this “patch” line just gives you the option of opening the connection so your handlebar switch can function normally. On most late model but pre-’99 Polarises you can fiddle with the OEM light switch in-between its low and high detents and get all three lights to stay on, but it’s not so easy on ’99 & up with the new switches. As I said, the addition of patch wire with an auxiliary switch will give you the option of getting all three to light up, but last week I tried a new idea and so far it’s worked flawlessly. Instead of a switch patched between the two hot leads I installed a diode. Actually, since I already had the switch there, on mine I just installed the diode between the two wires that go to the switch and left the switch in place. If the diode should burn out on the trail then I can still use my switch as a back-up to light all three lights. But after the diode worked so well on our “test” rides last weekend I really see no need for the switch. We had both our machines running with all three lights on, low beams powered through the diode, for many periods of up to an hour both Friday and Saturday nights without the slightest flicker or any other indication of malfunction. It was really nice to have only one switch to deal with for either the two low beams on low or all three lights on high. All you need to do is install the diode between the yellow high beam hot lead wire at the back of the pod headlight bulb and the green low beam hot lead that runs from the handlebar switch down to the low beams. The diode needs to be installed with the current able to flow through it from the yellow wire to the green wire. In addition to the diode you’ll need about a foot of 18 gauge wire (min) for your “patch” lead. Once you get the wire’s insulation removed in the proper places you can easily test which direction the diode needs to be installed by temporarily connecting it with alligator clips at each end (roach clips, for those of you in Rio Linda). This differs from the auxiliary switch method in that you will no longer have the option to light just the pod high beam alone.

For those who are unaware, a diode acts like a check valve, or one-way valve, in an electrical circuit. Current is able to flow through it one way but not the other. I bought the diodes I used from a place that rebuilds starters and alternators. Ask for one that is rated for 25-30 amps at 12 volts. Their appearance may surprise you. Because they’re designed to be pressed into a fitting on an alternator they look a little like a stick with a small cylinder on one end, or a tiny piston without the bearing collar on the crank end of the rod. The “stick” or “rod” is one terminal of it, anywhere on the sides or top of the “piston” is the other. Tin a dab of solder anywhere on these two points to solder the wires that will perform your “patch” between the hot leads. Once the diode is installed wrap the entire body of it with electrical tape to insulate it from shorting to a ground.

Just a word of caution here. Because of the amount of additional current draw I suggest you not allow the machine to idle for an extended period with all the lights on. I’ve made these modifications to more than one machine with success, but that doesn’t mean there won’t or couldn’t be problems in the long run from doing them. This info is provided strictly on a “what I’ve done” basis. I’m not encouraging anyone to do anything they may regret. That’s my disclaimer, so I hope you enjoy the mods as much as we do if you choose to do them. I’ll also try to help by answering any questions there might be via personal email, as my time permits.

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FloodRunner, on the Wisconsin River

 

Informative post FloodRunner. I think I may try the headlight mod on my 96 Xplorer. I may even do the horn thing.

A friend of mine has a 1999 TB250 with which he plows snow & he told me he hooked his winch up to the OD button . . . but the button got fried. I have printed your post and will give it to him.

When making the connections, is there any special type of solder to use? I just recently completed some plumbing work in the house . . . will that solder work?

Loyal

 

Yeah, I’ll bet his winch burned out that button!

Get a roll of thin solder intended specifically for electrical connections. A hardware store, Radio Shack or Wal-Mart should have it.

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FloodRunner, on the Wisconsin River

 

Nice info, thanks. We have a horn on the Sportsman 500 too, but it's got a seperate button. It's just for fun, and to get looks, but it's pretty cool (and loud).

 

Thanks for all the information.. I'm gonna try that Headlight "Fix".. Actually, I thought about taking the handlebars and light assembly off my Scrambler and putting it on the Magnum...
That thing would look like a comet streaking thru the night..

Again, thats a million for all the information...