hey Guys,

I was out plowing a foot of snow off my driveway with a MINT 1988 Suzuki LT-4WD this morning. The last time I put it in reverse, I notice the reverse light had gone out. I figured it was old and finally gave out. I backed the ATV into the woodshed and shut it off. I hooked up a cart, loaded it with firewood, hooked it up, and attempted to start the ATV. I turned the key on but the neutral light wasn't on. I pulled the reverse lever back and forth to make sure it was out of reverse, and still nothing. The ATV is in neutral because it will roll.

Does anyone have an idea what is going on? I need to get the firewood to the house, and there is another foot of snow predicted! HELP!

TIA!
Jackie

 

Okay, I just went out to hook up the battery tender on the ATV. Within just a few minutes the reverse and neutral lights were both working and the thing started! I had been plowing with an electric winch. Maybe I just drained the battery and there wasn't enough juice to light the indicators???? Oh, I sure hope so! I'll let you know what the verdict is in the next few days. Meanwhile.... I am going to bring in some firewood!!!! :-)

jackie

 

Hey Jackie,

So you got dumped on, over here we just got a few inches of rain, thank god.

Good to hear that that you LT4WD is still going strong, mine still runs like new as well.

Since the problem first appeared when your motor was running, I doubt that it was caused by a weak battery. Your magneto should have supplied sufficient power. I am going to guess that you have an intermittent problem with you neutral switch and/or its wiring. It is on the upper left side of the crankcase, and has a blue wire going to it. When in neutral, the wire should be at ground. This will enable the neutral light, the reverse light, and the neutral relay. If it happens again, I would ohm this out.

Ken

 

Hey Ken! Nice to see you! :-)

Yes, we got dumped on again. I had everything cleared of snow yesterday only to wake up to another 6 or 8 inches of the white crap this morning. While I was eating dinner last night I was thinking about the reverse/neutral lights and realized that the magneto should have been providing the power for the lights. Then, this morning you verified my thoughts. JEEEEZE, more wiring problems? I'm geting too old for this, Ken! LMAO!

Now, IF I don't fix it: what will happen if it starts up and I start plowing, then I need to back up. If the neutral light isn't on, will it refuse to go into reverse? HHhmmm..... maybe I'll just wimp out and use the snowblower until I get the wiring fixed. Why couldn't this happen this summer when it would be nice and warm to be playing with wiring? LOL!!!!

Again, nice to see your smiling face, Ken! MERRY CHRISTMAS, my friend!

Jackie

 

Yea, if this is fall, I can't wait to see what winter will be like......

Hey, 5 years between failures on a 25 year old machine, I think that's pretty awesome! The 2015 Honda Rubicon will be the next machine for me, but honestly, I don't think my Quadrunner will ever die.

The only purpose for the neutral and reverse "lights", other than information for the operator, is to disable the starter motor while the quad is in gear. After it is running, it doesn't care...


Ken

 

Yes, Ken...... this "88 ATV is now an antique! It's been one of the best investments I have made in my life.... worth every penny of the $4,000 I paid for it new. That price was including the electric plow and tax.

When I took it down to the welder to have a new plow frame made, he took one look and wanted to buy it from me! LOL! He said these smaller format machines are so much easier to maneuver in the woods, and he was totally impressed with the differential lock!

That Rubicon looks like a sweet ride, but it's totally out of my price range. Plus, my little Suzuki is still running strong.. so why replace it????? It still does everything I need it to do.

Thanks for the advice on the "idiot" lights! LOL! (Just to let the idiot (me) know what gear I'm in!) And, I did plow with it yesterday and neither of the lights even flickered the entire time. So, like everything else that need "fixin" here at the "Funny Farm" it will be put on the back burner for now!

Hey look..... something different..... it's snowing! LMAO!

Jackie :-)

 

Before you bought your machine, did you look at the Honda 300. These Atv's are very well respected. I think the Suzuki was far superior, and had features that are just showing up on the Honda's 25 years later.... Diff lock for example.

Ha,Ha, you should be thankful that you don't live in Buffalo, 6 feet of snow!!!!

Well, give me a holler if you decide to dig in, and we'll figure it out.

Ken

 

Hey Ken!

Yes, i did look at the Honda 300. The thing I hated was the way you put the thing in reverse. You had to hold the left hand brake while you hit a button, and it was not an easy thing to do especially in mittens! LOL! A friend of mine had one, and he liked the Suzuki sooo much more than his Honda.

Holy Smokes.. yes.... Buffalo got hammered! We got some lake effect snow here from Lake Ontario. Thank God we only got a foot!

Yes, I will gladly take any help I can get re: the reverse/neutral lights when I get the time to check it out. I also may need some help taking care of a leaking top end gasket. The old girl is just starting to ooze some oil from the very top of the engine and I want to take care of that too, when I get the time.

I moved some snow today, and decided to have some fun. I put the ATV into 2WD and spun some doughnuts up and down the driveway! Now I know why all the boys do that.. it's FUN! LOL!

take care :-)
Jackie

 

You bought the Suzuki brand new, wow that's really getting your money's worth. I bet another reason you decided not to buy a honda 300 was that it was full time 4wd. I didn't realize that back then any of the machines other than Polaris were selectible 4wd. I think just either on the 2014 or new 2015 models Honda finally made it easier to put them into reverse. I remember a guy on ebay that fabricated little fiberglass pieces that fit on the shift cable for about $10 a piece that allowed you to override that little red button, all you had to do was downshift from neutral to go into reverse. It actually worked pretty well as long as it was a foot shift model, on es models it didn't work very well. I think Honda made it more difficult on purpose because they were afraid owners would either tear up the clutch slamming it into reverse while still moving forward or someone would get hurt by simply accidentally downshifting from neutral and unexpectedly throwing the machine in reverse. The reverse lever on old Yamahas were even worse. I once owned an old timberwolf and to go in reverse you had to shift into first gear, stop and hold the brakes with one hand and then pull a lever down by the engine to shift into reverse. And then to shift back out of reverse, you had to pull the lever again. Mine was so old that the lever was actually pretty hard to pull back, it took some effort. I hardly ever used reverse, most of the time I just pushed it instead. They finally replaced it with a shifter much like on a cvt automatic to engage reverse which made it a lot easier I'm sure.

 

Thanks for posting greg74! I enjoyed your post! :-)