Yamaha Bear Tracker 250 Where to start?

[payne]

Have an Bear Tracker 250. Dont have the manual or any literature to help with. Anyhow, starts with pull start in gear, and electric starter doesnt work. Also, neutral light doesnt come on. Where should I begin?? Need some direction on troubleshooting all this. Thanks a million.

[MarkinAR]

Do the headlights come on? If so, then the likely culprit is the neutral safety switch. Theres a green wire and a black or white wire right by your left heel sitting down. See if there is continuity on that switch when in neutral. If theres not, then there's the issue. You may be able to pull the left brake lever fully and bypass the neutral safety switch also. My 93 kodiak would do that. 

[payne]

Headlights do not come on, but bulbs may be bad, not sure yet.

[MarkinAR]

If no lights and no starter button I'd look for a blown fuse between the  battery and starter solenoid. Can't really tell much though until you start at the battery with a test light and work your way forwards. 

[Frank Angerano]

Mark is spot on.

#1 neutral safety switch is acting up. May be a mechanical issue where the shift linkage is located under the side case that makes contact for the neutral light/relay to lock out or a wiring issue right above it. 
#2 the starter relay  has a fuse on the side of it under a rubber cap. If your not familiar with this relay its the one with the two bigger wires on it, one comes from the positive terminal on the battery and the other  one goes to the starter.  Pull the cap and check the fuse. Some models put the fuse within that same  area so look all over where the battery is etc. 

 

[payne]

Machine has several issues. I started bye adjusting valves and pilot screw due to only running on choke and high idle without choke. 

After looking at neutral switch, I discovered there are NO wires coming from it nor do I see any around it. Were are the wires supposed to go that are missing?

 

[Frank Angerano]

There should be a light Green and Red wire coming from the left side of the engine right above the shifter. That green wire goes to the round aluminum relay under the seat by the battery.  Relay should be round, aluminum and have 4 wires coming from it.   Two black one green and one brown. 
The brown is 12v positive.  The green is a negative that is made when the bike is in neutral.  That negative is made be the shifter inside the  engine cover touching an electrical contact within the engine when shifted.   When this happens the brown 12v+ going to the relay and the green negative send power to the relay and the relay closes making the two black wires on the relay connect.  This allows the start button to work because the atv knows its in neutral.   
The red wire  goes from the neutral safety switch to the light on the dashboard to indicate its in reverse.  

 

[payne]

Thank you. How do I test to see if natural switch is good? The green wire that connects to it was torn off, but when I hold it on the switch, the light still doesnt come on and switch doeant engage starter. Starter is proven good, cause it will start quad when its given 12 volts directly from battery. Also headlights dont work, but havent checked bulbs yet either.

Forgot to mention, both 30 amp fuses in battery box are good.

All the relays I see are plastic too

[Frank Angerano]

Im a complete idiot!!! I apologize, but for some reason i thought we were talking about a bayou.  I was working on a  bayou and somehow responded to the wrong topic. 
Yours is a bear tracker!! I had one, it was my first atv that i picked ip a few years back before getting back into all this. Here is a diagram showing your neutral safety switch. 
if the green wire that connects to the switch is broken off and is coming from the harness side try to ground to the frame and see if you get dash lights and if the starter works.  
Make sure the atv is in neutral!!

[payne]

Frank, I did have a bayou before and loved it. I actually did try grounding the green wire, but still no start. Is there a way to bypass the starter cut off relay to see if the button actually works? I'm working on this for a friend of mine. My current bike is a CFMOTO 800xc.

I have the wiring schematic myself, but I get confused on the whole electrical stuff.

[Frank Angerano]

Yep they are great bikes, cant believe i sent that to you lol and my friend said hey you never got back to me on my bayou! I thought he was crazy!!

Anyway, give me some time, i will print it and highlight some wiring to make it easier for you.  

[MarkinAR]

You can bypass any relay on the bike if you really want to.  A relay is just two circuits, if one closes it closes the other.  So just jumper the two that complete the starter circuit and see if it'll bump.  Then again, a relay is only abut $7 at a parts store so it's a cheap trial if you want to just replace it.  Look in the auxiliary lighting section at Autozone or whatever parts store.  I bought a couple extras to use in troubleshooting and to have one on hand when one goes bad.

[Frank Angerano]

So if you look at the diagram it shows two brown wires heading to the neutral safety switch.  You have to locate them and see that they are plugged into the neutral safety switch switch.   If so unplug it and add a ground jumper from the frame to the brown wire on the harness side. See if the starter works. 
Also on a side note  the relay by the battery, the starter relay. It has two large  wires bolted to it. One from the battery and the other goes to the starter.  Jump the two wires/nuts together for a second and see if the starter cranks. Make sure the atv is in neutral. It will spark a bit so don't be nervous and don't do it for long periods.   
 

Post a few pics of the wires etc.  

[payne]

First pick is of the wire that went to neutral switch, there was only one wire going to it. The other pics are of the relays in the battery box.

[Ajmboy]

Updated topic title to Yamaha Bear Tracker 250 Where to start?

[Frank Angerano]

Great pics!  Im not sure your looking at the neutral safety switch. 
Depending on the year and model. 
Make sure you are looking at the right thing is all im saying.   
As far as the wiring under the seat it looks like its in good condition.  
I circled the two wires in red to jump and see if the engine cranks.  
The next ones circled in blue are the wires going to the relay that come from your starter button.  One of them should have 12v positive with the key on.  
 

Question: are you handy with wiring or a tester ? Reason I'm asking is i don't want to over explain it to you if you have a general understanding of this.  If not we will walk you right through it step by step.   

[payne]

Were at did you cire those wires at? I didnt see anything circled other than a few posts ago. I'm fairly decent with tester. I have meter's and test lights to use.

[payne]

The one with the wire is reverse light, which doesnt light either, other is neutral light that I pulled the wire off of. I only see 1 wire going to each switch

[Frank Angerano]

Sorry i forgot to attach.  

[payne]

Jumped them, no crank. The orange wire has 12 volts.

[payne]

This time when I pulled started it, the tail light came on for a short time.....

[Frank Angerano]

So you jumped the two wires circled in red and it didn't crank ? battery good ?

Any sparks from were you jumped it ? 

[payne]

Yep, jumped them together. They did spark, but no cranking. I put a test light on the positive and negative bolts on that relay and it lite up. battery is ok, also is connected to a trickle charger too.

[Frank Angerano]

Ok so you may have a bad starter as well with the other things.  
First thing i would do is reconnect the neutral safety switch and reverse wires. 
Take a tester and put it on the wire going to the starter.  Jump the coil again and see if you get voltage at the starter.  If so the starter has either bad brushes or its no good.   You may be able to pull the starter out and clean and bench test it.  
 

As far as the 12v going to the starter relay thats a good thing.
The starter circuit relay is the next plug you see by the starter relay.   I circled in yellow. 
After you reconnected the neutral safety switch and reverse wires i want you to take a tester and see what you have on that plug as far as power goes.  See if any of the wires have power with the key on.   If any have power let me know.  
Then set your tester to continuity and see if any of the wires have continuity from the negative terminal on the battery to any of the wires in that plug.  What im trying to see is if any of the wires going to that plug have a ground source.  

[payne]

I will do all that later today. I can say that I put 12v directly to starter with jumper cables and it does start the machine.

[Frank Angerano]

 

Ok so i spent a little time going through the diagram and highlighted some stuff. 

Im going to try to explain as best as i can since its been a while with a Yamaha for me.  

#4 battery/power goes to #3 (orange highlight) main switch and also to the rectifier.  When it leaves the main switch the wire is brown (purple highlight) sends 12v positive to the #13/12 indicator lights for the neutral and reverse. NOW they need a ground source for them to come on. Thats where the neutral safety switch #14 (green) comes into play as well as the reverse #15 switch. 

When you shift the atv into neutral it grounds the sky blue wire thats on the neutral safety switch (green highlight) and sends that ground to the neutral indicator light and the light comes on.   The sky blue wire also splits off to the starter safety circuit relay 

#8 (pink highlight) and gives that relay a ground as well. That relay also already should have a 12v positive power source from the cdi box #9 (red/white stripe) wire color. Check that wire for power with the key on.  By these two wires 

(sky blue -)and (red/white stripe+) giving that relay power it closes the starter circuit relay and sends power to the dashboard and start button. 

ALSO important is the rear brake switch #16 (blue highlight) it has to be pulled in for the bike to crank as well. At least it did on mine. It was located on the left handlebar brake lever. 

Make sure that switch is there and working.  

 

Testing:  

You can take a piece of wire and jump the blue/white stripe  and the red/white stripe going to #8 safety starter relay for a second and see if you get dash lights and see if the starter button  works but since it sounds like your starter is stuck or bad you would have to keep a tester or test light on the wire at the starter to see if the starter button works and is in fact sending power to the starter. 

YOU SHOULD also hear a clicking from the starter relay if the start button works.  

 

 

Try to tap on the starter lightly with a  rubber mallet or hammer to maybe free it up while cranking but be gentle.  

 

Also,

Pull the safety starter relay out and make sure its clean and wires are good. Take apart all the wiring one at a time and clean and plug or reconnect so you don't get them mixed up. 

I circled the starter safety relay in light blue, that relay has the blue white stripe and res white stripe to jump. 
 

I hope this helps and let me know how it goes.   
Good luck brother.  
 

 

[payne]

7 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Ok so you may have a bad starter as well with the other things.  
First thing i would do is reconnect the neutral safety switch and reverse wires. 
Take a tester and put it on the wire going to the starter.  Jump the coil again and see if you get voltage at the starter.  If so the starter has either bad brushes or its no good.   You may be able to pull the starter out and clean and bench test it.  
 

As far as the 12v going to the starter relay thats a good thing.
The starter circuit relay is the next plug you see by the starter relay.   I circled in yellow. 
After you reconnected the neutral safety switch and reverse wires i want you to take a tester and see what you have on that plug as far as power goes.  See if any of the wires have power with the key on.   If any have power let me know.  
Then set your tester to continuity and see if any of the wires have continuity from the negative terminal on the battery to any of the wires in that plug.  What im trying to see is if any of the wires going to that plug have a ground source.  

Grounded both neutral and reverse wires. Got both light to light up. Checked for 12v on the wires going into started circuit relay (circled in yellow) no power was detected. The other 3 wires had continuity to negative post on battery. 

I connected 12v with test light to red/w white stripe wire and the relay buzzes al over the place, but to cranking from starter. 

 

[Frank Angerano]

Ok thats progress.  Did you reconnect the neutral safety and reverse wires to the switches to see if your dash lights come on?  If not do a continuity test from ground to the probe on the neutral safety switch while the bike is in neutral.  If you do NOT get a reading then the switch is most likely bad.  
Have you tried to jump the two wires on the starter relay like i mentioned and hit the start button to see if the starter relay clicks?

And don't forget to have a tester on the wore of the starter to see if your getting voltage when trying to crank.   

[payne]

I didnt reconnect them yet, but I will once I can get it to crank. Believe you wanted me to jump blue w/ white and red w/ white? I did that and nothing happened.

Red with white should have 12v correct? If yes, than that explains why nothing happened when I jumped them. 

8 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

Ok so you may have a bad starter as well with the other things.  
First thing i would do is reconnect the neutral safety switch and reverse wires. 
Take a tester and put it on the wire going to the starter.  Jump the coil again and see if you get voltage at the starter.  If so the starter has either bad brushes or its no good.   You may be able to pull the starter out and clean and bench test it.  
 

As far as the 12v going to the starter relay thats a good thing.
The starter circuit relay is the next plug you see by the starter relay.   I circled in yellow. 
After you reconnected the neutral safety switch and reverse wires i want you to take a tester and see what you have on that plug as far as power goes.  See if any of the wires have power with the key on.   If any have power let me know.  
Then set your tester to continuity and see if any of the wires have continuity from the negative terminal on the battery to any of the wires in that plug.  What im trying to see is if any of the wires going to that plug have a ground source.  

Grounded both neutral and reverse wires. Got both light to light up. Checked for 12v on the wires going into started circuit relay (circled in yellow) no power was detected. The other 3 wires had continuity to negative post on battery. 

I connected 12v with test light to red/w white stripe wire and the relay buzzes al over the place, but to cranking from starter. 

 

[Frank Angerano]

Yes that relay needs power to close and need to get it from someplace. So when you grounded the neutral safety switch and reverse wires and lights came on the starter button did not make the starter relay click ?