joetroop30

It's a 2004 RMK700. I went riding yesterday and didn't notice it until I got home, but when I took it off the trailer (it was dark then) I noticed that the headlights, there are two, weren't working. No high beam, no low beam. My friend, who had been riding behind me during the last part of the day, then told me that he noticed that my taillight & brake light weren't working either, and he was right-they weren't.

I don't see any melted or bad wiring anywhere. I just replaced the headlight bulbs this summer, and I can't believe that both would go bad at the exact same time, along with the taillight bulb. I cleaned and greased all of the electrical connections this summer, so I don't see that being an issue.

I looked at the wiring diagram in my manual and it appears that the brown wire coming from the stator is a common link to the headlights and taillight. It also looks like that same brown wire is connected to my grip heaters and thumb warmer, which haven't been working at all lately. Those weren't working so well before the headlight and taillight went dead.

Am I on the right track here thinking that the brown wire coming off the stator is the issue?

Idacat800

Might possibly be your voltage regulator or a loose ground wire. Slot of times when the voltage regulator goes bad it will blow both your headlight and tail light.


Sent from my iPhone using Snowmobile.com Free App

guitarman69

X2 on the voltage regulator.
Good luck

__________________
Ride, Wreck and Repair

joetroop30

Thanks for the replies. Now that I've had a little longer to look at the wiring diagram (slow day at work), I see that the brown wire is the ground wire. According to manual there is easy way to test for a bad voltage regulator. I'm hoping that's all it is.

joetroop30

So I took a closer look at it today. The bulbs for both headlights do have power to them and are lighting, but are so dim they weren't hardly lighting up at all. I disconnected the yellow and brown wires that go into the voltage regulator (they sure mounted that thing in an easily accessible place), and it made no difference. Speedometer and tachometer weren't working either.

I went through the wiring looking for anything shorted, melted, disconnected, but couldn't find anything. The sled is running and working fine, just the aforementioned problems. After I shut the sled off I let it sit for awhile and then I started it up again. Sure enough the headlights, taillight, speedo and tachometer all of a sudden started working again. I shut it off and turned it back on about five different times and everything was fine.

Could it still be a bad voltage regulator? If it is a voltage regulator would it work sometimes and not work properly at other times?

bigcountrysg

Voltage regulators are not that expensive, about 15 bucks. If it was me I would swap the voltage regulator. Another thing I would do is clean the connections to the voltage regulator and before reconnecting the wires, I would put some dielectric grease in the connections. You could have had some corrission in the connections and now since you disconnected it and reconnected it. You may have a better connection.

joetroop30

Where do you find a $15 voltage regulator. The OEM one I found cost around $60.

Still not totally sure that the problem is the voltage regulator anyhow. It seems to me that a malfunctioning voltage regulator allows extra AC current, directly from the stator, to flow through the system, thereby blowing out the bulbs. That isn't the problem that I'm having.

Skid

Lighting problems are usually caused by a failing regulator or a short or bad ground in the wiring. Problems with the stator are possible but very rare. Since it is intermittent, I would suspect a short in the wiring harness. If the lights dim again and stay dim when you disconnect the yellow wire from the regulator, then the regulator is likely not the problem.
Clean all the connectors and make sure there's no corrosion on any of the pins. Take the regulator off and clean underneath it so that it has good contact to the frame. Follow the harness and find the grounds (wire bolted to the engine and sled frame) and clean them up making sure they get good contact. Running an extra ground strap from the engine to the frame is cheap insurance.

__________________
94 Polaris XLT - XTRA 10, Ski Skins, 3" riser
97 Polaris Ultra
96 Ski Doo Formula III 600 (sold)
97 Polaris XLT Limited - XTRA 12 (My Son's)
80 Kawasaki Intruder (sold)
72 Polaris 340 Colt SS (sold)

Idacat800

I bought mine on eBay last week for $20.


Sent from my iPhone using Snowmobile.com Free App

Idacat800

A malfunctioning regulator could also not allow enough current to operate lights properly.


Sent from my iPhone using Snowmobile.com Free App

hosehoundfr86

If you got everything back from unplugging and plugging in,,clean and grease your contacts,,why spend when you don't have to,,,,happy trails