Polaris Question

[427cobra]

I am having an issue with my brake light on my 95 Polaris Indy XLT.

Sometimes my brake indicator light on the dash comes on and my brake light/tail light does not work. Not sure where to start on this one. I am not too familiar with how the brake light wiring works....

So any suggestions would be great!

I will start with checking all the connections and cleaning them. But any other suggestions would be helpful.

[Matt]

I would start at the tail light itself and check for corrosion on the contacts.

[427cobra]

Alright....

I took all the bulbs out of the tail light and the indicator light went off.

Then re installed the running lights which cause the indicator light to go back on.

I installed the brake light only and it does not work....but the indicator stays off.

I will intall all new bulbs tomorrow and see if that helps.

Im not sure what the deal is...???

[427cobra]

Well I installed all new bulbs and that did not help. All the bulb sockets were nice and clean. I also used di-electric on them.

So I started checking all the connections and cleaned and applied di-electric to everything....which seemed to solve the problem...but then they went out again!!

SOOO I cleaned a few other wire harnesses and they started working again. They seemed to start working after I cleaned the main harness that connects to the motor. So now they are working like they should.

Hopefully I solved the problem but I didnt really see any correded connections...

Could a poor connection in that main harness cause thre rear lights to go off??

Thanks!

[ICCSF 108]

?? Could be that one of the connections you worked on was a ground which made everything work again?? ck your grounds..
Tail light might be grounded to the tunnel??
Kenny

[guitardude081]

The taillight on the XLTs plugs into the main harness just like the JDs do. One thing I would check is the brake light switch on the caliper. Make sure that it is functioning properly. The chaincase/exhaust area seems to get a lot of corrosion. There could also be a possibility of a leaky hose or caliper piston that is leeching fluid onto the switch.
~Jack

[427cobra]

I checked and cleaned the connection on the light switch (on the caliper). I didnt notice any fluid leaks.
Time will tell if I fixed the problem.

How can I check the switch itself? A continuity test? If the light stops working again that could be the first thing I check.

Thanks for the ideas!!

[guitardude081]

It should have continuity with the brakes on and it should show open leads when the brake is off. The older Polaris levers tend to stick a little bit. If it's sticky, pull the lever bolt out, scotch-brite it and re-install it with a light film of lithium grease.
~Jack