neutral light permanently on

**gavxt600e** · #1 29 Mar 2009

hi guys

i posted a few months ago about this and just wanted to ask again as i didn't resolve it then. started the bike after it sat 3 or 4 months. kicked it into gear with the stand down and it stalled, naturally. started er up again to move off and the neutral light wont go off now. I replaced the neutral switch that mounts into the case yesterday to no avail

. Ive checked earths and cleaned them all up. The wire that comes off the switch is blue and runs up to the electrics in beside the battery box. Could there be somethin in this little 'box of tricks' that is causing my problem? perhaps a faulty relay? any suggestions welcomed as im keen to get this problem fixed. have the bike advertised for sale and don't want to give any reason for potential buyers to knock me down for faults

**aukeboss** · #2 29 Mar 2009

One terminal of the neutral bulb gets +12V from the battery, with the ignition switched on. Then, when the gearbox is in neutral, the other terminal is connected to ground / the negative battery terminal -> neutral light is on.
At least 2 possibilities:
- Neutral switch sticks. Check: disconnect wire from switch. Light off, your switch is ***
- The wire from the lamp to the switch shorts somewhere with ground. With the electric scheme in hand, disconnect all connectors in the wire harness that contain the blue wire from the neutral lamp. When the light goes off you now in which section the short is.

Auke

**gavxt600e** · #3 29 Mar 2009

thanks for the advice. by process of ellimination, ive traced it back to the starter solenoid. the bike is starting ok, but ive noticed it doesn't crank as fast as before the neutral light problem started. Before i installed the new battery, pushing the start button only produced a 'click' from the solenoid. i put this down to the battery, but i think now the two issues are related.
At nearly £50 the new solenoid isn't cheap. I see loads of identical looking starter solenoids on ebay from other model yamaha's like this 1 from a thundercat yamaha yzf 600 thunder cat starter solenoid on eBay, also Yamaha, Motorcycle Parts, Motorcycle Parts Accessories, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 19-Apr-09 13:54:19 BST)
whats the chances of one of these solenoids being interchangeable?

thanks

**Panzer** · #4 29 Mar 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavxt600e

thanks for the advice. by process of ellimination, ive traced it back to the starter solenoid. the bike is starting ok, but ive noticed it doesn't crank as fast as before the neutral light problem started. Before i installed the new battery, pushing the start button only produced a 'click' from the solenoid. i put this down to the battery, but i think now the two issues are related.
At nearly £50 the new solenoid isn't cheap. I see loads of identical looking starter solenoids on ebay from other model yamaha's like this 1 from a thundercat yamaha yzf 600 thunder cat starter solenoid on eBay, also Yamaha, Motorcycle Parts, Motorcycle Parts Accessories, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 19-Apr-09 13:54:19 BST)
whats the chances of one of these solenoids being interchangeable?

thanks

That sounds very expensive thats probably why my Brother in law whos an engineer just went to a bike breakers and bought one that looked like it for his XT 600 very cheaply, that was about 3 year ago and still working fine.

**zigzag** · #5 31 Mar 2009

hi there the solenoid off a none xt should be fine its just a heavy duty switch ,. zigzag

**gavxt600e** · #6 31 Mar 2009

right, ive now tried a new genuine switch, and a different solenoid. No success. Im now at a loss to what it could be. I checked the earths on both engine and under the rear plastic panel and the entire loom for obvious breaks. Stumped

. On a plus, shes starting a dream and running fine. Just this problem with the light. And also it will start in gear with the stand down and the clutch disengaged so could be a safety risk too.

**zigzag** · #7 1 Apr 2009

hi there if you pull the wire off the neutral switch does the light go out ,if it does the problem i think is inside the engine case, for the switch to work there must be a steel /brass contact which the switch plunger makes contact with when the engine is in neutral . when you put it in gear the internal contact must move and the switch plunger must now be touching a earth isolated piece off plastic or it contacts to nothing so you now get no earth return. it seems you have a constant circuit no mater what gear you are in. i have not had my casing off so do not know the exact set up inside the engine . so i think your switch plunger is in constant contact with earth ie your engine, the same as putting the switch blue wire to the engine . zigzag

**gavxt600e** · #8 2 Apr 2009

no when i disconnect the wire from the switch, the light doesn't go out. Id be interested to hear if there is somethin inside the case that could be contributing to my woes

**zigzag** · #9 3 Apr 2009

hi there if you disconect the wire and the light stays on ,the wire is earthing before it gets to the neutral switch, so with a multimeter start at the bulb holder take out the bulb first and work your way to the switch, dont bother about any internal engine connection this is not your problem. could the bulb holder be earthing somehow . as seid before the bulb holder has 2 wires 1 is 12v live the other is the one to trace for a fault ie going to earth somewhere .zigzag 1985 xt600