300ex electrical problems.. help!

[synctothebeat]

I have a 97 300ex all stock, about 4 years ago it stopped running due to electrical problems. I just bought a complete wiring harness from an 04 300ex and installed it with a fresh battery, plug and gas. The neutral and reverse lights don't work, neither does the start button. I jumped it off of the solenoid and it sparks once when you first touch them together, when you stop touching them together, and when you flip the run/ off switch back and forth. I could only get it started once, i think it was a fluke. It idled really high, and would barely rev up, almost like when you're in reverse. Any help would be great. Thanks

[wcbomb]

never had a problem till I tore my wife's apart to have the frame powder coated, put it all back together, even put dielectric grease on all connections. went to the start button and nothing happen????? broke out the test light and started checking from the battery foward. FOUND it, the gray plastic [I think 9 pin connector]in the harness, located above the cdi by the spark plug wire. the connector is not weather proof, corroded very bad. try pulling it apart count the wires going in and see if the same number of male pins are on the inside, was not the same on mine, pretty easy to tell if one is missing and also to tell which wire it is missing from. just cut the same wire on both connectors and wire them together with a jumper wire. never had a problem since. sorry no pictures but I hope this helps and good luck!

[beaubs]

I would do the same with the Fluke, although I would look at your neutral safety switch, it may not be grounded out correctly. Both reverse and neutral to ground.

[bwamos]

If you're hitting the reverse limiter.. you are getting a bad contact on the R/N plugs next to the rear brake pedal. (you did hook those up right?).

To test you can simply chassis ground both of those wires to see if it fixes your problem. It's a normally closed circtuit. When you put in to N or R it opens the circuit. If you have a bad contact it will switch the Rev limiter on even when in N, or 1-5.

Also that big white harness plug under the tank is not water tight.. it will get water in there and the contacts will get burnt. Pull that apart and clean up those contacts. Then seal it up w/ some dielectric grease.

edit: as above said, also look at that switch on you clutch lever. It can cause you those hard starting issues as well.