I Bought a new Rincon in April and it minimal use with about 120 miles on it. Mostly take it on trail rides but did install a winch this summer. This weekend I pulled it out of the garage and parked it next to the house to do some work around in the garage. That afternoon I was going to put it back and attempted to start it with no success. I put it in neutral and nothing happened when I pushed the start button. Noticed on the digital display it didnt show neutral, just two hash marks --. I put it in drive which it displayed and reverse also showed on the screen, but not neutral. Turned key off then back on and tried again. Smoke started pouring from under the seat and I turned off the key. When the smoke cleared my main wiring harness is completely fried. Headlights still work. Brake lights stay on even with the key off. I pulled the battery. Hooked the winch up directly to the battery and it still worked. I am two weeks past my warranty, talk about going from bad to worse luck. Honda said bring it in and will have the rep look at it this week. Has anyone heard of this happening or might have some thoughts as to why?

 

That's a new one on me...

Could you tell at all what shorted? IE any damaged/pinched area of wire harness? Did the winch power cables chaffe through?

Anyway, welcome to the forum, and good luck.

 

Well when it began to smoke I took the seat off and removed the side panel. I could see the wires on the wiring harness glowing red. When the smoke cleared the harness from the middle all the way to the back was charred to the bare wires. Winch cables look good. Wiring harness wasnt pinched anywhere that I can see. Unsure if the PGM unit is damaged or if anything else is cooked. Its still odd to me why it wouldnt display neutral but would both drive and reverse. Im sure my goose is cooked trying to convince Honda this is what happened.

 

You won't know until you try.

 

WOW! Glad you were around when it happened...and it did not catch fire. Especially since it could have happened in your garage.

IMHO...I would report this to NHTSA or www.recall.gov because this could be a serious issue with other Honda ATV's.

Good luck getting Honda to replace under warranty or defect!


biz
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WTF...double post! LOL! Sorry...


biz
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Thats a good idea. Thanks for the input. Going to see what the dealer says when I get off in the morning. Then take it from there. I have searched the internet over for anything similar or recall info but nothing. I have read that in 2006 the Rincon had a "start in gear" feature allowing the atv to start while in drive and not neutral. Trying to see if Honda carried that into the 2007 model. Reason why is that mine never would do that, always have to put it in neutral. Never even knew that this feature was there until now. Maybe there is a connection. Thanks again for the suggestion

 

BTW. While searching the net I did come across something that made me laugh and almost stroke-out at the same time. See I was innitially going to buy a 2008 model Rincon but the dealer had 5 2007 models in camo left over and made me a great deal. What I found that made me laugh was the warranty had increased in 2008 from 6 months to 1 year. Ha-Ha-Ha/ LOL

 

You need to apply the front brake in order to start in gear...