My friend has a 350 rancher that is stuck in 5th gear. The electric shift will not change it and the manual shift will change it. Does anybody have any ideas?

 

is the battery dead

 

My cousin had a recon that did the same thing. He said that there was some kind of sensor messed up in it having to do with the electric shift.

 

after you get it out of 5th gear with the manual shift, will the electric shift work for all the other gears?

 

The manual shifter will not get it out of 5th gear either. The battery is fine. If the angle sensor is bad will the maunal shifter still work? Could it be a problem with the clutch?

 

It could be with the clutch. I really don't know I've never work with a rancher

 

if the manual shift wont get it out of 5th gear eithe, id say you have a bent or broken shift fork in the transmission.

 

The manual shifter will work even if all the sensors are bad. If the tranny shifts fine w/ the manual shifter, the problem is electrical. However, you said it won't shift even w/ the manual shifter so its mechanical. What is the VIN of the machine? Either give it to me or call a Honda dealer. There was a gearshift plate update (NOT a recall) that came out in 2001. If not replaced, the gearshift plate would break and the machine would be stuck in whatever gear it was in. This part is under the front engine cover so complete engine disassembly is not required. This update was for the 2000 and 2001 Ranchers. If this is your problem, you will have to pay for the repair. Honda was doing this repair for free until Feb 1, 2006. Because it was a product update and not a recall, Honda only has to cover the repair for free for only a certain amount of time, and in this case, 5 years.

 

Thanks for the info. I have relayed your message to my friend. He called the honda dealer and they told him they would still replace the gearshift plate free of charge. Its nice to see them standing behind their product like that. Wish Honda would send notices out to let us know of possible problems! How about the 2001 Foremans was there a gearshift plate problem with them also?

 

Bonus for him if Honda is still going to pay for it. That update expired at the beginning of the month and they don't have to help him out, but I'm glad they did. Honda does send out notices to registered owners for product updates and recalls. If your friend isn't the original owner he may not have gotten it, especially if Honda records still show the original owners name.

I have replaced two or three gearshift plates on 450s. There wasn't a problem w/ them on the 450s like the Ranchers. The few that have broken were isolated cases.