Hi new to the ATV world. I just replaced the drive belt on my 2004 400 sportsman. I backed it out and now it willnot go into forward. This happened once before and just tapped the shiftrod and went into gear. Have I forgot to do something or is there another problem? Is there something I can do to troubleshoot this problem. Thanks ALLan

 

Under the side cover there are two linkage bars with adjusters with lock nuts on the end. Sometimes they need a sight turn.
Ones for reverse the other is for forward,low and neutral.
My dads 500 Sportsman would not go into foward ,it only took a small turn with the adjuster to get it back right.

 

If you replaced the belt with other than the oem 3211077 Polaris belt it could be a creeping problem or idle is too high causing shifting problems. Even with an oem belt if idle is too high or the clutches are out of alignment, usually the belt will touch the inner front clutch sheath causing the rear clutch to turn at an idle. This can cause shifting problems. Removing or adding shims may be needed. Just remove the cover and see if the belt is riding in the center of the front clutch.If belt is rubbing on the inside,shims are needed,if touching the outside of the front clutch,may need shims removed. Item #2on the link if you need to order shims OR match them up at a good hardware store. This non ebs clutch doesn't normally have creeping problems that would affect shifting. Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse Plus check that the belcrank on the gear case and linkage is tight.The older shift boxes had a habit of "locking" up and hard to shift as the internal parts wear down also.If the belt is ruled out as the problem,remove both linkage rods from the shift box,pop the lever in neutral and adjust linkage rod ends to where they fit back into the shift box levers with no resistance. With the linkage off the rod ends see if you have a lot of slack on the shift lever while in neutral. Adjustment may help for awhile. If the shift box lever has too much free play it may happen again.You can rebuild this box for about $90 versus $240 for a new one if need be.This problem pretty well went away when the straight line shift boxes were introduced.