I saw earlier posts about others being stuck in reverse, and I tried removing the shift leveres, the pliers on the linkage, tapping with hammer, rocking, etc, but ever since owned, i never needed to push the reverse button to put into reverse! is there an issue here that could contribute to this? Also i can start the unit in gear! (which also by the way the starter sticks for a second or two after its started) ....I really cant affor to send this out and I am en ex mechanic with alot of knowledge and the right tools, i just need a little direction here! by the way the console indicator light for reverse does go out when i unplug weatherpak plug, so i know theres voltage to the switch! so unsure about the neutral safety switch?
Please advise asap we have alot of trips planned this summer!

 

I guess you mean a 335 Sportsman. The reverse over ride button doesn't have anything to do with the shifting,just allows full power in reverse. Starter "sticking" is usually a starter bendix behind the recoil cover not disengaging from the flywheel. You can just pull the cover and you have a little "wiggle" room to pull it out. You can try cleaning this bendix (gearshaft) up and greasing it and see if it extends and retracts by hand ok.Cheap as they are I'd replace it as it may start sticking again if too worn. One thing you can do to help on this is when the engine starts is to "blip" the throttle quickly which helps to kick the bendix back away from the flywheel.This is probably the noise you're hearing.These older models will start in gear,newer models will too,but have to have the brake lever pressed first.
As far as stuck in gear this is another common complaint on this type shift box as they got older. Linkage parts/shift box parts get slack and they will cause it to stick in gear. Remove both linkage arms from the gear box. Pop the shift box lever back into neutral,you may need to use two vicegrips at the same time to wiggle the low range trans lever along with the high/neutral/reverse lever at the rear of the transmission to get it back in neutral.Once in neutral,adjust the ball ends on the linkage rods at the shift box to where they drop in the shift box levers with NO resistance or pulling. Then tighten the lock nuts. This may help for awhile, but if there is a lot of slack in the shift lever it may happen again. Dirt Cheap Yamaha, Honda, Arctic Cat & Polaris OEM Parts & Accessories – Cycle Parts Warehouse

 

Well, I followed your suggestion to someone elses post to put the vise grips when I realized I was moving the wrong shift lever, as it turns out the neighbor that was riding it , somehow had it in reverse but the shifter was down in low gear! after tapping the shifter with a wrench it popped out of low and shifted freely, as well as the linkage....dodged another one....now my damn Honda 4x4 rancher 350 lost reverse..damn electric shift..(any thoughts?) I was buried in fender deep mud on a 35 percent incline nose up, *** pinching the seat , thats the last time I had reverse and it worked! Thanks again!

 

Glad you found the problem. As far as the Honda there is a fairly recent posts on electric shift problems in the Honda forum that may be of some help along with this one.http://forums.atvconnection.com/hond...ml#post3104273