I bought a prairie 400 4x4 a while back. I it had been crashed and the shifter was broke off. I bought a newish shifter off ebay. I don't think there's anything wrong with it but maybe there is. I m not ruling that out just wondering why it is so hard to shift. Extremely difficult to shift. And then the button on the shifter doesn't seem to do much to help. Is there an adjustment on the transmission I'm not seeing please help.

 

On my 2000 400 it was becoming very hard and almost impossible to get the handle to move between gears and u dont want to use much force as I heard there are aluminum shift forks which could be bent if using force.

What worked great for me was to remove the whole gearshift lever and housing, disassemble it, clean the old grease out, clean o-ring, regrease and assemble. Very easy to do. I also removed the key which the button moves to allow shifting between h-l and n-r. Works very slick not having to use that button but be careful not to shift while moving, as usual.

Also, it is easier to shift if idle speed is low. Also, sometimes u may need to rock the machine a little back and forth to make a **** easier. I do this while still seated.

 

Thanks I'll give that a try

 

Mr Summit's advice is very good, as a former Praire owner for 16 yrs I did the same thing to mine after a number of years. Also note that there is an alignment position for the shifter, on my 2000 model, there were two ears with a 3mm hole in each ear. You were supposed to align the 3 mm hole in each ear by adjusting the linkage adjustment. With the shifter cover off it was easy to see it. Yes get rid of that stupid button and key as it wears the shifting becomes more difficult so just get rid of the problem. As noted be sure you are stopped moving when shifting!!

 

LoGrease fixed it.. Thanks again.. I guess I took fo granted how much force is actually applied. When I took it off it moved freely but the grease definitely fixed it

 

Glad it worked. Not sure if u removed the square key but when I did i put it in one of the recesses in the housing for safe keeping in case I or the next owner ever wants to reinstall it.

 

I recently acquired a 2000 Kawasaki prairie 400 4x4. I'm trying to fix it up with my daughter as a project. I've come across the same problem, I can't get it to shift. If I take it apart to grease it, which parts am I actually greasing and how do I bypass the button? When I purchased this four-wheeler the shifter was broke off so I ordered one on eBay for parts. The old one worked but the handle was broke off. I took the shifter apart but all I see are two little keyways or whatever you want to call them that move with the push of the button. Any help here is greatly appreciated.