my friends rancher es is stuck in 5th gear. he has tried the foot shifter it does nothing.please help. thanks

 

There's a problem with the shift linkage, most likely the shift plate. It will require removing the front engine cover, clutch, etc.

 

I know there is a contingent in this forum who claim the ES is flawless, but how come there are several posts like this every week??? (There seem to be more in winter than in summer......huh.) Why do people keep buying these things, when it is so simple just to shift with your foot???

Honda blew it big time on this one!

 

reconranger why dont you worry about your own Fu*ckin problems and not dis a good concept like the ES[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img] I have a 1998 450 ES with 6043 miles on it and i have not hade a single problem with it. So when you say that it sucks it doesnt make sence bucuse it is with just a hand full of pepole.

 

Mine has been pretty much trouble free.
I used to think that es idea was kind of bogus too, I mean how lame...if you cant shift with the foot, you shouldnt be riding.
Then i tried teaching my wife and kids how to ride and shift, and believe it or not, some people dont get the hang of it. Plus they would forget to downshift, until they came to a stop...they claimed they never knew which gear they were in.
So I got an es for them, because they could figure out the buttons, and the display had a gear indicator. Well, they still didnt get the hang of it, so I got an automatic, which I said Id never do, but after riding it, I really like it.
All new things have bugs which need to be sorted out, take efi...when it works well, nothing is better, but one little adjustment is off, and it runs like hell.
Different folks...different strokes. Some like 2wd, some like 4wd, some like irs some like solid axle, some like 2 strokes some dont....its what makes the world go round. Itd be damn boring if we all thought the same.

 

sorry the es advantages outway the negatives of th es, i recently got on an s last week, i could barely fit my boots under the shifter, even then it was akward, my es has given me 0 problems, and it has seen everything not to mention it allows more people to ride it with ease, like my family they don't have to know what gear and the up and down button make it easy to remember, most people are just not use to rocking atv to switch gears

 

The reason for having a forum like this is to warn prospective buyers of what to avoid. I will keep doing that, no matter what kind of BS anybody else chooses to peddle!

The sheer number of posts on problems with ES just proves that those of you who have an ES that works (for now!), are nothing but the lucky few. I wonder if any of you ES proponents did have a problem, if you would have the guts to post it and finally admit it is a system that is prone to failure???

This is one of Honda's rare F*** ups. Why is everybody cutting them so much slack??? (If this were a Polaris problem, you know everybody would be all over them.) They will never fix it if everybody just accepts it, and keeps buying them.

 

all right ladies stop that fightin. like it or not there are alot of posts concerning ES problems

 

In all fairness, if htloi's problem is a linkage problem, which it probably is. It has nothing to do with the ES part of the machine. Matter of fact, I've seen more linkage problems with the manual shift Ranchers. The shift motor can only apply so much force to the shift linkage. You can apply a lot more with your foot. For "heavy footed" individuals, it's actually possible to break things. I've seen parts of the linkage (like the pin underneath the rear engine cover) break on manual shift Ranchers that never break on the ES models.

 

Just to add a bit of info. You didn't say what year the Rancher was htloi, but there's a service bulletin on (I think) 01's pertaining to this problem (manual and ES, all). Honda actually sent letters to Rancher owners urging them to get in and have the shift plates replaced. If you do a bit of research in these forums, you can probably find more info on it. I'm not sure, but it may still be current...that means Honda will buy the repair if it is a broken shift plate. I'll try to remember to check at work today and post the end date for the campaign.