Is it possible to make my rancher so it starts in gear. it a 350 2004. Like a sensor to remove or wires to remove mabey? ALso where is the air box snorkel that goes under the seat end at? It looks like it stops above the gas tank? Thanks.

 

Is this an S or ES?
Both can be made to start in gear, but if its an es ,the display will flash, and the buttons wont work the shifter after starting.
Read over this old post, and itll talk about how to hotwire it , so itll start in gear.
old post
Look over this pic.
rancher
And you should be able to spot whats missing...but sounds like its all there, the stock intake ends by the gas tank.

 

theres a relay in the battery compartment, just use your wrench or screwdriver to jump the circuit. one cable goes to the positive post, the other goes right to the starter. using a LARGE metal object to touch both connections on the relaywill complete the circuit and send power from the battery to the starter. using too small of a object will make it turn red-hot in your hand since the starter draws quite a few amps. dont mess with the small wires going to the relay, those are controlled by the ecm/ starter button.

just make sure your key is on and engine stop switch is in run posistion. the starter will crank as long as you keep those cables connected with whatever you use.

If you wanted more of a permanent modification, (I would not try this with an ES model, only a standard shift model. I think it will screw up you ES)
take the Light Green/Red SMALL wire connected to that same relay, cut it (before any splices), and tape off the end that goes toward the engine, you dont need that end, but you dont want it to ground out on the frame/engine or the neutral light will stay on all the time. Now take the end that goes toward the relay and permanently ground it on the frame or engine block. Now the starter will operate whenever you push the button with the key on.

Note- I'm an automotive electrical technician, so i'm pretty good at looking at wiring diagrams, and I'm looking at the honda service manual. I have not actually tried any of this, but i'm about 99.9% sure it will work.

 

Youre right about ES models getting screwed up. The computer sees both a nuetral light and a gear position. Itll start but the ES buttons will be locked out, until there is a key off and back on.
Quicksilver, can you spot the reason why they wont bump start? If you read the other post, the first one i linked, I was asking about bump starting the foreman, but something wont allow spark, unless it sees a nuetral, which is easy enough on the s model, with that switch. But the ES gets screwed up seeing the nuetral and gear position at the same time.How does the motor know when spark is allowed, and when it isnt?
Bottom line....is there a way to bump start an es,AND be able to use the es butons after it starts?

 

i think the method I described 2 posts above will also work on the ES model, but i dont know if the engine would start. I know the starter will crank, but maybe on the ES there is a logic circuit in the ecm to keep the icm from giving spark unless it sees a neutral gear at the same time. Does anybody knwo if they will start with the recoil in gear or not? If they start with the recoil while in gear, then my method will work. If they still dont start in gear even with the recoil, then the ecm has the ignition locked out when its not in neutral.

I will keep looking at this post periodically if anybody has questions

 

Ive tried the rope pull too, the only way itll have spark...is if its sees the nuetral, and unfortunetly, if its an es and in gear, the displays flashes once it starts and the buttons wont work.

 

There are a few things the light green/red wire must have done to it in order to start the units, S or ES, in gear and still have the shift switches, neutral light, and gear position indicator work properly. Plus the ECM and ICM to work normally.
I was messing with a unit during one of the old posts on here about the subject. and figured it out. But I got busted by the same superior that busted me for figuring out how to fool a Rubicon's ECM so it will shift gears in reverse.
He told me I will loose my job if I spread it around, because it is going against Hondas safety engineering within the unit, and I could be liable if someone was injured or killed because of it.

Sorry man, all I can say is that is possable to do, with some simple wiring issues...

----- Gimpster -----

 

Thats a bummer. What you know...is what i want to know.
Thanks for all of the help and knowledge youve given in the past, but we dont want you getting in trouble. I have a couple of electronic techs at work...maybe ill see if they can figure it out.

 

you know what would be really cool and pretty easy also would be to figure out a way so that the start in gear sensor wire is only grounded when you are holding the brakes. You could probally use the same little switch that activitates the brake lights. I wonder why honda didnt do this on their quads from the factory? Most other quads will start in gear when you hold the brakes.

 

For 05, I think most of them get the start in gear feature.