i have a 2001 honda foreman es 450. recently, the ES is getting stuck in second gear and will only click to get down to one and if it gets to one it will get stuck in one. there is no problem up shifting or going from reverese to nutral or vise versa. It tends to do this usully when my lights on on. i checked the battery and on a manual meter the charge is still in the green but not as high as a new honda yatusa battery. I think this battery is the stock one that came with it but the charge is still decent. Ive heard i need full battery power to get a smooth shift but on the write ups on the foreman it says the es is not battery dependent. Does anyone have any insight? Please help.

 

Youre right to suspect the battery. If its the original, then its about 5 years old .
Check the connections at the battery, they need to be clean, shiney(where they touch) and tight.
The foremans that are 02 and newer, can shift with a bad battery, provided the motor is running and the stator is working correctly. Older ones are suseptable to problems from low battery voltage.
Look over the connections, and then have the battery load tested. Any auto parts store will do the load test for free.

 

if it turns out its not the battery, is my angle sensor my next step?

 

There are other steps to check before that. Sure sounds like a bad battery or connection to me.
Let us know what you find.

 

i replaced the battery. ran great for about an hour. when i started using my lights, it still inconsistantly shifted in and out from 1 to N to Reverse. Im puzzled. Battery is brand new and charged. Any other thoughts?

 

ok you have a new battery but when you turn on your head lights it stops shifting. Did you take it in alot of water or use high pressure to wash it? Look at the connectors on the left side by the rear tire, possible that you have water in the round one. Otherwise could be either angle sensor, or speedo. Also may need a clutch adjustment. Does it run bad when it doesn't want to shift and have you checked to see if the charging system is working. Do you haul it in gear, if so STOP it messes them up big time. I work at a Honda dealer.

 

i always haul it in N. it clicks and wont downshift occasionally especially when the lights are on. The only reason i dont think its a water problem is that when the when the lights havent been turned on and ran or when ive got them on, it shifts perfect. i havnt taken in water or pressure washed it. does this problem occur often and how much does an angle sensor run?

 

also, the connector in the back up top by the left back tire----what is that and what does that do?

 

by the way, were there any recalls on the 2001 honda foreman es atv's?

 

I agree...the clutch adjustment should be done next.
As far as I know...no recalls on the foreman.
Did you have the original battery load tested? and was it bad?
Are all the connections on the battery clean and tight?