I have a 2002 rancher ES , bought it used and had it about 18 months now. Just took it in to get a overall service/tune. I was having problems with it shifting, such as would not go from higher gears to lower, and would not go into reverse. I had to use the manual shifter to get it in gear and out of gear a few times, then shut the bike off and restart to us eit again. Service department is telling me there may be serious problems with the ES part of it, and is "getting back to me" with a cost.
Anyone else here had anything like this occur or similar?
Been a great bike up to now, and I dont want to put a lot of money into it, paid 4k for it.
Any help is great !!

 

Im not sure if they are tring to scare more money out of you...but any good honda dealership can troubleshoot and repair this...no big deal. Most likely its the angle sensor.

 

Thanks for the reply. Actually my rancher is at a Honda Dealership right now, and they are the ones looking at it. I sent it there for a few reasons. 1) it had not been services since I have had it 2) I figured the dealer would know how it should run, and could fix any problem 3) I wanted it looked over real good by a certified mechanic, to know where it stands.

Does anyone have any idea (worst case scenario) what it would cost to repair the ES portion of this. Just so I have somehting to compare when they call me back with a price?

Thanks!!

 

So, you're basically saying it wont down shift, or go into reverse?? Sounds like it's just the DOWN button that's bad. But, there was a deal with the angle sensors going bad on those years, not expensive or too hard to replace. As long as it's something outside the engine, then it wont be too terrible to fix. When you get into the mechanical stuff inside the engine is when it gets expensive.

 

bertman911 honda rancher es's had some recalls you can check if there is a recall on whats wrong with your rancher you might get lucky and it wont cost you nothing but time!good luck on a fix but you might want to check your shift arm comp. they are bad about wearing the tips that shift the gears and they will slip and not shift the part its self cost about $61 and is simple to put in but anyway good luck and i hope this helps

 

Thanks for the info guys. I ended up picking up my quad today from the dealer after they wanted another $250 to repair what they described to me that this is what is wrong :: "the bolt that disengages the clutch inside the front differential, has a frozon bolt and needs to be drilled out and replaced". The parts are $14.00 and the labor is 3hrs @$80/hr. Seems a little pricey to me.

But heres the kicker, and let me know if this is possible...........I found a reputable mechanic who knows all there is to know about these bikes, and he told me to NOT pay them that money, and to bring it to him, since he thinks it is an error on operating the bike. He believes that when I have a problem with the bike not being able to shift down, I have been shutting off the bike, and using the manual foot shifter (which I keep in the back of the bike) to shift back to neutral. I then shut the bike off completely and restart. This seems to work, but he told me the bike is having a problem recognizing gears when I do that, and to "rock" the bike into the next lower gears and finally into neutral. This should fix that problem. I DONT KNOW.................lol. It is worth a try rather than spending near $300.

I want to know..........how does the dealer know the bolt is frozen INSIDE the pumpkin, if he didnt take it off...............because if he had it off.....why didnt he just fix it right there.

Anyway, I have blabbed long enough. The bike does ride better after a service and tune, and did not experience and shifting problems.

Let me know what yall think.

THX

 

If my wheeler is in gear when I turn off the engine, I have to "rock" forward and back as I shift toward neutral. This is a quirk. The manual addresses this by saying to always shift to neutral befor shuting engine off. Easy to work around, though.

 

my 99" Foreman 450 ES had similar problems. I was shutting it off or getting it stuck and and it was dying while still in gear. Used the manual shifter to get it into neutral to start it. Then had to rock it back and firth to get it to work again and recognize the gears.

techie

 

well it could be your not rocking it back and forth and all that but i'v had to replace the handle bar swich on my friends bike becuase of the same reason and fixed it all up, ust take the 3 screws outa it, and take it apart and check the contact points and all that and make sure that part is working.

 

that doesnt sound right to me. the front differential really has nothing to do with the up shifting or down shifing, and there is no clutch in the front diff, it's a cam-follower type limited slip on that bike.