I haul all mine in gear

 

I can't believe no one has taken the time to look in the Rubicon owner's manual. On page 160 titled
TRANSPORTING YOUR FOURTRAX. #1 Set the parking brake. #2 Turn off fuel. #3 Secure the vehicle with "tie downs". The owner's manual doesn't say anything about being in gear or out of gear. For thirteen years I've always transported mine in gear and not had any problems. The last 2 months I've owned a Rubicon and have transported it in gear also as do my friends that I ride with and no one has had any problems.

RatherB4Wheelin'

2001 Rubicon
Warn 2500 Winch
Lowrance GlobalMap 1600 GPS
Moose Boot Guards
Soon to be: ITP Magnum Wheels & Goodyear 27" MudRunners

 

I don't believe it makes any difference if you leave the Ruby in gear or not. Try this, park the Ruby on a short hill. Make sure there is nothing in front of it.Leave it in gear, but leave the brake OFF.Let me know if it stays put, mine won't! You might have to leave it there awhile.

 

Well, has anyone tried this yet?

 

Well this is some news!! I too have been transprting my Rubicon in gear. You can be that tomorrow I am going to try to roll it down the driveway in gear. If it rolls then I will no longer transport it in gear. However, I can't imagine that a transmission set up with such serious engine braking capability would be phased by a little back-and-forth caused by being transported in the back of a pickup truck. Especially when the parking brake is set.

I've got the repair manual right here and I will look into what it has to say as well. Likely nothing but I will research it anyway.

 

Brothers and Sisters I have seen the light.

I am such a dope. I must've believed the salesman or something. I thought that the Hondamatic was more like the transmission in a car. That it used the engine oil pressure to physically change gears. Well, I know now after reading my repair manual that that is not the case at all.

Stop me if you've heard this before and I am learning this by myself.

The transmission doesn't have gears at all. It is more like a Bobcat than a transmission. It is completely a hydrostatic drive. The transmission is made up of two parts the pump side and the motor side. The engine turns a hydraulic pump through a centrifugal clutch, which in turn feeds high pressure oil to a hydraulic motor. Here comes the tricky part. The motor is a variable displacement/volume piston pump. When you put your thumb into it the control motor changes the angle of a swash plate in the motor side of the trans thereby changing the volume and the effective torque the motor side can put out. When you go to ESP mode and hit the shift buttons the swash plate goes to five different pre-set angles.

WOW!!!

It all makes sense now. I didn't think there was really any way a machine could be that smooth while actually shifting gears. Think about it, even a $60,000 Mercedes pauses a little bit to shift.

This is old technology folks. It has been used in much more critical applications than this. Hydraulic piston pumps are used is cranes and other overhead lifting devices. They work real well... when properly maintained. I used to work in the hydraulic field. I have rebuilt many piston pumps. They are somewhat susceptible to contamination. It is going to be very important to the smooth operation of this machine to keep clean oil in it.

Hey, that's what I know. I didn't make any of it up, I swear. It all came out of the repair manual. You can get one from your dealer. Read it and see if you think I'm wrong.
AJ

 

Well, it occured to me that I didn't even use my new found knowledge to respond to the original post.

Knowing now what I didn't know then, I would say that there is no possible way to do damage to the transmission by transporting it in gear. I don't know what "pin" was originally cited as being a problem as I haven't actually looked at a parts breakdown but I think that there was some bad information put out by a dealer who was not "in the know."

I can remember when I bought my '96 Ford Ranger. I called the service department at my local dealership soon after delivery to complain that the transmission (irony?) felt "mushy." Some jerk on the other end of the line explained to me that the mush I was feeling came from the fact that they (Ford) had used an aluminum driveshaft in the truck. Well, his tactic worked, I was satisfied and hung up the phone. It wasn't until several months later that it occured to me, "Why the hell would they put an aluminum driveshaft in an overweight, underpowered, pig like this?" The proof came a little bit later when I was doing an oil change and noticed the orange rust on the driveshaft. Damn I felt had!!

Anyway, how does this relate? I don't know. Don't believe everything your service representative tells you and for God's sake don't believe the salesman.
AJ

Sorry to dominate the thread like this I was having an "on" night.

 

After scouring the service manual I have found a pin! It is in the gearshift linkage, at the top where you shift from R-N-D-L. It holds the tranny in that range. Now in all honesty if this broke, I cant see the part costing more than $5.00. That is the only pin I can see relating to the Hondamatic. BTW, the pin is on page 12-13 of the service manual. Dont beleive everything you hear.

 

Yeah, $5 worth of parts and $50 worth of labor!! (If you don't do it yourself.)

I haven't had a problem with the retaining screws for the shift handle. Could this have been an early problem that was rectified in the later models?

 

I wouldnt let my dealer touch my quad unless I could not handle it. I have not had that problem either. I did put some thread lock on there just in case though.