Hey there,

History:
The electric start and gear indicators (green neutral, red reverse) started acting up while I was doing some heavy duty plowing in a big snow storm this winter. When shifting gears, the indicator lights were unreliable - it would show red when I was in neutral, green when I was in 1st, etc. It would start (electric) in just about any gear at that time.

This continued for a week or two. Started failing off and on - couldn't get it to start unless I played with the gears and tried starting in each of them - indicator lights were flaky, etc. Then it finally crapped out completely.

Current Symptoms:
Will not start - no response (doesn't turn over) when pressing electric start. Does not show the red or green gear lights, though I can confirm that I am in neutral by rolling it. Only the red oil light comes on when first turned on. Headlights work, odometer panel shows. Checked battery - good. Checked fuses - good. Tried manual (pull) start - nothing, no spark. Checked kill switch position - good.

It's also difficult to switch gears, particularly from reverse to neutral, and neutral to first.

I figured some snow got jammed up somewhere while plowing and fried something. I was hoping it would resolve itself after a thawing and drying out, but no luck (obviously - it's the middle of May now).

It's acting like the kill switch is off. But I believe the gear indicator lights would still light up even if the kill switch was off. ??

I was thinking there might be a switch with the gears somewhere that has failed, and it doesn't know I'm in neutral to start it?

Need some advice.

Thanks in advance,
A

 

is this a manual shift or a es?
Sounds like your gear position switch might be bad since it was showing neutral and reverse lights in the wrong spot before it went out completely. A repair manual will tell you how to test it.

 

snorulz,
It's a manual shift.

A gear position switch? Sounds right. I don't know a lot about this stuff, but it makes perfect sense. It last worked when my 19 year old son took it down the road, and he likes to get it up in gear really fast, so I'm going to guess that killed the switch when it was shaky to begin with.

I'll check it out. Thanks!

On that note, I found another post in this forum related to the gear position switch and the neutral light. It talks about jumping the solenoid posts in order to bypass the requirement to have it in neutral to start. I think I'll give that a try until I can get the gear position switch fixed. Is the solenoid located next to the battery and fuse box under the seat? How do you "jump" it? (I did say I didn't know much about this stuff, right?)

A

 

I made an override switch for my forman 450s, the solenoid is round and has wires going to the starter. All you have to do is apply negative voltage from the battery to negative on the coil (small black wire with a green stripe on mine). Do not apply negative to the posative (larger) wires from the battery or to the starter!!! LOL

I connected my override to a switch so I can start the bike in gear.

 

Did this bike ever have the updated shift drum...?.. If not it's very possible the end it broken off the shift drum ..

 

I don't know anything about a shift drum - what it is or if it needs to be updated.

We bought the atv used a couple of years ago. Nothing was mentioned when we bought it. We did have the gear shifting looked at because it is/was so difficult to shift at times in Reverse, Neutral, 1st and 2nd, but it came back to us with very little improvement. We thought it was because it wasn't used very much. It has loosened up a bit with use, but it goes back to being stubborn if not used often.

How can I rule out a broken shift drum vs gear switch? Would the bike pull start or have spark if it was a broken shift drum?

Thanks for the post.

A