Hi, I am new here. This may have been addressed before, but it is my first experience with it.
Can someone provide help or advice to fix my problem with no speedometer display read out?
I went through reinitialization of my 2001 Rubicon TRX500FA after putting in a new shift angle sensor and shift motor.
Now my speedometer display is stuck at "0" (zero).
Not sure if the speed sensor is bad or not???

What can I do to diagnose the fault? Thanks!

 

A bit odd that it occurred when you did a reset. If it is the speedo sensor, the 4WD will also stop working once you hit 7mph or thereabouts. This is because the front diff also has a speed sensor and it has to agree with the main one, or the ECU pops it out of 4WD once a certain speed is reached. If it does this, you can double check by swapping the sensor plugs (under the LH front wheelarch if I remember rightly), the speedo would then start to work, as it is now driven by the front diff sensor, but 4WD wouldn't (above 7mph), as the two sensors still won't agree.

 

Thanks for the reply info! I thought the 2001 was full time 4WD and I didn't know of other speed sensors.
What am I missing?
Anyway, I tried more stuff to fix problems and it got worse. Story below:
Trying to fix my 2001 Honda Rubicon. Started with shifting problems and found that replacing the control motor and angle sensor helped. But after that I had the speedometer quit (just read zero). So, I changed the speed sensor and checked both speed sensor and shift position sensor connectors. I also went to taking lifter covers off and spark plug out to attempt a valve adjustment for noisy lifter.

Well, when I put everything back together and see how she would sound, I got NO Neutral Light and the electric starter wouldn’t turn the engine over. No surprise.

I checked shift position electrical resistance at both the position sensor connector and ECM. Sensor reads good continuity to the connector unplugged. ECM reads pretty good, but found some higher resistance (5K to 20K ohms) between positions at the ECM connector interface. Could this be a diode showing some continuity?

I’m stumped and things seem to be getting worse as I try to make it better.

Who can I contact for insight and guidance through the issues? Hate to take it to a dealer and pay big bucks and then not know what was done to resolve issues. I’d like to learn as best I can how to deal with these kind of issues in the future.

Any and all advise would be welcomed.

 

My apologies, because Honda made the Rubicon for 12 years with switchable 4WD I tend to forget that in 2001 they were permanent 4WD. You seem to have done something to the shift position sensor, as this puts the neutral light on (I think). Concentrate on getting the neutral light back, for now. I would get a workshop manual, and check how the wires work from the wiring diagram. Never found testing things for resistance any use, apart from open circuits when they shouldn't be, and closed circuits where they shouldn't be. Actual resistance readings seem to alter as you watch the meter, making them very suspect.

 

Thanks everyone for your interests and feedback on my troubles!
So, I went back through a few things that could be causing my problem/s.
1) I talked with a local Honda motor sports mechanic. He said I was checking everything out okay. Suggested I next check all fuses to see if I blew something with improper connections. I tried this first and found NO Fuses blown.
2) I thought about what I had tried and/or changed so far and considered retracing components I had changed out.
A) I tried another neutral position sensor first off from another same vintage Rubicon. It didn't help at all. In fact I got no position indicated read out at all.
B) I tried dis-mounting and unconnecting the shift control motor and angle sensor that I had just installed earlier to fix shifting problems. I also looked closely at the shift select mechanism to see if it could be suspect (it looked fine - nothing touched).
So, after playing with shift motor and angle sensor again, I found shift motor seemed fine and angle sensor seemed fine but when reassembled I had to rock the ATV back and forth to get shifting back into neutral state mechanically (before turning key back on). Well, something happened in this sequence of events - the neutral light did come back on and seems we're back to square one with neutral light working. Weppy! I wouldn't be surprised if problem could resurfice. But good for now...
Now I still need to find out about speedometer display not working (if it still isn't working?), and loud lifter noise issue.
Valve lifter clearance seems to be fine. I suspect bad bearings or CAM chain tensioner may not be right. Hoping for an easy fix???
winkdale