I have recently become an ATV owner, by choice of my own and need some help.

This 2002 Kawa Prairie 650 was traded to me in lieu of payment on some contract work. It has about 850 hrs. on it. The damn thing fired up after sitting for a long time and seems to idle out fine. But the problem is that it will not engage into the forward gears. It will engage in reverse( the direction that it was loaded on the trailer) and run but when shifted into forward----NADA, ZILTCH, NOPE.

I have disconnected the linkage at the top of the trans and can rotate the selector. I can feel when it goes into reverse, but when selected to high there is no click, chunk or grind. When it is manually shifted on up towards the low postion, I can fell gear grinding but no matter how hard I push it will not engage. Is there something electronic that I am missing or should I just go ahead and open the cases and look for metal shavings and pieces?

Craig

 

If you can rotate the splined end of the shaft where the shift tie-rod is attached on top of the engine case, you've got no other choice except to split the case. Once you open it up, it would be really obvious to you what the probelm is. Typically, shift fork, dog gear or star-shaped spacer for forward gears gets damaged/worn out.

 

Well I have already removed all the plastic body pieces in an effort to clean all the dirt and trash from all of the orfices. I have also noticed some oil saturation around the top of the jugs, so it probably would be a good idea to mike the cylinders also. I have check at several "dealerships" around here and they can all order a shop manual but will take a week to get and they hang it in you for 75 bucks for it.

While I have got it out of the frame, are there any suggestions for maybe a few mods? This is my first ATV and my idea was to use it around the farm and maybe a few holiday parades but there is a large race track here in Cash Tx only for ATV's. You know that SPEED and MONEY have a direct ratio," SPEED COSTS--HOW FAST DO YOU WANT TO GO?"

Craig

 

Things to look for while the P650 motor is apart:
1). Cam shaft lobes and journals for wear
2). Rocker arm pads for wear
3). Cam chains (intermediate) for wear
4). Pick oil screen for trash built up
5). Oil pressrure relief valve for loosening
6). rear output shaft oil seal for wear and leaking

The bottom end of this engine is pretty stout and no need to worry. The cylinder walls are elecro-fusion coated, in other words, very thin. The oil built up on the top of the motor is probably from the valve cover, nothing serious. Once you rebuild the motor, it's good for another 1000+ hours (well, the CVT is another story...)

P650 is not really a good candidate for track racing due to its bulkiness (600+ lbs), but excellent for such as Baja desert racing or hill climbing.