My 400 will periodically not shift into any gear. I have taken both of the Tie Rods that come from the control arm off and have narrowed the problem down to the Forward/Reverse Shift Rod that goes into the crankcase. The Hi/Low Shift rod manually shifts fine but the Forward/Reverse shift rod will shift 3 or 4 times then all of a sudden lock up. This is when the ATV is staionary so the Gear outputs are not moving therefore they are lined up already. I have taken out the Steel ball that rides inside the grooves of the shift rod so a flat spot on the ball has been eliminated. I can see the forks inside the crankcase where the steel ball bolt goes in and the forks appear to be ok. However, don't be fooled by my knowledge of the name of these parts...I am by far no mechanic and don't even pretend to be one. It's amazing what info you can find out on the world wide web, hence the reason I am here. Can anyone help me out, either telling me that the crankcase will have to be opened or that the problem is elsewhere? Thanks for any info.

 

I think your gearshift mechanism above the crankcase is different than my 2000, but a few posts down from this I tell how I relubed mine and it works much better now, though still haven't had a chance to test it in the snow.

 

Thanks for the info. Looking at the two different machines it appears they have the same concept but I am unsure of what you mean by the Lever and Housing. Can you tell me if this parts are on the crankcase or are you talking about the control arm?

 

The part I removed and lubed is the shift handle/lever that you normally grab. This mechanism is attached to the engine via a tie-rod.

Pretty easy to remove, loosened the locknuts on each end of tierod and unscrewed the middle section. Then after removing 4 bolts from the shift lever mechanism, the whole thing came out.

Like I said, I don't think it is same design as yours but maybe there is something you can lube on yours.

 

Thanks Mr. Summit. I have already removed and cleaned and lubed the Control arm. My problem lies further back where the shift fork is. I had the tie rods off and was manually shifting the gear on top of the crankcase and it still locked up sometimes. Thanks for your input though. I am affraid that I will have to open the crankcase in order to fix this problem. Something I am most unqualified for.