I have leaky gear shift selector on my 01 sportsman. It looks like i lost a bolt on one of the linkage rods that holds it to the shifter and by looking at the manual one of the o-rings on the shifter sleeve may be damaged. That would be my diagnosis. Has anyone encountered this problem and what is the difficulty of repairing it. Thanks

 

I haven't had to replace an O-ring, but the shift box itself is a very simple unit. If you need to get inside, then put the lever in neutral. Pull the bolts off the top and take the lever off. Now soak up the oil in a rag. It's just motor oil.

As long as your inside, you might as well fine tune the linkage rods. Since the transmission is in neutral, simply adjust the rods so that the notches on the two rods inside the box line up perfectly side by side. Your Sportsman will shift better than ever.

If you're successful in replacing the O-ring, let us know.

 

Thanks for the post. I'm going to take it apart this weekend. I'm assuming the o-ring went bad because of the play that was caused by the bolt on the linkage rod falling off. I will post my results. Thanks again