Hello Everyone,

It has been a long time, but I need help in figuring out what is wrong with my atv. I have a 2002 Sportsman 500 that has somehow managed to get stuck in reverse. It will not go into gear or neutral for that matter, but it is actually not in the correct position(all the way back) to be in reverse gear. The shifter will not move out of its position, but its position is if you had it in neutral, but moved it to the side like you were trying to go in low gear.I know for certain that the secondary(driven?) pulley has some parts that need to be replaced, because when I had the belt cover off you could see that it is drawing the belt too far down. Should I be looking at the linkage in the rear or focus on the CVT? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sean

 

Remove linkage ends from shift box,pop shifter back into neutral(with no linkage attached) if shifts from n-hi-r-low properly,JUST loosen linkage ends and turn out OR in to where they just drop straight in to shift box arms. What you have probably done is "hydrolock" shift box because of linkage alignment being out OR trying to shift too fast from one gear to another. I get these all the time!! Also check that belcranks(aluminum arms) on trans are tight and not sloppy or worn on splines.
On another note,the 01 and 02 models would do this the most because of creeping clutches! Trying to shift while machine has pressure on rear clutch and they would lock up the shift box! If this is another of your problems,address this also as you can lock up shift box again! I've had more experience on these two models than I want!! Clutch alignment has (in my experience) been the main cause of this! ANYWAY,try the linkage first to get you going! Good luck OPT

 

Thank you for your help Old Polaris Tech.
I followed your advice and just removed the linkage from the shift box. This allowed me to put the shifter back into neutral and now it shifts freely between gears. I rode it around and it seems fine now. On another note, I adjusted the nut on the outside linkage I removed and this seems to change how smooth or rough the shifter moves between the gears.

 

I have a similiar problem with a 2002 500 Polaris ATV. I think what you did will fix my problem as well. But, I can't seem to get the linkage arms to disconnect - the nuts spin and I don't see where you can get a wrentch on there to get the nuts to come off. How and what did you use to get your linkage disconnected from the shift box? Please Help and thanks in advance.

Semofan.

 

Takes two 10 mm wrenches,one to hold the slot in the upper part of the small joint and the one for the nut.