[motoguy_61]

It is a 2002 Honda Rancher 350es 4x4, I just got it and got a heck of a deal knowing it had some problems. Smoking and bad bearings. When I "test drove" it it was shifting just fine with the electronic shift button. Now I am stuck. litterally. I had to rebuild the top end in order to repair the another issue (burning oil). After I reassembled everything I was super thrilled that it was running great. Then I go to take it for a spin, put it in 1st gear and push the gas and clunk. WONT MOVE AN INCH. I switched thru all the gears and nothing, reverse will allow SOME movement but it is really rough and still I have to pin the throttle in order to get the thing to creep in reverse. And it sounds really rough too.

Previouse owner overfilled the left side oil. With motor oil. Now I am a dirt bike rider so ATV's are completly new me. But its got a tiny dipstick on the right side so I am assuming it has seperate oil for the motor/trans. I think I would be best starting with draining the oil and filling to the correct level...HOW DO I DO THAT? and what type of oil and how do I check the oil level? or is it all the same oil and I use the dipstick on the right?


Thanks a bunch in advance for any help.

 

[submarine 300]

First hello and welcome to the forums. Will it roll freely in netural? if not, if it were mine I would disconnect front and rear drive shafts and try to spin the wheels. if the wheels spin that eliminates the diff. if not I would say you have a transmission or transfer problem. but which one I do not know .The oil I have no clue about because i've not had experience with a 350 rancher. but there are people on here that have them and they can give you more insight.

 

[Pain]

After seeing if it will roll, check and adjust the clutch.

I must assume the oil on the left is some sort of transfer case, but not sure. If it's got oil in it, even if not the right stuff, I would guess it would be OK and better than no oil at all, but would figure it out and put the correct stuff in there.

Look up a post Helmet just made linking to a universal repair manual for hondas. It might give you some ideas.

ADDED: Here it is.

http://www.hondaatvforums.net/forum...al-help/2994-honda-common-service-manual.html

 

[submarine 300]

After seeing if it will roll, check and adjust the clutch.

I must assume the oil on the is some sort of transfer case, but not sure. If it's got oil in it, even if not the right stuff, I would guess it would be OK and better than no oil at all, but would figure it out and put the correct stuff in there.

Look up a post Helmet just made linking to a universal repair manual for hondas. It might give you some ideas.

ADDED: Here it is.

http://www.hondaatvforums.net/forum...al-help/2994-honda-common-service-manual.html

Will a clutch hold it that tight?...........I'm trying to learn too!

 

[Pain]

I didn't read it that it was being held tight, but that it just wouldn't move and thought maybe the clutch was slipping. Maybe I'm wrong.

Might be related to that oil problem in the transfer case

 

[submarine 300]

I didn't read it that it was being held tight, but that it just wouldn't move and thought maybe the clutch was slipping. Maybe I'm wrong.

Might be related to that oil problem in the transfer case

Could very well be that it has had low oil and locked up.

 

[Helmut]

First hello and welcome to the forums. Will it roll freely in netural? if not, if it were mine I would disconnect front and rear drive shafts and try to spin the wheels. if the wheels spin that eliminates the diff. if not I would say you have a transmission or transfer problem. but which one I do not know .The oil I have no clue about because i've not had experience with a 350 rancher. but there are people on here that have them and they can give you more insight.

Submarine, if you disconnect the front and rear drive shafts, how is it going to spin the wheels? JK. I know you meant try to spin them by hand. LOL.

The engine and transmission use the same oil. Just one dipstick. I don't believe the 350 Rancher has a transfer case. Just find the drain plug on the bottom of the engine and drain it. Fill it back up to the full mark on the dipstick. Make sure you use ATV oil designed for wet clutches.

 

[submarine 300]

First hello and welcome to the forums. Will it roll freely in netural? if not, if it were mine I would disconnect front and rear drive shafts and try to spin the wheels. if the wheels spin that eliminates the diff. if not I would say you have a transmission or transfer problem. but which one I do not know .The oil I have no clue about because i've not had experience with a 350 rancher. but there are people on here that have them and they can give you more insight.

Submarine, if you disconnect the front and rear drive shafts, how is it going to spin the wheels? JK. I know you meant try to spin them by hand. LOL.

The engine and transmission use the same oil. Just one dipstick. I don't believe the 350 Rancher has a transfer case. Just find the drain plug on the bottom of the engine and drain it. Fill it back up to the full mark on the dipstick. Make sure you use ATV oil designed for wet clutches.

Yep i'm not all there because my brothers dad wich is my grandfather said so.:blush:

 

[Helmut]

First hello and welcome to the forums. Will it roll freely in netural? if not, if it were mine I would disconnect front and rear drive shafts and try to spin the wheels. if the wheels spin that eliminates the diff. if not I would say you have a transmission or transfer problem. but which one I do not know .The oil I have no clue about because i've not had experience with a 350 rancher. but there are people on here that have them and they can give you more insight.

Submarine, if you disconnect the front and rear drive shafts, how is it going to spin the wheels? JK. I know you meant try to spin them by hand. LOL.

The engine and transmission use the same oil. Just one dipstick. I don't believe the 350 Rancher has a transfer case. Just find the drain plug on the bottom of the engine and drain it. Fill it back up to the full mark on the dipstick. Make sure you use ATV oil designed for wet clutches.

Yep i'm not all there because my brothers dad wich is my grandfather said so.:blush:

I'm not even going to comment on that one. LMAO.

 

[motoguy_61]

Alright, I did look into the oil thing and found the oil fill hole and dipstick are for the engine oil and it doesnt take separate trans fluid as mentioned above. Thanks.

I did do an oil/filter change last night, no luck. Front diff is free as a whistle but when I tried the rear it WILL NOT BUDGE....

And to clear this up, it will not operate while in any gear 1st - 5th, wont budge (feels like brakes are locked up but they arent). Honestly it feels like its locked up, if one of you were here you would have to assume that its the rear diff or the trans is locked somehow by the way it reacts when you TRY to drive it. Its not the clutch since I can feel it go into all gears good and reverse as well and when you gas it it does try to move but something is stopping it up, not slipping...Im new to ATV's but not to all things mechanical so dont hesitate to trust my feedback.

How to fix rear diff???

Thanks for the advise so far, keep it coming...also the bike is for sale (see classifieds) I will have the problem fixed before it sells of coarse.

 

[Helmut]

Alright, I did look into the oil thing and found the oil fill hole and dipstick are for the engine oil and it doesnt take separate trans fluid as mentioned above. Thanks.

I did do an oil/filter change last night, no luck. Front diff is free as a whistle but when I tried the rear it WILL NOT BUDGE....

And to clear this up, it will not operate while in any gear 1st - 5th, wont budge (feels like brakes are locked up but they arent). Honestly it feels like its locked up, if one of you were here you would have to assume that its the rear diff or the trans is locked somehow by the way it reacts when you TRY to drive it. Its not the clutch since I can feel it go into all gears good and reverse as well and when you gas it it does try to move but something is stopping it up.

How to fix rear diff???

Thanks for the advise so far, keep it coming...also the bike is for sale (see classifieds) I will have the problem fixed before it sells of coarse.

Yeah, if it acts like it's trying to pull, I would say it's the rear diff. You're probably just going to have to tear into it and see what's wrong and go from there.

 

[Helmut]

If you're going to work on this, you will probably need a manual if you don't already have one. Here is a link to a 350 Rancher manual. It's not for the electric shift models, but everything else should be the same.

http://www3.telus.net/leneng/pdf/Honda_Trx_350_Rancher_Service_Repair_Manual.pdf

 

[divedakota]

I would check the rear brake. Honda has a habit of having the rear brakes lock up. Real pain to get drums off. Took me three hours to get the drum off of my rancher 350 and now my recon 250 is doing the same thing. This job is going to cost me big bucks though as I have already broken a couple of parts trying to get the drum off of the brake shoes.

 

[motoguy_61]

Brakes should be easy, and now that you said it, the rear brake does not seem to do anything, feels like the cable is seized but that could be the drum not disengaging. Ill start with that first, if not that I'll head over the the rear diff. Thanks for the link to the manual BTW. That will be very handy and I think I sat online for a good 2 hours searching for any kind of downloadable/free manual till I found this site. Thanks a ton for that!
:icon_gd:

 

[rhino 660 lifted]

go to docsatvservice(dot)com and he has a bolt on hand or foot shifter for the ES models. i have this on my foreman 450 and when i get into the woods it gets me out. And on docsatvservice(dot)com he has a module that bypasses the ES wirings and is direct. i put that on my foreman and now i can go through mud and it will work and the ES has not given anymore problems since. his number is 601-659-9931

 

[ostrx250]

welcome to the forum and enjoy rhino great tip thankyou

 

[trx350]

Tare the rear end apart sounds like owner let mud get into it and locked up rear end.make sure your swing arm bearing and seals are good mud and water will get into rear end through swing arm.jack up bike and grab axle shake it to left and right if it moves with out moving bike tare it all apart and replace all bearings. Good luck

 

[trx350]

Just to let you know if you shop around you can replace all bearings and seals from swing arm to hubs for around two hundred

 

[toyota]

Place a very ROBUST support under the engine area so that it is safe and well ballanced and all four wheels are off the ground, get somebody or two to give you a hand. Run it gently and not too fast incase you cause more damage and/or vibrate itself of the support

 

[Manny]

this thread is over a year old