[whitcraft.william]

I just bought a 2005 Honda rancher 350 4x4. The front drive shaft was removed for some reason, I'm not sure why yet, but it runs and rides great however oil is spraying out from the front cover where the shaft should be. I have the old shaft but will probably buy a new one, because I dont know if it has all the pieces, but how do I fix it?

 

[whitcraft.william]

first is the front cover and the second is the front transfer case. Am I correct in assuming that the shaft that belongs inside the front crank cover is missing? Or do I have it?

 

[Jeepwm69]

The mainshaft is in the engine and in the 4th pic you posted in your first post, there is an intermediate shaft that goes UNDER the front cover, and on the end of the main shaft. That intermediate shaft then pokes out of the front of the front cover, and the driveshaft slides onto it, and into the front diff.

You have to unbolt the front diff and slide it forward to get the driveshaft in, but first you're going to have to remove the front engine cover and install the intermediate shaft.

Of course, the big question is, why was this taken out in the first place? I'm guessing something is stripped or broken somewhere in that mix of parts. Check the splines in the shafts and see if there is play when you put them together. It's hard to see the front of the main shaft inside the motor, but from what I can see of the pic it doesn't look all that great.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/atv/2005/trx350fm-a-fourtrax-rancher-4x4/final-shaft

So in that schematic, #2 is inside the motor, #1 slides on the end of #2, but goes BEHIND the front engine cover, and it is missing (thus the hole), but appears to be in the 4th pic in your first post, right in the middle.

 

[shadetree]

jeep has ya covered ^^^. the 64,000.00 question is...WE'RE YOU REALLY RIDING IT LIKE THIS WITH OIL COMING OUT THE FRONT ??.omg, I thought i'd seen it all..nope..now I have !..lol.

 

[whitcraft.william]

Yes, not much oil came out and I had just washed it with engine degreaser, so I thought I just had some chemicals burning off or something. Once i figured it out I shut it off.

 

[shadetree]

Yes, not much oil came out and I had just washed it with engine degreaser, so I thought I just had some chemicals burning off or something. Once i figured it out I shut it off.

I hope for your sake, you did not ruin the motor from lack of oil ?!. you will have to remove the front cover in order to re-install the front output shaft. while you have the front cover off, now is the time to replace that front output drive shaft oil seal thats in the front cover .

 

[whitcraft.william]

I didn't. It was more like a fine mist of oil coming out. My oil level is still well within the safe limits. I order the new seal. Haven't ordered the new drive shaft yet, but I'm going to see how it acts when I put the old one in. Curious to find out why it was removed in the first place.

 

[retro]

Don't forget to download and read the service manual while taking that cover off and back on. Don't overtighten any of the bolts.

 

[shadetree]

looking at your front ( outside drive shaft ), it looks like your missing the end cover boots ?, whatever is on it now ?, it does not look correct too me ?. have a look at the oem boots on your year/make/model on partzilla for the front diff drive line, and look at the drive shaft, you will see the boots on the ends of the shaft I am speaking of .

 

[whitcraft.william]

I did that earlier today. I think I'm just going to order it and use that anyway, for now I'm mainly worried about the final shaft. I ordered a new seal the other day and it should be delivered tomorrow. I just want to stop the oil from leaking for now. Not worried about the 4x4 yet, but I also need the mounting bolts for the front transfercase.

 

[fishfiles]

I would wonder why the previous owner would have gone thru all the trouble to remove the shaft , only thing I could think of that would warrant that is a blown front diff and he was trying to figure out how to ride it in two wheel drive

 

[retro]

Someone put hi-temp RTV gasket maker on those cases when they put it together and he/she did a sloppy backyard slam job on it. Scrape and remove all of those orange RTV pieces from the case and cover. Clean it up real good and hope that the oil pickup screen is not completely clogged up already.

 

[whitcraft.william]

Someone put hi-temp RTV gasket maker on those cases when they put it together and he/she did a sloppy backyard slam job on it. Scrape and remove all of those orange RTV pieces from the case and cover. Clean it up real good and hope that the oil pickup screen is not completely clogged up already.

I did that as well used a plastic razor blade to clean it off of both the cover and the crankcase. The oil seal has still not been delivered. Honda powersports said that for some reason it was held up in Georgea and should be delivered today. In the mean time I stripped off the plastics, cleaned and painted everything. Here are some before and after pictures.

 

[whitcraft.william]

So I put the final drive in and installed the oil seal. Put the cover on and now it seems like the clutch is slipping. It shifts into gear, but only moves slightly in 1st and second the other gears seem to slip. It rode fine a week ago, so I'm pretty sure it's just some kind of adjustment I made. The tension screw on the front helped a little, but I'm wondering what else could be off.

 

[shadetree]

So I put the final drive in and installed the oil seal. Put the cover on and now it seems like the clutch is slipping. It shifts into gear, but only moves slightly in 1st and second the other gears seem to slip. It rode fine a week ago, so I'm pretty sure it's just some kind of adjustment I made. The tension screw on the front helped a little, but I'm wondering what else could be off.

its posb you did not put it back together right ?. but before you go removing the front cover, try adjusting the clutch first.

 

[whitcraft.william]

its posb you did not put it back together right ?. but before you go removing the front cover, try adjusting the clutch first.[/QUOTE]

I fixed it. I had to remove the front cover and clean up the clutch adjuster it came undone trying to loosen the nut on the outside. It was so corroded I couldn't adjust it correctly. It's working great now. Thank you.

 

[whitcraft.william]

Just wanted to give an update. I had oil going into my breather box and I read that it could be caused by a carburetor that had the float stuck open, so I ordered a new one off Ebay and that fixed that problem, not do mention it starts and idles way better. Also as far as the front drive shaft. I have no clue why they removed the final shaft, but I noticed the front alignment was off quite a bit, so I realigned it and figured I would try to install the drive shaft and figure out if there was anything wrong with it. Nope, nothing wrong with it at all 4 wheel drive works great, my guess is that they hot a tree threw off the alignment and caused it to drag or pull, so the fix to them was to remove the entire drive shaft. I don't understand the logic, but it works flawlessly. Thanks again everyone for all of your help. I truly appreciate it.

 

[Rocketman5144]

Now that looks like a good time!

Just wanted to give an update. I had oil going into my breather box and I read that it could be caused by a carburetor that had the float stuck open, so I ordered a new one off Ebay and that fixed that problem, not do mention it starts and idles way better. Also as far as the front drive shaft. I have no clue why they removed the final shaft, but I noticed the front alignment was off quite a bit, so I realigned it and figured I would try to install the drive shaft and figure out if there was anything wrong with it. Nope, nothing wrong with it at all 4 wheel drive works great, my guess is that they hot a tree threw off the alignment and caused it to drag or pull, so the fix to them was to remove the entire drive shaft. I don't understand the logic, but it works flawlessly. Thanks again everyone for all of your help. I truly appreciate it. View attachment 136866