2005 Honda Rancher transmission problem.

70monte said:

My fiancee's 05 Rancher with I think about 3,300 miles is starting to have some transmission problems. She bought it used in 2009 in like new condition with low miles. It is the 400 version with the automatic transmission.

It's been used hard on the farm for almost 10 years and is now starting to slip and make some noise. Oil used has always been Honda GN4 10W-40 chanced when the change oil message comes on.

I know this transmission doesn't have the greatest reputation. Can anyone tell me what the average price to repair or rebuild one of these is? I'm not sure it will be cost effective given it's age if the repair is going to be very expensive. Thanks for any info.

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What kind of noise is it making? The slipping could be the centrifugal clutch, but usually there isn't noise associated with that. So what you are experiencing that feels like slipping could be a lack of oil pressure because that sometimes has noise associated with it. Or it could be a more internal hondamatic issue.

Honda doesn't sell parts for the hondamatic and says they aren't rebuildable, but they actually are pretty simple inside and there is a guy here in MN that buys up bad ones and sells them rebuilt, better than new (better bearing inside). That's for the Rubicon hondamatic but I'd guess he could do the Rancher 400 too. I think he gets $550 plus your core for a rebuilt one.

You just need to decide if "the juice is worth the squeeze" or not.