[gordonm1]

So, I was plowing snow, pushing snow into a pile and backing up multiple times and got stuck in reverse for the first time. I got out the emergency shift lever and got it into neutral. It will ES shift down into reverse but no upshifting. You can hear it try (solenoid switch?) but it does not work. Shift motor? angle sensor? what broke?

Going back outside to check battery voltage. The only other issue I had with the ATV was from a loose battery cable.

ATV has fallen out of reverse before and it gets the half shifts that leave the dash in the gear display.

The battery was 12.7 volts. Pretty good for 2012

 

[retro]

You probably don't need any new parts, but fixing it for good takes a lot of time and ends up being a lot of work, since the fenders gotta be taken off to do the bike right. You'll need a small tub of NLGI #2 synthetic bearing grease, some cleaning solvent and soap & water for parts cleanup, a spray can of electrical contact cleaner, a small tube of dielectric grease and a decent set of tools. You'll need to be very thorough and fussy in your work. Are you up for all that?

Welcome to the forums!

 

[gordonm1]

I've read about cleaning the shift motor. This seems like the area to get most improvement along with changing to softer grease.

It's cold and snowy here so I was hoping for a quick fix but removing the shift motor and cleaning it in a heated area might work.

For me it would be remove the plow, get machine turned around so I can use winch for a lift, lift up front end, start removing stuff.

 

[oldmxrider]

You might check battery terminals for corrosion and load test that battery.

 

[retro]

Cleaning/greasing the shift motor is barely a beginning... it more closely resembles an excuse to neglect the inevitable. If you're only interested in a quick workaround rather than fixing it, try starting and warming the motor up until its hot, then hook up some jumper cables to the battery in the running bike... with the other end of the cables hooked to your car (motor running) battery. It should begin to shift at that point, which might allow you to finish your snow plowing. But ya still gotta fix it. The repair costs can go up rapidly from this point forward. You could smoke the ECM if you continue to neglect it.

 

[oldmxrider]

Cleaning/greasing the shift motor is barely a beginning... it more closely resembles an excuse to neglect the inevitable. If you're only interested in a quick workaround rather than fixing it, try starting and warming the motor up until its hot, then hook up some jumper cables to the battery in the running bike... with the other end of the cables hooked to your car (motor running) battery. It should begin to shift at that point, which might allow you to finish your snow plowing. But ya still gotta fix it. The repair costs can go up rapidly from this point forward. You could smoke the ECM if you continue to neglect it.

In My HUMBLE opinion, I would not jumper it from My running car !!!!

When reading the OP's original post, to Me it sounds like He has the original battery in it !! Just guessing that He also is using a winch for the blade.

New battery might fix Him up for now.

 

[retro]

Yeah, a new battery might help in the immediate term, but replacing the battery now is no more an appropriate repair for it... than jumping the original battery is, to get it shifting so it can be moved indoors.

Weak batteries do not cause ES shifting problems, neglected and improper ES system maintenance does. Many folks wrongly assume that a new/strong battery is required every time an ES bike begins to fail... that line of crap gets repeated all across the Internet. Most folks don't understand electricity very well and even fewer of them have ever taken the time to properly prep an ES bike. So the battery is always blamed... cause a new one sometimes rewards them a few more weeks/months of shifting before something major fails.

If a battery maintains 12.6 volts or more at its resting voltage and is powerful enough to operate the starter motor and start the bike, then it is plenty capable of shifting the bike and operating a plow winch, provided that the factory ES system prep has been corrected. A weak battery will fail to crank the motor over long before it will fail to shift the trans. The battery is never a part of the problem.

I've gotten a bit hard-nosed and long winded again here... but if you notice above in my 1st post in this thread, I've also gotten tired of repeating the solution to ES issues every time a new guy shows up. I ask the owner to commit themselves beforehand now... whether they are ready to fix the problem and fix it right, or just interested in another band-aid that might allow them some continuing neglect must be learned before I'll waste any more time on them. Unfortunately most of these guys are not yet ready, they just wanna be told to go buy something that they can plug in... that magically solves every problem on the bike. :-(

I apologize for bringing y'all this rant. This needed to be cleared up though.

 

[gordonm1]

If you are going to write stuff how about a link to the fixes instead of whining. I've searched and read about several failures of the es system but not many with no upshift. I am currently planning to start the shotgun approach and start replacing parts and possibly removing the shift motor and cleaning it. So, new angle sensor, clean shift motor...

I read about lifting the front end up to ease access. I've never done this. Raising the front and removing the skid plate might make it easier to see what you are doing around the shift motor.

 

[retro]

1st thing to get your head around is that swapping in new parts does not fix things. People fix things... put your money away. Don't buy an angle sensor, it won't help you. Buy some synthetic grease, dielectric grease, gasket sealer, etc. You'll need supplies not parts.

Start reading here and follow the link in that post:

https://www.hondaatvforums.net/foru...oes-terribly-wrong-long-post.html#post1244546

Ask questions as you go, keep us involved in every step, take pics and share your work with us so we can help you. And take your time, cause its gonna take a lot of time to complete and there are no shortcuts. Be thorough and have fun!

 

[retro]

One other thing to do before you get started on this... use the manual shift tool to shift the trans up into neutral, then 1st gear, then back down to reverse etc., while rocking the bike back and forth, to make sure that nothing has broken yet. If it shifts manually then its just a matter of taking the fenders off and prepping the entire electrical system, then the reduction gears, reduction gear bearings, shift motor, switches, etc. This is a one-time process. You'll never have to do this again if you do it right.

 

[gordonm1]

I took it to the dealer. They said it would not cost much and they are more skilled than me getting around an ATV. I got six years out of the es system and hopefully they will get me a lot more.

 

[gordonm1]

It was apparently only needing the angle sensor. They said my modification for reverse gear shifting made the sensor fail and they undid my mod.