[MeanMark87]

Hi All

So I just had this happen with my Foreman 450...I went to use it yesterday and the battery was dead. Not surprising since I hadn't fired it up in a while, so I pull started it and went about my business. End of the day I parked it in the garage. Today I went to use it again, and I had a dead battery again. I was kind of surprised since it ran for quite a while and I would figure the battery would be charged. So I hooked up the battery charger and tried to start it, but it was indicating I was in first gear. So I tried to shift to neutral, so I could start it, to no avail. I can't even hear sounds like the tranny is trying to shift when I hit the shift button.

So I kept trying to get it to downshift to neutral, rocking the machine forward and back, no luck. Not getting any noise from the transmission. The battery charger indicated a fully charged battery so I took the leads off, and instantly my display went dark. I had no battery power at all, and couldn't run lights or the winch.

So, what do I have going on here? Obviously it sounds like I might need a new battery, but beyond that, why can't I get it to shift, even when I'm supplying full power through the battery tender, and why do I lose all power the minute I take the charger off?

Thanks for any help

 

[JohnnySolo]

Since you say it's ES, I'm assuming you don't have a manual shifter. Battery chargers aren't best for reading charge of batteries and batteries when they go legit dead, they may read that they have charge but either don't really or drain it fast. If you take the battery to an Autozone, they can charge and check it for you for free. They checked mine and found that it was draining it's charge bc of age. Also the battery controls your electric shift so that's why you couldn't shift. You could've used last bit of juice battery had the time before and now it has nothing. Hope this cleared it up.

 

[billy5221]

Your battery probably won't take a charge because it's froze, you could bring it inside to warm it up to see if that works but even if it does you probably still need a new one. As far as shifting goes you need good charge on your battery and amps and your charger probably isn't giving it what it needs.

 

[MeanMark87]

Thanks for the reply. My question though would be, even if the battery was shot (which I'm sure it might be), if I'm supplying power to the system with the battery charger, shouldn't I be able to shift while I have the charger hooked up? All the other electrical functions of the wheeler work fine while I have the charger hooked up, but I still can't shift.

Edit: Billy5221 posted while I was writing this. So you're saying the battery charger can't supply enough amperage to run the shift mechanism?

 

[billy5221]

Probably not unless it's a bigger one that has like a booster for like jump starting cars but I wouldn't recommend that, if it worked the other day I'm sure it's fine just need a new battery. I have a small battery charger and the other day I was working on my winch and I thought I could just use the battery charger to make it spin I couldn't get any out of it.

 

[billy5221]

I don't have a es model but from what I hear they need a good battery to make them work properly

 

[MeanMark87]

Update: I left the charger on the battery all night. This morning I tested the battery with the charger on it (in the wheeler) and it read about 10.5 volts. I removed the charger and tested it. It read 8.5 volts. Then I removed the battery from the wheeler and tested it independently, and it read about 9.5 volts.

After leaving the battery on the charger with it out of the machine for a couple hours, it now reads well over 12 volts. I suspect a) that the battery is bad and b) there is a significant draw coming from the wheeler itself. Voltage regulator gone bad? Not sure where to go next...

 

[JohnnySolo]

Do you have your service manual? If not Google Honda TRX450 ES 2001 Service Manual. A PDF should show up. Find electrical system and read looking for a "troubleshooting" part that has your problem listed. It'll let you know exactly. This is all I can say, idk how different that system is from mine. Let us know what happens. I'm sure someone else here had plenty more to say on the topic lol

 

[Wsg]

To answer your question with a bad battery your charger will not deliver the voltage required for your system. The bad battery is eating voltage required for the system.


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[LedFTed]

new battery

i got a moto-classic battery for my 450es it seems to hold a charge good for down times when the atv sits even without a tender. it was over $70.oo., im in ky. there are plenty of good recommendations on this site for battery's. there are plenty of people here from the north. that have way colder weather than i got. my battery is a agm. has a 2.5 yr. warenty

 

[LedFTed]

battery funtion

on most vehicles the battery function is only to start the vehicle. then the charging system takes over for running the vehicle, the lights and such. thats why a lot of people over charge battery's an ruin batteries, when they charge a battery with a charger.. with a weak battery, its hard on most systems, to run and charge the battery at the same time. when your car calls for a 35 amp alternator, its for running the car. most likely, only a little charge goes to the battery, an then, charging battery even over a period of time, only to get battery back to the point of starting said vehicle. if your alternator says 35 amps, doesnt mean you should charge a battery at 35 amps. just a theory on my part. ed