[bcsman]

I have been wanting to remove my shift motor as @shadetree and @retro have recommended to clean and grease. Today I finally took the time to give it a go, I haven't really had alot of shift issues, but more of a preventative measure. So I removed the front tires, mud guards, and front driveshaft plastic cover. It gave me pretty good access for removal. I disconnected the 2 connectors and removed the 4 bolts holding the motor on. It slipped off pretty easily but had some issues pulling off as the frame tubing was somewhat in the way. Once removed the gears and bearings on the motor and clutch had some old gummy grease I had to remove. I sprayed with WD40 to loosen then had an old toothbrush to remove most then used compressed air to blow clean. I made special effort not to remove any gears as I didn't want to put back incorrectly. I then liberally put lithium grease on all the gears and bushings then reinstalled the motor. While apart I cleaned the 2 connectors with contact cleaner then used dielectric grease to seal. I reassembled the parts I had removed and figured I had to turn on and check the shifts even if I wondered how well I did. Good news, the shifting went well so I guess things went OK. Thanks to @shadetree and @retro for giving good directions for even this amateur mechanic....

Now when I get more time I will clean and seal more of the connectors, but figured these 2 were already apart to do them now.

Also while working on this I see I have a carb drip coming from somewhere, so I see what my next project is...:eek

 

[shadetree]

I have been wanting to remove my shift motor as @shadetree and @retro have recommended to clean and grease. Today I finally took the time to give it a go, I haven't really had alot of shift issues, but more of a preventative measure. So I removed the front tires, mud guards, and front driveshaft plastic cover. It gave me pretty good access for removal. I disconnected the 2 connectors and removed the 4 bolts holding the motor on. It slipped off pretty easily but had some issues pulling off as the frame tubing was somewhat in the way. Once removed the gears and bearings on the motor and clutch had some old gummy grease I had to remove. I sprayed with WD40 to loosen then had an old toothbrush to remove most then used compressed air to blow clean. I made special effort not to remove any gears as I didn't want to put back incorrectly. I then liberally put lithium grease on all the gears and bushings then reinstalled the motor. While apart I cleaned the 2 connectors with contact cleaner then used dielectric grease to seal. I reassembled the parts I had removed and figured I had to turn on and check the shifts even if I wondered how well I did. Good news, the shifting went well so I guess things went OK. Thanks to @shadetree and @retro for giving good directions for even this amateur mechanic....

Now when I get more time I will clean and seal more of the connectors, but figured these 2 were already apart to do them now.

Also while working on this I see I have a carb drip coming from somewhere, so I see what my next project is...:eek

thanks !, and thank you for the update. carb drips are from a stuck/sticking float needle in the carb .

 

[bcsman]

Thanks @shadetree, I have fixed one fuel drip when I first got the quad. The primer rubber button had a pin hole so I did replace that and stopped the leak. As far as the stuck/sticking float needle does this require removing the carb to fix? As with most repairs out of my feel good knowledge, but I did get the shift motor done, so maybe some hope for me yet....

 

[shadetree]

Thanks @shadetree, I have fixed one fuel drip when I first got the quad. The primer rubber button had a pin hole so I did replace that and stopped the leak. As far as the stuck/sticking float needle does this require removing the carb to fix? As with most repairs out of my feel good knowledge, but I did get the shift motor done, so maybe some hope for me yet....

lol..plenty of hope for ya bro ! . yes, the carb has to come off. sometimes you can just give them a good cleaning ? ( and I mean good cleaning ! ), and they work good for awhile, and other times..it takes a carb kit to rebuild them, which most times I always do anyway when I take a carb off a project bike like I am doing in the build section ( 2003 trx450fm ). the way I see it..if your gonna go through the trouble of yanking a carb off , and taking it apart ?, may as well rebuild it, but this is me.

 

[shadetree]

oh..and there is a great sticky in the repair section by me on how to clean an atv carb. its mostly for a trx300 carb ?, but even those carbs are not much different from the parts of your carb !.

 

[bcsman]

Many thanks...with the small fuel drip it does give me more reason to remember shutting the fuel off when not using until it gets fixed.

 

[shadetree]

Many thanks...with the small fuel drip it does give me more reason to remember shutting the fuel off when not using until it gets fixed.

and that ^^^^..is why I always turn my fuel off when I am done riding my atvs, motorcycles ( cept my magna has a fuel pump as well as my '89 trx350D foreman 4x4 ).

 

[Macarena Man]

Did the same as bcsman . . . mine had no grease. Marked and removed the gears, lubed with lithium grease as suggested, re-assembled.
The angle sensor was also removed and inspected.
Everything went back together easily.
Showing --- on the dash when 1st gear is selected.
N for neutral, and R for reverse show on the dash.
Hand on the manual shifter shaft while selecting gears, shaft twitches.

Any ideas or suggestions welcomed.

 

[LedFTed]

Many thanks...with the small fuel drip it does give me more reason to remember shutting the fuel off when not using until it gets fixed.

can ya tell where the leak is at for sure? there is a primer pump.. mine is on the left side of the carb while sitting on the atv. i had a bad leak coming from that spot. since i didnt use the primer pump, i worked a way around it. no doubt some need the primer pump, or else why would honda put it there??. i always just pulled the choke knob, when it was cold. didnt even know there was a primer till it started leaking. i am in a moderate climate. it dont get below zero, much. not the 32 degrees freezing mark, just 0. i have seen days close. 5F above O. still pulling the choke worked. even if the shut off is in the neutral position, if it leaks, your carb may will leak. i had to replace my shutoff, thought i thought about rebuilding it. wasnt till Goober said it worked, i think i may have wasted a few bucks, by buying a new one, instead of rebuilding the old one..

 

[shadetree]

Did the same as bcsman . . . mine had no grease. Marked and removed the gears, lubed with lithium grease as suggested, re-assembled.
The angle sensor was also removed and inspected.
Everything went back together easily.
Showing --- on the dash when 1st gear is selected.
N for neutral, and R for reverse show on the dash.
Hand on the manual shifter shaft while selecting gears, shaft twitches.

Any ideas or suggestions welcomed.

more than likely bro, you got the angle sensor out of whack when working with it ?. or ?..chances are, the angle sensor went to angle sensor heaven ?..lol.

 

[shadetree]

Many thanks...with the small fuel drip it does give me more reason to remember shutting the fuel off when not using until it gets fixed.

can ya tell where the leak is at for sure? there is a primer pump.. mine is on the left side of the carb while sitting on the atv. i had a bad leak coming from that spot. since i didnt use the primer pump, i worked a way around it. no doubt some need the primer pump, or else why would honda put it there??. i always just pulled the choke knob, when it was cold. didnt even know there was a primer till it started leaking. i am in a moderate climate. it dont get below zero, much. not the 32 degrees freezing mark, just 0. i have seen days close. 5F above O. still pulling the choke worked. even if the shut off is in the neutral position, if it leaks, your carb may will leak. i had to replace my shutoff, thought i thought about rebuilding it. wasnt till Goober said it worked, i think i may have wasted a few bucks, by buying a new one, instead of rebuilding the old one..

most folks ( owners ) have no clue what the real reason for that primer bulb/pump is for ?, well..i'll tell ya . that primer bulb/pump is for very very cold starting !. like if your in Alaska ?, deep Canada cold country ?, then yep..temps stay wayyyyyyyyyyyy below freezing ?..then you would use this kinda like spraying a shot of starting fluid to the engine. it forces fuel past the jets, straight to the intake of the clylinder, so when ya crank it over..its like a very hard choke to speak ?. this is the reason for it .

 

[Macarena Man]

Did the same as bcsman . . . mine had no grease. Marked and removed the gears, lubed with lithium grease as suggested, re-assembled.
The angle sensor was also removed and inspected.
Everything went back together easily.
Showing --- on the dash when 1st gear is selected.
N for neutral, and R for reverse show on the dash.
Hand on the manual shifter shaft while selecting gears, shaft twitches.

Any ideas or suggestions welcomed.

more than likely bro, you got the angle sensor out of whack when working with it ?. or ?..chances are, the angle sensor went to angle sensor heaven ?..lol.

Will give that a try . . . . appreciate the help !

 

[bcsman]

Many thanks...with the small fuel drip it does give me more reason to remember shutting the fuel off when not using until it gets fixed.

can ya tell where the leak is at for sure? there is a primer pump.. mine is on the left side of the carb while sitting on the atv. i had a bad leak coming from that spot. since i didnt use the primer pump, i worked a way around it. no doubt some need the primer pump, or else why would honda put it there??. i always just pulled the choke knob, when it was cold. didnt even know there was a primer till it started leaking. i am in a moderate climate. it dont get below zero, much. not the 32 degrees freezing mark, just 0. i have seen days close. 5F above O. still pulling the choke worked. even if the shut off is in the neutral position, if it leaks, your carb may will leak. i had to replace my shutoff, thought i thought about rebuilding it. wasnt till Goober said it worked, i think i may have wasted a few bucks, by buying a new one, instead of rebuilding the old one..

The leak is definitely not from the primer bulb as I have replaced it. After purchasing a few months ago the primer was dripping so fixed that issue. I haven't gone much further with this as I shut the fuel off after every drive now and there is no leak. Getting winter around here and gonna put my plow on soon and unless something worse happens I will put off until spring. Even if I leave the fuel on the drip is very very slow. Shadetree says many happen to be a float problem....

 

[shadetree]

Many thanks...with the small fuel drip it does give me more reason to remember shutting the fuel off when not using until it gets fixed.

can ya tell where the leak is at for sure? there is a primer pump.. mine is on the left side of the carb while sitting on the atv. i had a bad leak coming from that spot. since i didnt use the primer pump, i worked a way around it. no doubt some need the primer pump, or else why would honda put it there??. i always just pulled the choke knob, when it was cold. didnt even know there was a primer till it started leaking. i am in a moderate climate. it dont get below zero, much. not the 32 degrees freezing mark, just 0. i have seen days close. 5F above O. still pulling the choke worked. even if the shut off is in the neutral position, if it leaks, your carb may will leak. i had to replace my shutoff, thought i thought about rebuilding it. wasnt till Goober said it worked, i think i may have wasted a few bucks, by buying a new one, instead of rebuilding the old one..

The leak is definitely not from the primer bulb as I have replaced it. After purchasing a few months ago the primer was dripping so fixed that issue. I haven't gone much further with this as I shut the fuel off after every drive now and there is no leak. Getting winter around here and gonna put my plow on soon and unless something worse happens I will put off until spring. Even if I leave the fuel on the drip is very very slow. Shadetree says many happen to be a float problem....

i'd be willing to bet my last dollar your float needle is bad ?, or the float needle seat is dirty ?. if it were me ?, i'd buy a carb rebuild kit ( shindy is best ! ), and rebuild the carb .

 

[retro]

Showing --- on the dash when 1st gear is selected.
N for neutral, and R for reverse show on the dash.
Hand on the manual shifter shaft while selecting gears, shaft twitches.

Any ideas or suggestions welcomed.

Does it fail to shift up into 1st with the motor running? Or is it just failing to indicate 1st gear on the display?

 

[bcsman]

can ya tell where the leak is at for sure? there is a primer pump.. mine is on the left side of the carb while sitting on the atv. i had a bad leak coming from that spot. since i didnt use the primer pump, i worked a way around it. no doubt some need the primer pump, or else why would honda put it there??. i always just pulled the choke knob, when it was cold. didnt even know there was a primer till it started leaking. i am in a moderate climate. it dont get below zero, much. not the 32 degrees freezing mark, just 0. i have seen days close. 5F above O. still pulling the choke worked. even if the shut off is in the neutral position, if it leaks, your carb may will leak. i had to replace my shutoff, thought i thought about rebuilding it. wasnt till Goober said it worked, i think i may have wasted a few bucks, by buying a new one, instead of rebuilding the old one..

The leak is definitely not from the primer bulb as I have replaced it. After purchasing a few months ago the primer was dripping so fixed that issue. I haven't gone much further with this as I shut the fuel off after every drive now and there is no leak. Getting winter around here and gonna put my plow on soon and unless something worse happens I will put off until spring. Even if I leave the fuel on the drip is very very slow. Shadetree says many happen to be a float problem....

i'd be willing to bet my last dollar your float needle is bad ?, or the float needle seat is dirty ?. if it were me ?, i'd buy a carb rebuild kit ( shindy is best ! ), and rebuild the carb .

Yep will prolly wait til spring, I will have the darn thing removed and apart and we will get a big snow. As I said if I leave the fuel shut off not a big problem. If I do it myself will be my first carb rebuild so want to take my time....

 

[Macarena Man]

Showing --- on the dash when 1st gear is selected.
N for neutral, and R for reverse show on the dash.
Hand on the manual shifter shaft while selecting gears, shaft twitches.

Any ideas or suggestions welcomed.

Does it fail to shift up into 1st with the motor running? Or is it just failing to indicate 1st gear on the display?

Apologies to bcsman . . . . didn't mean to hi-jack your thread.

Initially, I'd meant to lube the gears in the ES housing. ES worked as it should have, I just wanted to make sure it was ok.
Ended up replacing the shift motor with a new OEM Honda unit.
Continuity is good between the Angle Sensor and the ECU.
It shows R - N - 1 - code, code, code - 5

I can feel it hitting every gear, as it's shifted (it's on stands with the wheels off the floor) it just doesn't show 2nd - 3rd - 4th on the dash.

As the quad is in the house, I haven't tried it while running.

Again apologies bcsman, and thanks to all . . .

 

[shadetree]

Showing --- on the dash when 1st gear is selected.
N for neutral, and R for reverse show on the dash.
Hand on the manual shifter shaft while selecting gears, shaft twitches.

Any ideas or suggestions welcomed.

Does it fail to shift up into 1st with the motor running? Or is it just failing to indicate 1st gear on the display?

Apologies to bcsman . . . . didn't mean to hi-jack your thread.

Initially, I'd meant to lube the gears in the ES housing. ES worked as it should have, I just wanted to make sure it was ok.
Ended up replacing the shift motor with a new OEM Honda unit.
Continuity is good between the Angle Sensor and the ECU.
It shows R - N - 1 - code, code, code - 5

I can feel it hitting every gear, as it's shifted (it's on stands with the wheels off the floor) it just doesn't show 2nd - 3rd - 4th on the dash.

As the quad is in the house, I haven't tried it while running.

Again apologies bcsman, and thanks to all . . .

it's posb the gear position switch at the rear of the motor is bad ?. you would need to remove the rear engine cover ( stator cover ) in order to replace it.

 

[bcsman]

Showing --- on the dash when 1st gear is selected.
N for neutral, and R for reverse show on the dash.
Hand on the manual shifter shaft while selecting gears, shaft twitches.

Any ideas or suggestions welcomed.

Does it fail to shift up into 1st with the motor running? Or is it just failing to indicate 1st gear on the display?

Apologies to bcsman . . . . didn't mean to hi-jack your thread.

Initially, I'd meant to lube the gears in the ES housing. ES worked as it should have, I just wanted to make sure it was ok.
Ended up replacing the shift motor with a new OEM Honda unit.
Continuity is good between the Angle Sensor and the ECU.
It shows R - N - 1 - code, code, code - 5

I can feel it hitting every gear, as it's shifted (it's on stands with the wheels off the floor) it just doesn't show 2nd - 3rd - 4th on the dash.

As the quad is in the house, I haven't tried it while running.

Again apologies bcsman, and thanks to all . . .

Hey no apologies needed, it's a thread started about ES shifting and obviously you have the same setup as me. I just guess I am lucky that so far after lubing and greasing mine is working as advertised. Be my guest to continue troubleshooting here on this post or if you want start a new one, matters not to me, all are welcome....

 

[retro]

Initially, I'd meant to lube the gears in the ES housing. ES worked as it should have, I just wanted to make sure it was ok.
Ended up replacing the shift motor with a new OEM Honda unit.
Continuity is good between the Angle Sensor and the ECU.
It shows R - N - 1 - code, code, code - 5

I can feel it hitting every gear, as it's shifted (it's on stands with the wheels off the floor) it just doesn't show 2nd - 3rd - 4th on the dash.

As the quad is in the house, I haven't tried it while running.

Again apologies bcsman, and thanks to all . . .

That all sounds perfectly normal to me. I don't think there is anything wrong with it. In fact the ES shifts sound pretty strong to me. The motor just needs to be running (and/or the bike rolling) for all gear dogs to mesh completely, else the shift drum cannot latch on to every detent and rotates backward slightly, causing the gear indicator to display '---'. I'll wager that you'll notice nothing out of the ordinary once you get the wheels back on it and the bike running,

But if you do, please share so we can learn from it.

And thanks @bcsman!