[wolfehunter]

Hello All,
We purchased our first ATV last weekend from a friend who got it new and plowed his driveway with it all these years. We plan to use it to plow snow as well and also play a little. I don't know much about them and wasn't 100% sure where to post as my owner's manual says 00 TRX350FM Fourtrax 350 4x4. The emblems on the bike say Rancher The frame has TRX350FMY on it. So is it a Rancher, a Fourtrax or a TRX?

Regardless, he took care of it and serviced it regularly. He also mounted some lights on the front rack for plowing that get plugged into the 12V outlet to turn on. It is orange and black with no cracks in the plastic or dents/dings in the frame or racks. It has a gun rack mounted on it as he would take it to the mountain on occasion to hunt whitetails. Said he hauled a few deer out of the woods on the back rack over the years. He said the only issue he had was with the brushes on the starter which he replaced about 6-7 years ago. Seems to run and shift well. Son has taken it to the mountain a few times to check trail camera cards and really likes it.

Only thing we noticed is that the green neutral light doesn't always come on even though the bike is in neutral. Of course the electric start does not work when this happens and after several times of shifting back and forth from 1st to neutral the light will stay on. Sometimes in the process of shifting back and forth the green light will flicker but not stay on. Can anyone point me to what the issue may be? Neutral switch bad and where would that be? I noticed a sensor/switch of some sort near the shift pedal shaft and wondered if that would be a good place to start?

 

[SamUK]

Welcome to the forums. Not to sure on the naming if I’m honest, maybe there were differences within the years and some are known as fourtrax and others are not, somebody will know for sure.
The neutral light issue, have you checked and cleaned any connections yet? That would be the first thing to check out.

 

[retro]

One of three things are most likely to be causing your issue.

1) A bad plug connection at the gear position switch.
2) A failing gear position switch.
3) The end of the shift drum broke off.

Ignore the 3rd option for now and go to the manuals section and download a free copy of the service manual. Inside section 20 of the manual are steps to diagnose the plug connection and the gear position switch. See the attached image. Keep us updated... and if you have any questions hollar.

Welcome to the forums!

 

[retro]

I don't know much about them and wasn't 100% sure where to post as my owner's manual says 00 TRX350FM Fourtrax 350 4x4. The emblems on the bike say Rancher The frame has TRX350FMY on it. So is it a Rancher, a Fourtrax or a TRX?

Answer: All of the above. TRX350FM Fourtrax Rancher 4x4.

 

[shadetree]

retro pointed you in the right direction ^^. your atv name, or model, is known as the trx350fm rancher. all honda atvs through the years are called fourtrax. ( because they have 4 wheels..lol ). that year/make/model had a common problem with the shift drum end breaking off, well known, changed plenty of them. honda has an upgraded version of the shift drum because of this. only way you can tell if this is the problem ?, is too remove the rear engine case cover, and have a look at the end of the shift drum. while your in there, it might be a good time to replace the gear position switch if its bad ?. and your right, the elec start will not work if the c.d.i. doesn't show its in neutral, also, even if you bypass the starter solenoid ( jumping the terminals ), it won't fire the sparkplug unless the neutral light is lit up on the dash, safety feature honda built into most all Hondas . and welcome to the forums.

 

[wolfehunter]

Thanks for the warm welcome and suggestions. I have located the gear position switch with the green/red stripe and gray wire. Does this come apart to clean? To check for continuity do I just poke the wires with my ammeter? Obviously a little "green" at this!

 

[retro]

You check continuity using an ohms meter or a multimeter. Unplug the gear position switch connector and put one lead on the Light green/red wire inside the plug and the other lead on motor or frame ground. With the trans shifted to neutral you should have continuity. With the trans shifted out of neutral there should be no continuity indicated.

Perform the same tests on the reverse switch wire in that plug.

If you need help operating your meter, you can probably find tutorials on youtube. An ammeter won't work.

 

[wolfehunter]

Found my multi tester in the garage! Set it on ohms. Got the connector apart and tested for continuity both on the male ends and the female ends.

Female end of connector which looks like it goes to back of engine:
With the ignition switch in both the on and off positions I have an open loop on the Reverse (gray wire) and continuity on the Neutral (green/red stripe).

Male end of connector which looks like goes to dash/ignition switch:
Ignition switch turned on I have open loop on Reverse (gray wire) and continuity on the Neutral (green/red stripe)
Ignition switch turned off I have 32 ohms on Reverse and 12.1 K ohms on Neutral (green/red stripe)

Is this normal or can someone troubleshoot these readings if something is amiss? What would be my next step? Thanks for the assistance.

 

[retro]

Refer to the image attached to the previous post:
https://www.hondaatvforums.net/forums/honda-rancher/124674-hi-first-post-00-rancher.html#post1240664

First... do not ever apply a voltage to a meter while it is in resistance or continuity mode, it will fry your meter. Put the meter on voltage if you are testing a hot circuit.

You'll be checking the gear position switch only right now. So unplug the gear position switch connector from the harness and test as explained in the image. Shift it in and out of neutral and reverse a few times to make sure the readings are consistent. Report back with your findings.

 

[wolfehunter]

Should have watched the WHOLE tutorial on multitesters! Got lucky not burning it up I guess.

I have continuity on both terminals on the switch side of the connector in both neutral and 1st gear.

 

[fishfiles]

TRX350FMY the FMY stands for 4wd , foot shift and the Y is ten digit of your vin # = 2000

 

[retro]

I have continuity on both terminals on the switch side of the connector in both neutral and 1st gear.

That indicates a failed gear position switch unfortunately.

The switch is behind the rear crankcase cover, so the cover has to be taken off to access it. Section 10, page 7 of the FSM outlines that rear cover removal procedure.

The reason why I feel that yours just has a failed switch rather than the end broken off of the shift drum is because there is continuity on both the reverse and neutral wires at all times. But of course it is possible that you might find a broken drum as well, since those were problematic in '00 & '01, the factory fixed them in the '02 models.

Keep us posted if you can.

 

[wolfehunter]

Thank you for all your assistance in diagnosing this issue. Is there a way to diagnose the gear position switch or is it best just to change it? Where might I find one and will it have a part # on it after I remove it? Will I see metal pieces if the drum is broke off? Thanks again.

 

[shadetree]

here ya go, you will need #11, and # 5 ( gasket ), just change them both out. be sure to change out the cam chain while your in there !.https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/h...m-a-fourtrax-rancher-4x4/rear-crankcase-cover .

 

[shadetree]

Thank you for all your assistance in diagnosing this issue. Is there a way to diagnose the gear position switch or is it best just to change it? Where might I find one and will it have a part # on it after I remove it? Will I see metal pieces if the drum is broke off? Thanks again.

I linked you partzilla for your parts. you may or may not see metal parts once the rear cover is removed ?. but, you will be able to tell if the shift drum is broken off on the end, simply by twisting it with a flat blade screw driver in the slot. hopefully your shift drum is good ?, if not ?, well..get ready to pull the motor, split it !. because this is the only way you can replace the shift drum. this is a ton of work.

 

[shadetree]

before you ask !..lol, yes, you will need a flywheel puller tool to pop the flywheel off the crank in order to replace the cam chain. anytime I tear a motor down ?, spec one thats 18 years old ?, I always replace cam chains, its a wise investment while you have a motor torn apart !.

 

[wolfehunter]

Well thank you so much for helping diagnose this. I am assuming that this switch will eventually fail which would mean the machine can't be started, correct? Or is there a work around the neutral light? Can't this be wired direct somehow so that the machine does not need to be in neutral to start? Bypass the gear position switch.

 

[shadetree]

Well thank you so much for helping diagnose this. I am assuming that this switch will eventually fail which would mean the machine can't be started, correct? Or is there a work around the neutral light? Can't this be wired direct somehow so that the machine does not need to be in neutral to start? Bypass the gear position switch.

you could ground the harness for the switch ?, but this is not the correct way to fix it !. please don't red-neck your atv, AND FIX IT RIGHT !. if you bypass the safety feature ( in this case, neutral switch working right ), some yung kid COULD get on it, start it up when its in gear, throttle stick wide open, and off they go into something, get hurt, OR KILLED !, please do not do this !!.

 

[wolfehunter]

Good advice. Speaking of that we did not get liability insurance for this yet but plan to talk to our insurance agent. Does the engine need removed to replace the switch? It looks tight back there but wondered if it is able to be done.

 

[shadetree]

Good advice. Speaking of that we did not get liability insurance for this yet but plan to talk to our insurance agent. Does the engine need removed to replace the switch? It looks tight back there but wondered if it is able to be done.

nope, the engine does not need to be removed in order to replace the switch. but !!!!, it is a tight fit like you said...lol. you can get the rear cover off with the motor in the frame, but its tight !. what I do: I drop the rear swing arm for more clearance , yesssssssssss..it takes more time, but !..at least the work will be a lot easier on your nerves !..lol. you will need a 17mm allen wrench to remove the swing arm bolts, drop the front right there where the bolts were, no need in removing the shock and all that, just take the bolts out, let it hang down, then remove the rear cover .