Hi All,
My first post and wanted to say "hello" from South East PA. I picked up our family's first ATV this weekend, it is a 2003 TRX350FM with a Warn 4-2-4 and a Badlands 2500lb winch. It runs well, but needs a little love to get it back in tip/top shape. Ultimately, it will call a little cottage in the finger lakes home where it will mainly be used for chores like plowing (A nice plow was included in the deal) and dragging fishing boats, and other lake junk back and forth from our garage to the waterfront. Hopefully I can make some new friends up there with some open property for some trail riding too.
We (my wife, 12yr old son and I) took it to my buddy's house over the weekend and did some riding. It starts, runs and rides well, but didn't stop in a confidence inspiring way. Last night I started diving into the brakes. Attached are pictures of what I found inside the front drums and the after shot with everything cleaned up. I guess drum brakes are a great idea to shield the braking unit from the outside elements, that is until the seals stop working. Looks like new pads are going to be needed shortly. I got the pads adjusted to the drum after I got the adjuster screw unfowled and unfrozen.
The screws on the master cylinder were also rusted in place. A patient application of penetrating oil and a tap of the screwdriver bit with a hammer finally got them undone. Ick, it looked like rusty water. This isn't my pic, but its a good match for what I found:
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. I sucked the fluid out of the master and tonight will drain, refill and bleed the rest of the system (after watching a few more how to videos and searching for tips/tricks here). I'll also clean up the rear drum and do a clutch adjustment, although it seems to shift pretty well... at least when my son isn't trying to do it at WOT 
(he's learning).
The only other issue I've found is the R and N lights don't work. If I reach under and jiggle the wires at the bulbs, I can convince the neutral light to stay on all the time or not at all. The Oil Temp light seems fine. I haven't searched for that yet, or taken the console off to look, but if anyone has any obvious solutions, I'd appreciate the info. Edit: a few minutes of digging suggest the neutral switch was removed and bypassed. I can start it in any gear. I assume that is a problem?
It seems like it's going to be an awesome little machine to own. Looking forward to not pushing a wheel barrow up the hill anymore.
Edit: I downloaded an owner's manual but would love to grab a service manual as well. I keep seeing posts saying they're posted on the manuals section here, but can't find that location. Can someone point me in the right direction?
- Josh
My first post and wanted to say "hello" from South East PA. I picked up our family's first ATV this weekend, it is a 2003 TRX350FM with a Warn 4-2-4 and a Badlands 2500lb winch. It runs well, but needs a little love to get it back in tip/top shape. Ultimately, it will call a little cottage in the finger lakes home where it will mainly be used for chores like plowing (A nice plow was included in the deal) and dragging fishing boats, and other lake junk back and forth from our garage to the waterfront. Hopefully I can make some new friends up there with some open property for some trail riding too.
We (my wife, 12yr old son and I) took it to my buddy's house over the weekend and did some riding. It starts, runs and rides well, but didn't stop in a confidence inspiring way. Last night I started diving into the brakes. Attached are pictures of what I found inside the front drums and the after shot with everything cleaned up. I guess drum brakes are a great idea to shield the braking unit from the outside elements, that is until the seals stop working. Looks like new pads are going to be needed shortly. I got the pads adjusted to the drum after I got the adjuster screw unfowled and unfrozen.
The screws on the master cylinder were also rusted in place. A patient application of penetrating oil and a tap of the screwdriver bit with a hammer finally got them undone. Ick, it looked like rusty water. This isn't my pic, but its a good match for what I found:
(he's learning).The only other issue I've found is the R and N lights don't work. If I reach under and jiggle the wires at the bulbs, I can convince the neutral light to stay on all the time or not at all. The Oil Temp light seems fine. I haven't searched for that yet, or taken the console off to look, but if anyone has any obvious solutions, I'd appreciate the info. Edit: a few minutes of digging suggest the neutral switch was removed and bypassed. I can start it in any gear. I assume that is a problem?
It seems like it's going to be an awesome little machine to own. Looking forward to not pushing a wheel barrow up the hill anymore.
Edit: I downloaded an owner's manual but would love to grab a service manual as well. I keep seeing posts saying they're posted on the manuals section here, but can't find that location. Can someone point me in the right direction?
- Josh
