I have a 2007 Honda rancher TRX420 FE ES that will not shift gears. I would appreciate any suggestions before taking it to a dealer.

It started intermittently, but when I would shift during a ride it sometmes took several pushes of the button to get it to shift. I also noticed that i can sometimes start the ATV in any gear position (doesn't need to be neutral). This weekend, it got worse, I couldn't get the 4 wheeler to shift into any of the forward gears or into reverse. I couldn't hear the shift motor operating. Since I am stubborn, I kept trying, eventualy I was able to get the ATV to shift into the forward gears, it seemed like the more i used it, the better the shifting got. Every once in a while I was able to get the ATV into reverse. That lasted about half day of intermittent shifting,then it finally stopped completely. Now i am dead in the water. The shift motor is not making any noise. I can use the emergency manual shift with no problems.

The fault code flash sequence is as follows. 4 slow flashes and 2 fast flashes. I am hoping someone can help me out. I have been reading online articles and I understand that 3 flashes mean the angle sensor is bad, after reading that, I went out to the ATV and half expected to see the three flashes. However, that is not even close to what I saw? Maybe I am not smart on how to read the error codes, can someone also provide directions on how to read the fault errors/?

By the way, the battery is very strong.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
John

 

Sorry about your problem and sorry to use you as an example, but I always get a bunch of crap when I tell folks to avoid the ES system like the plague!

Anyway, here is a relatively new machine having problems....again! I don't see why everybody insists on giving Honda a free ride with this flawed system....

 

adjust the clutch

 

Recon---Hind sight... always 20/20. I need suggestions on how to fix my problem, versus being made an example of though. Regardless, I wouldn't fault anyone for trusting the reliability of Honda. However, me personally~~~ Lesson learned, or at least, will be, when i see the bill to fix this.

By the way, 1 year on the machine and I put 1200 miles on it with no other problems.

 

Rafter~~~ would the clutch being out of adjustment make the shift motor not operate?

 

it did on mine.....clutch adjustment is in your owner manual........if its flashing codes i can get the code for you

 

I would first check the coupler for the shift switches up/down (left handlebar switches) , check the coupler for dirt/moisture & coupler tightness..

Here are the tests for code #42 ..

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We got our 2007 Honda Fourtrax Rancher ES TRX420TE on July 5 2008. And that was the biggest mistake we ever made.
Within 2-3 weeks the damn thing would not shift up or down. Finally after sitting for a couple days it started upshifting. Then a couple more it could downshift but, still would not go into reverse. Although i could see that it would try to downshift into reverse if the reverse lever was not pulled in. I figured to unplug the switch for the brake lever and finally it would shift into reverse now. Being that we are over an hours drive from the dealer. And no truck to carry the thing in, we had to wait till we could get a friend to take it in.
So, they claim that they found water and dirt in a "shifting sensor". They claimed that they cleaned it out and applied silicone to secure the coupler up. This way we would NEVER have the problem again. BS . 3 weeks later and we are having the same problem again.
I understand what is going on cause we were riding it through the mud puddles. But, isn't that what the thing is made for ?!

HondaMechanic, can you tell us where the shift sensor coupler is located at ?? And what color it is ? I believe that it is up front just behind the radiator but, can not figure out which one it is.

 

 

why do people still buy these electric shift POS's?

they've been pushing this crap for years, and it hasnt gotten any better