shadetree

well then, honda in their wisdom changed it , my luck..lol.

did you locate the diode in the wire harness ( i am not sure there is one ? ) if this diode is bad ?, you won't get power to the gear position switch.

no worries bro. i do know for a fact ( been doing this over 30 yrs )..that only ONE wire that goes to the gear position switch, most times this is a green/red stripe wire ?, that when you turn the key on ?, this wire becomes '' hot ''. sooo..when you shift out of neutral to any gear, then the switch tells the c.d.i./ecu/ the control unit its no longer grounded, which then turns the neutral light off on the dash. when you go back to neutral, you then ground the switch, then the light on the dash turns on. i'm not as fancy with words as retro ^^^ ?, but i do understand how the gear position switch works, been down this road for over 30 yrs..its something i've learned in this time..lol.

all honda's...including yours: the neutral light on the dash is ALWAYS hot at the switch, why ?, simple...the green/red wire leading to gear position switch is hot when key is on, when the light on the dash goes off when you change gears ?, this operation UNGROUNDS the light on the dash, herby at the gear position switch is no longer grounded with 12 volts, then the light on the dash turns off. when you shift back to neutral?, this again grounds the switch, which then makes the light on the dash light back up. confussing i know ?..but honda has done this for decades on all their atvs from day one. bottom line : gear position switch is ALWAYS HOT WHEN KEY IS TURNED ON. if your green/red wire leading to gear position switch does not have 12 volts going to it when you turn the key on ?, you need to find out why it does not ?. some atvs have what is called a diode plugged into the harness, see if you can locate this diode on your harness ?.

first problem is you used china parts !. honda atv's do not like china parts at all. second: you got air trapped in the lines.

the very first thing you need to do is, get a 12 volt dc test light. start testing the fuses at the fuse block, see if you are getting power through all the fuses, spec the main ignition fuse !. now go to the ignition switch, at the ignition switch plug, ( where the ignition switch plugs into the wire harness ), test to see if you are getting power to there on the wire harness side, if you are ?, then plug the ignition switch back in, start probing the wires leading to switch ( key end ) with key off, you should have power to key on red wire, with key on, you then should have power coming out of key back through some of the wires, most honda's have power coming back out of key switch on black wire, and pink wires. you are looking for power going into switch with key off, and power coming back out with key on. if this atv sits in a barn ?..mice love barns..and they love to chew on wires on atvs !..lol. sooo..this is a task of tracing down the wire harness..from battery..all the way through every inch of the harness..yes..i know this is a huge task ?..but it must be done !. check all grounds, all connections, reg/rec, stator, speed sensor, everything !. pretty sure that model has a speed sensor ?, with it being a ele shift, it may also have a gear position indicator on the meter ?..i don't remember if it has all 3 on the meter ?. i had a '98 trx450fm yrs ago, it just had the speed sensor, no gear showing on meter that i recall ?.

you having trouble with that same 500 again ?..man..toss that 500 in the Mississippi river..lol.

you are doing just fine :-).

i work on motorcycle engines as well, too tell you the truth, not much difference between a atv engine, and a motorcycle engine !. what is the problem with your crf 250 big wheel ?. start a thread in the motorcycle thread section, i'll see how i can help you.

welcome to our forums ken. honda auto's are not my cup of tea ?, as i am mostly a manual shift atv owner..but there is some great help here for you !.

doubt it..we are mostly 4 wheelers here..and a few 3 wheelers.

ok..then you got other ele issues going on..reg/rec ?, spark plug coil ?, kill switch ?. run these test again.

wear that badge of honor !..lol.

where did you buy the c.d.i. from ?.

how did you test the c.d.i. ?, as i said...THERE IS NO TEST, OTHER THAN REPLACING WITH A KNOWN WORKING C.D.I. FROM ANOTHER ATV OF SAID MAKE/MODEL !. now...you can try tapping on c.d.i. while cranking it, while watching for spark at plug.

lol...yeah ?..where were you when i had to bail off the ladder cuz the stand took a nose dive while on my trailer ?..rofl. that was soo much fun..messed up my already bad leg, got my right shoulder too..but after a few cold ones..i got better..lol. i can't thank my warn winch enough for getting my work done !. i had a snatch block way up in a tree back there..lol.

you can test the reg/rec, ohm the stator and pickup coil, ohm the spark plug coil. there is no way to test the c.d.i. other than with a known working c.d.i. . MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A NUETRAL LIGHT ON THE DASH ?~!..IF NO LIGHT ?..NO SPARK !.

update: just woke up after getting back home around 8pm last night, slept 12 hrs !. it was just me and al, so he decided to just work on getting my feeder moved, and getting my stand up. here is a couple pics of how i planned it out on getting my stand up. as you can see, i got my 450 winch running up high into a tree behind my stand, through a snatch block, back down to my stand. i purchased a tiny trailer from harbor freight, so we would have the bottom of my stand high enough to bolt the leg framework back on the bottom of the stand. it all worked out great. after we got it up, we finished putting the boards around the bottom legs, and my cable down the bottom middle to a mobile home screw in tie down. he had to leave, then i started cutting a shooting lane into the woods behind the stand. got some of it cut, then called it, i was beat. i will get some more pics once i get some more cutting done.

lol...don't feel bad , we ALL do stupid stuff, spec when we get older !..lol. glad you got it back together !.

ok. then to answer your question, the front diff , even though you have full time 4wd ?, you still should have '' somewhat '' limited slip if the front diff is working like it should ?.

the fork rod has too seat in both case halves.

front does, rear does not. have you checked the front diff for gear oil ?. if its dry ?, it won't work right.

yes..its full time 4wd , but !..it also has '' somewhat '' limited slip in the front diff. rear diff does not.

what about the shift drum ?, or the shift fork rod ?.. is the shift arm hanging on the end of shift drum ?.

what part are you looking for ?. i know most of the atv's in his bone yard do not have fan control units, or c.d.i.'s ?, the engines in the frames have not been torn into yet though. then there is the problem of locating a 1988 model, which you are after. i will pm you his cell, you can call him, ask him if he can help you, but i can tell you right now, i'll be the one pulling the part/parts..lol.