jeepwm69

Hard to tell without seeing things. You should have a ground wire from frame to back of engine, and another from starter bolt to battery negative. # 8 and 9 here https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/honda/atv/2000/trx450es-a-fourtrax-forman-es/battery You have an N showing on the meter and a strong green light on the N indicator on the meter?

No adjustments that I'm aware of. @toodeep you have any ideas on this one?

Ok, that actually makes sense. You have two clutches in that machine (DCT, Dual Clutch Transmission). One is for 1,3,5, and the other is for reverse, 2, 4 So, given that you started having this problem when you disassembled and reassembled the engine, I would guess you didn't get something back together right on the 2nd clutch. That said, first I'd do some testing and make sure that the solenoid on the front of the engine is working properly. The DCT's run off of oil pressure to engage the clutches. Go to the toolbar at the top of the page, click on the "service manuals" button, and download the factory service manual for your machine. We don't have one for a DCT Rubicon, but for your engine troubleshooting the one for the 2014-2019 420 DCT should work fine. Look in section 13, which will show you how the system operates, and then you'll have to try to figure out what exactly isn't like it should be. The DCT's are complicated, and a PITA to work on, which is why I got rid of the wife's DCT Rancher when she decided she liked my 05 Rubicon better.

This a true ES machine or a DCT?

Battery condition? Have you adjusted your clutch?

Welcome aboard. Does it shift properly with the emergency shifter? You say 1st and 3rd, does it skip 2nd or ?

Honda East Toledo? I used to buy all my stuff from them. Rocky Mountain ATV and Motosport seem to be cheaper and have free shipping over $75

Took it for a spin and got 1/2 down the street and it started running like crap. i thought “Now what?” but it would smooth out with starter fluid, so I drained the tank and put some fresh gas in, and after feathering it for a few minutes it smoothed up and ran great. Took the mini-me out on the farm, dug out a beaver dam to make her a “waterfall” and it did fine on that trip, so back to the owner tomorrow Thanks again for the input guys!

Food and beer tastes good.

well it wasn’t going to fix itself! Lol. Thanks for all the time you and Retro spent advising. We all hate to throw an ECU at a problem since you can’t test them, they’re $$$, and you can’t return them. I’m just glad it’s fixed.

was $200 for a used one!

It was the ECU. Got a used one from PSN today and it fired right up. Gotta get everything put back together and get it out of the yard.

Timing chain while you’re in there. DID or OEM only. Clean the crap out of everything. A cheap motion pro flywheel puller from Ebay will work fine. 3 jaw puller for the centrifugal clutch

You'll undo a bolt on the bottom of the front diff (14MM), a bolt and spacer on top of the diff (I think 14mm on nut/bolt) and the mount on the front of the diff. I remove the metal bracket on the front, or at least unbolt it, and loosen the bolt so you can swivel it out of the way. That's it. Pull the front diff forward. The prop shaft will then just slide out. Check and see if you need the prop shaft or the coupler, or both. Also check the splines on the shaft coming out of the engine. They should be square cut, not pointed. If they're pointed (shark toothed) they're worn out. Used Shaft https://www.ebay.com/itm/296213716938?epid=1911839859&itmmeta=01HVRVTQP5BSREC4RFXBMWHXNG&hash=item44f7b69fca%3Ag%3AA7MAAOSw9cRlxUff&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HJls4L8zrcD5BV69nyIFrpoNL4tguslMY9%2FXJBfvkAgiUjPZtgcCS%2ForBApuqsc%2FBFlBlCf0pzHMTAwMcoEBj6n3PkpDrg%2Fca9DB%2FOJ--3eGB%2Bz%2FdoDysjhrTzXWjxX2GfX%2BkoNj5r9WQQewOnV29CxZL%2FG7Z2vL%2FcYHWyb69QzRsULM4aqgwzJwzPzmkYmssvVhrXztzrjyXZv%2B3mXpBLWHUEw7yTLEUQL1CKBVh7ipWluy5w95VCYdFWCFxVV0I2HRA2X%2F2ZAeetS29FF48w0wyPQd0KAvW%2FqwHN0wQXOXukFt7B9UspDeyg%2BwZWpSQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5L76pveYw&LH_ItemCondition=4 Used Coupler https://www.powersportsnation.com/honda-rubicon-500-fa-02-front-drive-shaft-engine-coupler-40402-hn2-000-44196.html If you want new, part number for complete shaft and coupler is 40400-HN0-670 and it's about $200. https://www.motosport.com/oem-parts/part-number/40400-HN0-670?mmy=honda%3Btrx450 foreman 4x4 es%3B2004&group=front-final-gear&qty=1 Those are the cheapest used parts I could find, and the cheapest new shaft I could find. Note that you need 02-04 only. The earlier 450's were full time 4wd so the shaft is different.

While @AKATV is a magician when it comes to meters, that generation of Foreman has a couple of things going against it when it comes to meter repairs. First, the imprint on the meter (lines, mph, fuel gauge markings) are all imprinted on the meter, so IF it was worth fixing, and AKATV fixed it, you would have a blank screen with only the LCD parts showing. It's something I could live with personally just because I know what the readings are from so many years of riding that generation of Foreman, but it won't look like new like the older meters do when he's through with them. But the bigger issue is the cover. Originally that cover had a plastic screen and you could buy a new cover for about $30. That was 05-08. The 09 and 11 models that cover changed to glass, and the cost went up to over $100 even back then. I know this because @basfnb broke my cover one day on my 09, and I ordered the 05-08 replacement to save him some money, and found the earlier part was plastic instead of glass. Not a huge deal, but over time, Honda discontinued the cheaper plastic cover and superseded it with the newer part number, so the only available option now is the glass one. Which is now almost $200. The glass ones don't scratch like the plastic ones did, so that's nice, but they are super pricey. So were it me, I'd either buy a new meter, or get a used working unit off of ebay. The cover is $180, a whole new meter is $270, so for what it would cost you IF AKATV could fix your existing meter, plus the cost of a cover, you'd be around the cost of a whole new meter. https://www.partzilla.com/product/honda/37201-HP0-A71?ref=fde4620aaa662b7618d79129ee284d58ba6ce658 I don't use partzilla, they're expensive, but their schematics and interchange tools are the best. Double check my part number here, but pretty sure here's a new meter for $229 https://www.motosport.com/oem-parts/part-number/37200-HP0-A71?cc=us&cc=us&variant[HOE10IV]=HOE10IV-X001-Y001&utm_source=google&utm_medium=pla&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5v2wBhBrEiwAXDDoJRNDAb1JmE9Ia2C784b8ys1y0gRWL2DxE51e-upHCv6PzOvWpBdNyhoChEMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds New one on ebay for $219 https://www.ebay.com/itm/184881537107

Yes, that seal is under final shaft in the schematics.

Not what you want to hear, but those K&N airfilters are horrible for off road use. They allow a lot of very fine dust into your intake. I ran a K&N on a Jeep for a while. Noticed fine dust on the carb throat. They don't filter well off road. They are made for the race track, not the backwoods. OEM or UNI only on my off road toys.

Yeah I think you’ll find it 1000% easier to do what you need with them out of the way. Easier to remove the airbox and carb than the swingarm. You should be able to just remove the alternator cover to get to the gear position switch.

Welcome aboard. It will be very tight, but you should be able to remove the rear cover without pulling anything. Do you have the airbox and carb out of the way?

Yeah I'm jelly too. I want to see them in action!

Welcome aboard. @AKATV

Yep, if throwing no blinking codes I'd check the spines on front driveshaft and coupler. I've had to replace a few.

they are. Certainly wouldn’t be easy to get into one without destroying it, but necessity is the mother…..

New wiring harness installed this morning. Got everything plugged in, no change. Same exact voltage drop at the ignition fuse once I put the fuse in, but reads full battery voltage on the battery side of that fuse’s spot with the fuse removed. The only thing I can think now is the ECU is bad. I hate that this poor woman is going to be out $400+ for a coil, harness, and ECU, but at least now she’ll have a non-rat chewed ECU. @AKATV @Melatv @retro have any of you opened up one of these newer ECU’s? I’m just curious if we get 20 years down the road if these things will all end up as junk due to a lack of availability, especially on oddball models like the 12-13 Foreman

Yeah the part number is the footguard