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Bossdaddy

2001 Honda Foreman 450 ES, shifting problems

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I just got this one from a friend of mine, it's in really good shape just will not shift gears with buttons. I can shift manually and it shifts perfect. About 18 months ago he had a new OEM angle sensor and shift motor installed. It has a hot battery and everything works electronically except the ES, it's totally dead, when I push either shift button nothing happens, no noise at all, just like there is no power at all. I don't know where to start. Mechanically I'm ok but electrically I'm lost. Need a lot of help!!  

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23 minutes ago, Bossdaddy said:

I just got this one from a friend of mine, it's in really good shape just will not shift gears with buttons. I can shift manually and it shifts perfect. About 18 months ago he had a new OEM angle sensor and shift motor installed. It has a hot battery and everything works electronically except the ES, it's totally dead, when I push either shift button nothing happens, no noise at all, just like there is no power at all. I don't know where to start. Mechanically I'm ok but electrically I'm lost. Need a lot of help!!  

 

OEM Honda angle sensor and shift motor?  If not, get rid of the china junk and try OEM parts.

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have you checked all the fuses ?, have you checked to make sure the shift motor is indeed good ?. are you getting power to either shift buttons at bars ?.

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@Bossdaddy, it is pretty easy to diagnose the ES system if you have a decent multimeter. Follow the diagnostics steps on section pages 21.0 through 21.13 of the service manual (you can download a copy from here). Communicate with us while you are testing for additional tips, we've been through this stuff a bunch and can answer your questions.

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6 minutes ago, Bossdaddy said:

Where do I go to download service manual?

top of this thread, click the link that reads service manuals .

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would like to point out, 18 months ago when new parts were installed ( if they were indeed from honda ? ) , alot can happen in 18 months !.

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2 minutes ago, shadetree said:

would like to point out, 18 months ago when new parts were installed ( if they were indeed from honda ? ) , alot can happen in 18 months !.

I agree, they were bought from Partzilla, they could be bad again.

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7 minutes ago, Bossdaddy said:

Fuses are good, I can't find any power at either shift button and not sure how to ck shift motor

a good 12 volt dc test light, time to start tracing power back from buttons. as for the shift motor, unhook it from the harness, hook 12 volts from a good battery straight to the motor, if the motor is good ?, it will spin when you connect 12 volts to it.

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7 minutes ago, Bossdaddy said:

I agree, they were bought from Partzilla, they could be bad again.

i agree, i have seen many brand new parts, spec angle sensors !, be bad from the factory.

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Hi Big Welcome Here: -- You need to use a Multimeter do your testing --- unplug the connector for the Up/Dn buttons -- on the harness side you should read 5 VDC  with the red test lead on the Bl/R wire and the black test lead on the neg. of the battery -- with the key on

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In case you are stuck on a phone with no access to a computer, here are the initial diagnostic steps:

 

98-01-es-diags1.png

 

98-01-es-diags2.png

 

98-01-es-diags3.png

 

98-01-es-diags4.png

 

98-01-es-diags5.png

 

98-01-es-diags6.png

 

98-01-es-diags7.png

 

Most ES failures are caused by loss of power or ground, or by poor harness connections, either a blown 30 amp "Motor" fuse, poor grounds or wet/corroded harness connectors. Rarely do they ever require any new parts to fix them. In fact, 99% of all angle sensor purchases are unnecessary, folks just blame the easiest part to replace and throw their money away, cause they are too lazy to diagnose the system.

 

You will need to take both fenders off of your Foreman to diagnose & repair it. You will need a multimeter, a tub of synthetic grease, cleaning supplies and a tube of dielectric grease. Read this guide before you begin your diagnosis so that you can integrate your ES prep into your diagnosis steps:

 

https://atvhonda.com/topic/570-how-to-properly-prep-your-honda-es-shift-system/

 

Do NOT buy any parts, ask us for advice first. Keep us updated as you go if you can, so we can help you and learn from you!

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2 minutes ago, retro said:

In case you are stuck on a phone with no access to a computer, here are the initial diagnostic steps:

 

98-01-es-diags1.png

 

98-01-es-diags2.png

 

98-01-es-diags3.png

 

98-01-es-diags4.png

 

98-01-es-diags5.png

 

98-01-es-diags6.png

 

98-01-es-diags7.png

 

Most ES failures are caused by loss of power or ground, or by poor harness connections, either a blown 30 amp "Motor" fuse, poor grounds or wet/corroded harness connectors. Rarely do they ever require any new parts to fix them. In fact, 99% of all angle sensor purchases are unnecessary, folks just blame the easiest part to replace and throw their money away, cause they are too lazy to diagnose the system.

 

You will need to take both fenders off of your Foreman to diagnose & repair it. You will need a multimeter, a tub of synthetic grease, cleaning supplies and a tube of dielectric grease. Read this guide before you begin your diagnosis so that you can integrate your ES prep into your diagnosis steps:

 

https://atvhonda.com/topic/570-how-to-properly-prep-your-honda-es-shift-system/

 

Do NOT buy any parts, ask us for advice first. Keep us updated as you go if you can, so we can help you and learn from you!

Thanks great info.

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Shadetree, I went back to shift buttons and rechecked, both buttons have power on black wire, when pressed both buttons have power on white wire as will so the buttons are good, right?

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You should measure 5 volts DC through the shift switches and 5 volts DC supplying power to the Angle sensor. We can go step by step with ya if you wish. It's easy to work on Hondas, just gotta be willing to work and be thorough, which means both fenders gotta be taken off the ATV. Thats where many folks fail....

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32 minutes ago, Bossdaddy said:

Shadetree, I went back to shift buttons and rechecked, both buttons have power on black wire, when pressed both buttons have power on white wire as will so the buttons are good, right?

yep, sounds like buttons are good.

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50 minutes ago, Bossdaddy said:

Is there anything else I can check before I take both front and back fenders off?

 

Yeah, follow the diagnostic flow charts from the beginning. But you'll have to take the fenders off to prep the ES, so ya may as well do it now to make your work easier.

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Thanks guys, I'll start pulling plastic, it will take a while working on it in between other things. I do appreciate your help, hey hopefully I'll learn something from this.

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@Bossdaddy, there are some good guys on here. I was having trouble with my ES not shifting and they were pulling wiring out of their own fourwheelers just to answer a question for me. Definily take your time with the diagnostic and follow the ES prep guide. Also my issue, I believe was just one of many, but the last one holding me back was the inline fuse in the picture was cut under the wrapping. I cut it out and put a new one in and it's been running and shifting  great ever since20210124_144257.thumb.jpg.148671064de26d9056d0c1181ef6ec91.jpg

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Thanks guys, I got the front fender off and went on and started checking the wiring, I'm down to 21-6 and haven't found anything, I hope I'm doing things right I'm not very good with electrical problems. It's scary I haven't found anything. This old Foreman is clean and in really good shape, all the connectors I've looked at are perfect, no corrosion, not dirty, they look like brand new, it's been well taken care of. I'll get some more time to do some more checking in the next few days. Thanks for all the help.

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Great, keep us updated Bossdaddy.

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