TundraDriver 1 Posted October 23, 2021 (edited) Hi guys, I'm new on here. Bought a 2004 honda Foreman 450 ES this spring. Been using just a little, yard work ect. Last few weeks been towing a portable turkey coop, the thing is heavy. Moving it about 10' a day. Tonight when using it it doesn't want to down shift into first gear. Upshifts just fine and down shifts all the way down to first then won't go into first without several tries. I can hear the shift motor trying but just doesn't shift. Seems to be getting worse real fast. I also don't know how to manually shift it. So help with that would be great too. I'm not real mechanically inclined but can figure most things out with a little guidance. I don't have any manuals for the machine. Any help would be appreciated! Edited October 23, 2021 by TundraDriver Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,978 Posted October 23, 2021 52 minutes ago, TundraDriver said: Hi guys, I'm new on here. Bought a 2004 honda Foreman 450 ES this spring. Been using just a little, yard work ect. Last few weeks been towing a portable turkey coop, the thing is heavy. Moving it about 10' a day. Tonight when using it it doesn't want to down shift into first gear. Upshifts just fine and down shifts all the way down to first then won't go into first without several tries. I can hear the shift motor trying but just doesn't shift. Seems to be getting worse real fast. I also don't know how to manually shift it. So help with that would be great too. I'm not real mechanically inclined but can figure most things out with a little guidance. I don't have any manuals for the machine. Any help would be appreciated! there should be an emergency shifter tool under the seat, it fits on the left side hex shaft behind the foot rest. service manual you can down load from the site here. i would remove the cover over the transfer gears, clean out all the old factory grease, put some fresh grease back in, see if that helps ?. also, make sure the battery is fully charged ?, they don't like weak batteries !. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AKATV 851 Posted October 23, 2021 (edited) Welcome Tundradriver What Shadetree said, and also,see if it will shift down into first with it not running while rocking ATV back and forth a bit If it does, try turning your idle down a bit and see if it makes a difference Download your Service manual here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15eWwngQ5SdlsIfbgpm5ZJWJYBYx3vJ7s Edited October 23, 2021 by AKATV Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TundraDriver 1 Posted October 23, 2021 Thanks shadetree! I'm going to try the battery first. That would make sense as it was after dark so I was using the headlights and also just idling for quite awhile. We'll see what happens. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fishfiles 20,147 Posted October 23, 2021 Welcome to the forum Tundra .... there is another way to skin the cat , there is a shift by-pass harness for the 450 ES , and that is one thing that came down in price , they were $119 when the first came out and you can get ine for $85 now days , as long as the shift motor is good then it will by pass the electrical problems associated with the FE / ES ----can save a lot of time , money and aggravation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TundraDriver 1 Posted October 23, 2021 55 minutes ago, Fishfiles said: Welcome to the forum Tundra .... there is another way to skin the cat , there is a shift by-pass harness for the 450 ES , and that is one thing that came down in price , they were $119 when the first came out and you can get ine for $85 now days , as long as the shift motor is good then it will by pass the electrical problems associated with the FE / ES ----can save a lot of time , money and aggravation Does this still shift it electronically, just bypassing the Honda wiring harness or is this to convert it to a manual shift? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,978 Posted October 23, 2021 6 minutes ago, TundraDriver said: Does this still shift it electronically, just bypassing the Honda wiring harness or is this to convert it to a manual shift? it does not convert it to manual shift, its still remains a electric shift. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JRB 22 Posted October 23, 2021 Hi, the by-pass works well. But on mine (98) the gear read out dosen't display 2,3,or 4th. Easy to install. Go to Hondaesbypass.com. I believe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
