honda 1 Posted Wednesday at 02:39 AM Just picked up a 2001 Rancher 350. It runs real nice, except that the neutral light never goes off, the reverse light never comes on, and you can start it in any gear. Was checking the forums but I couldnt find any other guys with problems exactly like this. Is it just the gear position switch? Or wiring to the switch? Like I said it goes through the gears just fine, it's a footshift after all. I did see there's a bit of non-factory wiring done at one spot. Would someone have fixed it so its always telling the machine it's in neutral? So they could start it in gear maybe?..? Unsure why anyone would do this, but ya. I know it was used for checking fence lines most of its life, and maybe buddy got tired of always starting, putting in gear, driving 20 feet, putting in neutral??? I'm just rambling here.. It just seems a little unsafe for Honda to send it from the factory so it could operate with a bad gear position switch, but hey what do I know. But yes please share your wisdom folks -CW Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,721 Posted Friday at 03:53 PM The early 350 Ranchers had a shift drum in the transmission that was prone to the rear part breaking off. That rear part of the shift drum is what turns the gear position switch, so it's common for someone to bypass the gear position switch by grounding the neutral wire, which tricks the machine into thinking it's in neutral all of the time, which allows it to start. If you look at this thread, you can see how I rigged up my kid's 350 Rancher to start in gear, but I did so where it would only work if the brake lever was pulled, to prevent accidents. Can you post a pic of the "non factory wiring"? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
