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Hailstatedogs

Foreman 500 Shift Problem

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I purchased a 2007 Foreman 500 ES last year with the intent of rebuilding it.  Was told when I bought it that it wouldn’t shift, but made the wrong assumption that it was only confined to the electronics, but I realized the day after purchasing it that it would not shift manually either.  Since then, the engine has been completely torn down and cleaned up.  Replaced the oil pump and timing chain, and to my untrained eye, everything else looked fine.  Put the crankcase back together, checked the gears to make sure it would shift, and the transmission worked fine.  Completed the remainder of the bottom end without incident until trying to place the clutch cover.  It was very difficult to put on, and once the bolts were hand tight, the manual shift completely locked up.  After many iterations of potential problems, I took the engine all the way back down and reset the crankshaft.  The first time the crank was not done with the proper tools, so those were purchased before pulling it back in.  Went back through the same steps, but this time did something a little different.  After getting the crankcase halves torqued down, I placed the shift mechanisms and then torqued down the clutch cover without the clutches installed.  Went through all the gears and it worked fine.  Finished adding everything, torqued the clutch cover down, and I’m back at square one.  The manual shift will not budge.  Loosened the clutch cover off to hand tight, and it will shift, albeit a little sloppy.  I’m very inexperienced, have watched all the YouTube videos I know to watch, looked at schematics countless times, and am out of moves other than relegate it as a good boat anchor.  Anyone have any ideas what could be going on?  Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Hi: Big Welcome Here --- Have you got a gasket on the clutch cover?

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Thanks for the welcome!  Yes, I carefully scraped off all the gaskets (took what seemed like forever) and replaced all of them with OEM gaskets.  Put Hondabond between the crankcase halves.

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Hi Hail' , Maybe your problem is the HondaBond between the case halves , the gasket acts like a spacer and no Honda Bond ----maybe you should have not used the Honda Bond , did you use the gasket also 

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No gasket between the case halves....only a thin film of Honda Bond, and it was only placed on one half of the crankcase.  I assume that’s what I was supposed to do, as there was no gasket included to go between the cases.  I ordered the OEM kit that included what I assumed to be for all the gaskets and o-rings for the bottom end.  On the clutch cover, I used a gasket, and I think I may have used a very thin application of Honda Bond on the clutch cover.  I’m really having trouble understanding why it shifted fine when I put the cover on and torqued it down without the clutches installed as a check since I knew there had been issues with it, and then it went back to its wicked ways when I installed everything again.  Maybe it’s something really simple, but I just don’t get it.

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You might be right , there may not be a case gasket on a 500 foreman ES , I am not a 500 guy 

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Did that clutch cover slide right on , or did you have to beat it or pull it with the bolts ? 

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I’ve never been able to get it to slide on very easily.  On my first reassembly, had to use some light taps with a rubber mallet once the cover got within 1/4” of closure.  Before I disassembled it for the second time, I pulled the clutches and then tried to replace the cover.  I could see where the crank was not aligning perfectly with the ball bearing in the clutch cover.  With the second reassembly, the cover would stop at the same location, but I was able to get it close

up after a few strikes with the palm of my hand, and the alignment looked much better when looking at it without the clutches installed.

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Parts diagram shows a gasket under the front case cover; maybe that 1/8th inch would help you?

6C325A63-9F2F-496B-9511-5B7E64C61384.png

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Ooh missed that one. I only use a couple drops of Hondabond on the gasket just to keep it in place while i put it on.

 

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Sounds like a weird one for sure.

 

So it shifts fine with the clutch cover off and everything in place, but won't shift with the clutch cover on? 

 

Do you have the clutch adjustment screw in there right?  All the parts of the shift linkage in there correctly?  Sorry if these seem like stupid questions but I haven't been on here much in the last week so I'm trying to get caught up.

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Yep, it shifts easily and smoothly with the clutch cover off, but put the cover on and bolt it down, the manual shaft completely seizes up.  I find it really strange that it will shift with the cover on and the absence of the clutches.  In either instance, the cover requires a bump or two with my palm once it gets close to closure.  I assume this is when it makes contact with the crankshaft and I have to bump it into the clutch cover bearing.  
 

I’ve checked the shift linkage against the schematics, and also pulled the cover off another Foreman engine that’s identical with the exception of being a foot shift.  I can see no difference between the two.  

I really haven’t dealt with the clutch adjustment screw other than to keep it as loose as possible.  Maybe that’s the wrong approach, so if I need to try something different there, I’m open to any ideas.  

 

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24 minutes ago, Hailstatedogs said:

Yep, it shifts easily and smoothly with the clutch cover off, but put the cover on and bolt it down, the manual shaft completely seizes up.  I find it really strange that it will shift with the cover on and the absence of the clutches.  In either instance, the cover requires a bump or two with my palm once it gets close to closure.  I assume this is when it makes contact with the crankshaft and I have to bump it into the clutch cover bearing.  
 

I’ve checked the shift linkage against the schematics, and also pulled the cover off another Foreman engine that’s identical with the exception of being a foot shift.  I can see no difference between the two.  

I really haven’t dealt with the clutch adjustment screw other than to keep it as loose as possible.  Maybe that’s the wrong approach, so if I need to try something different there, I’m open to any ideas.  

 

the friction disk are stacked i bet ?!.

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