Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum. I was hoping to find some help here.
I purchased my 2002 Honda Rancher 350 ES brand new from the dealer in 2002 and have NEVER had any problems out of it other than maintenance (bearings and park brake cable). The machine has 8525 miles on it exact as sits.

However, I have had a particular problem with it recently. I was out riding with family and all of a sudden I couldn’t downshift (being stuck in gear.) I turned the key off and back on and it started shifting great again…. Anyways, here like 3 weeks later the problem has gotten progessively worse. I used to be able to turn the key off and back on and reset the computer and ride for a good 30 minutes without any problems. However, recently it has gotten extremely bad and I have to shut it off and back on every 5 minutes. Now here’s some valuable information: Right before it stops shifting, the speedometer will most of the time stop registering and turn to 0 MPH. After I turn the key off and back on, the speedometer will not work for another good bit…

I did my research and figured out that the culprit was most likely the angle sensor….oh boy, was I wrong! I read online that the angle sensor from the 02 and before models were known to go bad and that they have updated the part number since then….so I purchased the updated angle sensor and it came in today. I popped the old one out, put the new one in and gave it a test drive. It worked amazing for 10 minutes and then the speedometer went back out and read 0 MPH…and guess what? the shifting stopped again!

Before anyone asks, yes, I did clean the old angle sensor and it did the same thing: worked great for about 10 minutes and then stopped working again. I have yet to take apart the shift motor (I didn’t really want to do this). Yes, the emergency shift works great. I have the ORIGINAL battery in it, and I read online that if the battery isn’t any good then it could cause it to stop working mid ride because it sucks more juice out of it once you’re riding….so I tested the battery with a multimeter and it read 12.3 volts.

Any ideas as to what it could be before I go spending more money?

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum. I was hoping to find some help here.
I purchased my 2002 Honda Rancher 350 ES brand new from the dealer in 2002 and have NEVER had any problems out of it other than maintenance (bearings and park brake cable). The machine has 8525 miles on it exact as sits.

However, I have had a particular problem with it recently. I was out riding with family and all of a sudden I couldn’t downshift (being stuck in gear.) I turned the key off and back on and it started shifting great again…. Anyways, here like 3 weeks later the problem has gotten progessively worse. I used to be able to turn the key off and back on and reset the computer and ride for a good 30 minutes without any problems. However, recently it has gotten extremely bad and I have to shut it off and back on every 5 minutes. Now here’s some valuable information: Right before it stops shifting, the speedometer will most of the time stop registering and turn to 0 MPH. After I turn the key off and back on, the speedometer will not work for another good bit…

I did my research and figured out that the culprit was most likely the angle sensor….oh boy, was I wrong! I read online that the angle sensor from the 02 and before models were known to go bad and that they have updated the part number since then….so I purchased the updated angle sensor and it came in today. I popped the old one out, put the new one in and gave it a test drive. It worked amazing for 10 minutes and then the speedometer went back out and read 0 MPH…and guess what? the shifting stopped again!

Before anyone asks, yes, I did clean the old angle sensor and it did the same thing: worked great for about 10 minutes and then stopped working again. I have yet to take apart the shift motor (I didn’t really want to do this). Yes, the emergency shift works great. I have the ORIGINAL battery in it, and I read online that if the battery isn’t any good then it could cause it to stop working mid ride because it sucks more juice out of it once you’re riding….so I tested the battery with a multimeter and it read 12.3 volts.

Any ideas as to what it could be before I go spending more money?