my friend has a 2003 or 2004 Honda rancher es 350, and he says that the other day it decided it didn’t want to shift using the thumb buttons. it will shift when you connect the emergency shifter to the side of the case, though. his battery seems to have a good charge, so I’m thinking the shift motor might be bad. he has another one on a different 4 wheeler that I could try, once I remove the one in question. if I’m going to take it off the front of the motor, I thought I might as well remove the gear cover behind it, clean it, and add new grease. my question is, before I remove this gear cover behind the shift motor, is there anything I need to know? will the gears fall out, and it be very difficult to get them back in place? or am I completely barking up the wrong tree? any info would be appreciated.

my friend has a 2003 or 2004 Honda rancher es 350, and he says that the other day it decided it didn’t want to shift using the thumb buttons. it will shift when you connect the emergency shifter to the side of the case, though. his battery seems to have a good charge, so I’m thinking the shift motor might be bad. he has another one on a different 4 wheeler that I could try, once I remove the one in question. if I’m going to take it off the front of the motor, I thought I might as well remove the gear cover behind it, clean it, and add new grease. my question is, before I remove this gear cover behind the shift motor, is there anything I need to know? will the gears fall out, and it be very difficult to get them back in place? or am I completely barking up the wrong tree? any info would be appreciated.