Shifting problem Max II

[nathanya]

I couple my first 1992 Max II about one week ago, so far i have had a little trouble shifting between gears, and now i went and was ridding in trails all day and now i cant shift out of forward at all. I would like some advice and why this happened and how can i fix it?
Thanks

[hydromike]

Hi Nathan,


There could be a number of different things causing your problem. When you first had problems shifting gears, would the shift lever just not move, or would you get a lot of grinding when you tried to shift from forward to reverse? And along those lines, is the shifter currently not moving at all, or is it moving forward and back (or up and down at the lever, I guess) in its full range of motion and you just don't have reverse?


If you just can't move your shifter at all, try this: take the seat off and get access to the little diamond-shaped shifters on the top of the transmission. Take a screw driver, or just your hand and try to pull the fronts of those shifters away and back from the transmission case. Don't force it with a lot of effort, just wiggle the machine and the output sprockets around a bit and see if you can get the shifters to move by hand. If you can get them started, see if you can now move the shift lever. At the bottom of those diamond-shaped shifters (and inside the transmission) is a little pin that can get a flat-side worn in it and shifting becomes really difficult. Remember: DON'T force them or hammer on them. It's very easy to break a shift collar on the inside of the transmission and it'll be a ton more work for you.


If this turns out to be the problem, you can probably shift all the way into reverse now. This isn't a difficult fix, really. I don't know how old/new your Max II is, but as long as it's new enough you can unbolt the stamped steel hold-downs above the shifters, and pull the diamond-shaped shifters straight up out of their bores. If there's no stamped steel hold down, it means there's a c-clip in there that has to come out. It's an older design, and a much bigger pain to deal with. After the hold-downs or the C-clip is out, the shifters pull straight up out of their bores. There's nothing but friction and an O-ring holding them in. After they come out, inspect the small pin at the bottom of each shifter. I'm betting there'll be a good-bit of wear on them. A really cheap and easy fix is to pull the pins out and put them in the other way. It's a bit of a hobbled-up fix, but it'll get you by.


Here's a picture of a diamond shifter (with snap ring) removed from the case, and showing a broken shift pin.





There's also a chance that you might just have some bent linkage some where, so take a good look at how everything's moving and potential problem spots. My bet's on the shift pins....


Let us know what you find out.

[nathanya]

Ok thank you that is very helpful, ya before it stopped moving there was a little grindage and not wont even budge at all.
Thanks

[ARGOJIM]

Since you are new to the t-20 just a couple pointers.
Engine must be idling slow enough that the belt disengages the clutches, if the idle is to high excessive grinding and hard shifting will happen.
The t-20 shake also is necessary at times to shift, rocking back and forth in the seat and perhaps playing with the sticks.

if you shut the machine off and can shift to neutral this may be the culprit, Hydromike has much more experience with the t-20 than me so all points he made may also/or be valid.

[nathanya]

Ok thank you i was aware of the rocking however i can no longer shift at all.