[Alaska]

Resolved-One-Way Bearing Problem-New 2013 Foreman

I just returned to our farm near Fairbanks, Alaska this afternoon after driving 200 miles round-trip to pick up our new 2013 Honda Foreman (TRX500FPM). I only drove it 50 yards into the hay field before hearing a fairly loud pop/snap and having the engine die. It starts fine but, now moves forward at idle, while in gear, or backwards at idle, while in reverse. It jumps forward when shifted into 1st, while at idle, and the engine will die if the brake is applied while it is moving at idle. It was working fine prior to hearing the pop/snap noise and the idle doesn't seem too high. It doesn't even show 1 mile on the odometer yet. I purchased a Honda based on their reputation for reliability. I now can look forward to another 200 mile trip to have warranty work done already and if it can't be fixed that same day, another 200 mile drive down the ALCAN to pick it up. Each trip costs me $60 in gas and 4 hours of driving.

:what

 

[gpunit]

Bummer dude. Let me start by saying that I live in Georgia, but drove to Tennessee to buy my 2013 Foreman because I literally saved at least $1,500-$2000. The trip is 130 miles each direction, but well worth it for the savings. I'm assuming that in Alaska the closest dealer is 100 miles away.

I had to have my 2013 Foreman towed back to my truck on it's maiden voyage too. It had like 12 milers on it, but the problem started with less than 5 miles. I did not hear or feel anything out of the ordinary.

It started out fine. Then after 5 miles or so it began to stall when I came to a stop. If I shifted into neutral, it would start fine again. When I shifted into 1st it would jump. I had to give it gas to get it rolling right away or it would stall. It drove normally at this time once it was moving.

After 5 miles or so of this I met some guys (riding Hondas) who said, "you just need to adjust the clutch". When we loosened the locknut on the clutch adjustment screw, we found out that the screw was broken inside the housing. At that point I was stuck. The quad would move slowly forward on flat ground only. It would not go up even a slight hill.

Also, it wouldn't shift back down into neutral while running. If I started it and shifted to 1st or 2nd to try to move, I could not downshift with the engine running. If I shut the engine off I could downshift back down to neutral and restart the engine.

I had to be towed back to the truck. I took it to the closest dealer (10 miles away)and they were 5-7 days out on "looking at it". I took it to another local dealer (15 miles the other direction) who seemed eager to fix it. It was Saturday afternoon. After having it for 3-4 days they ended up telling me that a Honda Rep. would have to come look at it....and it was Daytona Bike Week and the only Honda Rep. for the SE United States was on vacation. "Maybe he can look at it next week."

I was wicked pissed because it had 12 miles on it.

I called the dealer I bought it from in Chattanooga, TN and they told me to bring it to them and they would repair it under warranty regardless of any Honda Rep. involvement. I brought it to them (130 miles each way). They had it for 4 - 5 days (including the weekend), but they replaced the bad clutch parts and gave me a couple of T shirts for my trouble.

All in all it took 12 days and 550+ miles of driving from the time it broke to get it fixed. But I initially took it to the first dealer on Saturday afternoon. There were 2 weekends in that timeframe. There were also 2 round trips from Georgia to Tennessee.

The good news is that it has run 100% fine ever since.

The bad news is that I'd plan on dropping it off and being without it for a week or so. I thought that any Honda dealer would "drop everything" to repair a quad with 12 miles on it that wouldn't move. I figured they'd do it out of sheer embarrassment, but I was in the back of the line.

Like I said, it's fixed and runs like a sewing machine now. And the T shirts are pretty nice too.

Good luck.

 

[gpunit]

Obviously I'm still annoyed by the whole ordeal, or I wouldn't have typed out that whole story.

It was 6 months ago, and it's fixed now, so I don't dwell on it. It's like rubbing salt in an old would hearing your story though. Good luck again.

 

[Alaska]

I returned our new 2013 Honda Foreman to the dealer (Delta Powersports, Delta Junction, Alaska) on Monday after picking it up on Saturday and having the immediate mechanical problems that I detailed above. The salesman and a mechanic met us at the door and immediately took our machine back for repair. The mechanic couldn't visually see anything wrong with the clutch so they consulted a Honda Factory Technician. The technician immediately knew what was wrong and said there had been some issues with the one-way bearing in the clutch. He said that most had failed during the test drive before leaving the dealership. They replaced the clutch assembly with a new one from another machine. The rep requested that the problematic clutch/one-way bearing be returned to Honda. We arrived at noon and our machine was repaired by 3 pm. We put 6 miles on it that evening driving around the farm and all seems okay.

 

[rich450es]

kudos to that dealership for taking care of you like that !!!!! im glad you got it fixed but this is the first time hearing about this problem .......i wonder what toodeep has to say

 

[toodeep]

This is the first I have heard of this issue so it must be on very few machines. Glad the dealer got you going as fast as possible. Enjoy your new machine.

 

[gpunit]

I'm glad they jumped right on it for you. They seemed to know exactly what they were looking for with mine too...although they never came right out and said it in that much detail. Like I said, it's been good ever since. Enjoy!