P1000 I4WD issue

[Chancemo]

I purchased a New 2018 P1000 LE one year ago and besides having to replace the battery I've had very good luck with it until about 2 months ago when I got a chance to ride in some deeper snow. If I'm in low with the I4WD on and I go thru snow around a foot deep the I4WD will turn off and the machine goes to 2 wheel. If I let off the gas 4WD comes back, usually by this point I'm stuck though. When the 4wd kicks out the icon on the dash says 2wd until I let off the gas then the 4wd icon comes back and so does the power to the front wheels. I've had this happen several times now and seems to be more frequent recently. I've taken it to the dealer twice and they can't make it happen since it only happens in large areas of foot deep snow and they don't have anything like that. It doesn't seem to happen in first gear and really only seems to occur when I REALLY need the 4wd. My question is, is this supposed to happen for some reason? Maybe I'm not supposed to got over 20mph in low 4wd??? Has anyone ever heard of this? Any ideas on a cure?? Honda riders are a minority around here so it's pretty frustrating when all the Can Ams and Rangers are passing me while I'm stuck in a little snow.

 

[Hondasxs]

Hi, Welcome to the club.
The Pioneer 4x4 is manually cable-operated, which means if you have it in the i-4wd you should of at least had 3wd. It will not (should not) go into 2x4 automatically from a fault.
If this did not happen, meaning you did not even have 3wd, then I would start by looking at the cabling system and adjusting that.
If you did have 3wd and are looking into why i4wd stopped, then that is electric and most likely a sensor or wire issue.

The i4wd part is computer operated. So a fault could cause loss of i4wd but as I said, 3wd should work as its manual.
The Talon on the other hand is 100% electric controlled, so they do fault into 2x4 only.

 

[Dirtstiffs-1000]

Agree with Richard.
Cable needs adjustment.
I ride a fair bit in snow with my LE with no problem other than the Pioneer high centers in hard deep(NW) snow because of tire height and ground clearance. When It floats you spin out.
Both front wheels always pull.
The I system slightly brakes the free spinning wheel so more torque goes to the wheel getting better traction. It doesnt kill the drive from one wheel when it's doing its light break thing.
My cable adjustment was uber sensitive until I got it set just right.
You tube video on adjusting helped.
Start there.
Welcome!

 

[TexasJackKin]

Interested in just what you find out, as I'm waiting for my LE to show up (I'm number 2 on the list, in Reno, NV)

 

[Chancemo]

Thanks for the replies! It did go into 2WD not 3 so I'll look into adjusting the cables, hopefully this weekend. The snow is pretty much melted around here now so it might be next winter before I know it worked. Thanks again!

 

[Chancemo]

It's been a while but we finally got some real snow in NW Iowa and as soon as I got out in it with my P1000 LE the I-4WD kicked out, I let off the gas it went back in. This happened about every 5 feet until I got it back to the shop and I adjusted the cable linkage on the front passenger side. After 20 minutes of testing I think this problem might finally be solved! I'll try posting a picture from the manual on making this adjustment in case it can help someone else.

 

[JACKAL]

I had a 2018 LE and only once had a foot or so of snow, I don't recall the indicator going in or out, (wasn't watching the dash) but I did experience some intermittent wheel hop on the front end. I'm guessing the snow was deep enough to take pressure off the front tires (had full UHMW skids) and it messed with traction and the I-4WD computer about what was happening. When I would back off the gas it all acted normal. Wild arse guess is the I-4WD computer is trying to adjust for a non wheel speed issue or difference, even though it's only supposed to be left sider to right side. I suspect if it detects the front tires much slower than rear maybe it's intervening to prevent pushing by disengaging. I may be completely wrong on this theory as it was a one day experience out of 4.5 years and 13k miles on that machine without issues.