Hey everybody, new guy here.

I just got an 09 KLX 250s that came in a few boxes and buckets. The motor was run out of oil and is completely locked up.

Any likely culprit with these bikes? I'm not sure if I should start with top or bottom end. Any tips or pointers would be appreciated.

Happy Turkey Day!

 

Unless you really want to start throwing time and money at it your probably better off getting another engine.

Could be the crank seized, piston seize, cams seized, any combination of those plus cams seizing and holding valves open then being struck by the piston and destroying the entire top end.

Might be interesting to pull apart and find out what happened though...

 

Pull the topend. Maybe you got lucky and it's a seized piston with no chunks into the bottom. $500 for a 351 kit and off you go.

Probably not.... but worth a look.

 

Cool, thanks guys. I'll jump in there and see what I'm dealing with.

 

Well I got in there and found the head is shot.

No signs of mass shrapnel so far. I'm going to check on the crank and piston next.

Are there performance head/cam complete kits out there or am I going to be looking at factory parts?

 

You can get aftermarket cams, but I don't think anyone offers a ready-to-go modded head...at least I haven't seen one.

 

eBay is worth looking at.

 

After looking around, all I've found is a new OEM Head assembly. As soon as I can sell my Mini 14 to pay for it I'll be up and running!

 

OK...so...what did you find in the engine? On a roller bearing bottom end like I believe out KLX has, when you run it out of oil it's usually the cams that seize first, then goes the piston and cylinder, and the bottom end usually goes last. What's your engine's situation?

 

Yep, the head was cooked. The Piston, Cylinder and Bottom end were all ok.

There was no shrapnel in the bit of oil that was left, I think it just got too low to pump into the head.