Cold starting
#71
01-20-2008, 06:59 PM
Join Date: May 2007
Location: New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
Posts: 878
RE: Cold starting
Interesting...do you figure it was dirt that plugged it, or maybe the gas gelled up? If this is the true cause of the problem, would making the size of that jet bigger be an option?
#72
01-20-2008, 07:15 PM
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Washington
Posts: 21,060
RE: Cold starting
Well I have pretty big jets so I don't think it is a problem for me, I just run most of the gas out and it works everytime. However something interesting happened this morning. Its pretty cold out and I forgot to shut off the gas from last week and it of course wouldn't start. I could have drained the bowl and introduced fresh gas, but then I remembered something from a long time ago on either on these forums or Thumpertalk, and that was some people found success in getting the bike started by hitting the e-start button and slowly pulling the choke, well it worked!!!! So perhaps that might get a few of you out of a jam someday. I will still do it my way, but I just thought I would throw that out there.
#73
01-21-2008, 12:53 PM
RE: Cold starting (follow up report)
The inside of the carb was "clean as a whistle", other that the jet being clogged up. This bike has given us trouble cold starting since the first gallon of gas was put in it at the dealership. Once you get it to crank up for even just a few seconds, then the problem is over. It will crank just fine from that point on and for the rest of the day.
Well, it is 10 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. The battery went dead after 5 tries at starting it up by the procedure in the owner's manual. I didn't bother jumping it off with the cartoday. I guess the starter jetwas not "the problem" after all. There must be more to it.
On the last attempt to start it, when the battery was starting to fade, I tried the pulling the choke **** (enricher) slowly and it did make the engine fire upa little asIalmost reached the end of the pull stroke and before it locked open. But then it was back to doing nothing no matter what I did with the choke.
I just don't get it really. Some of you guys have bikes that start effortlessly and ours is such a problem. How can this be?
Oh well....
FYI, my DRZ cranked up this morningjust fine, as usual.
Well, it is 10 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. The battery went dead after 5 tries at starting it up by the procedure in the owner's manual. I didn't bother jumping it off with the cartoday. I guess the starter jetwas not "the problem" after all. There must be more to it.
On the last attempt to start it, when the battery was starting to fade, I tried the pulling the choke **** (enricher) slowly and it did make the engine fire upa little asIalmost reached the end of the pull stroke and before it locked open. But then it was back to doing nothing no matter what I did with the choke.
I just don't get it really. Some of you guys have bikes that start effortlessly and ours is such a problem. How can this be?
Oh well....
FYI, my DRZ cranked up this morningjust fine, as usual.
#74
01-21-2008, 03:01 PM
RE: Cold starting (follow up report)
go drain the bowl and try again. see if that works. that's why I originally installed my kick starter. Now that I have the Mikuni TM34 I don't have the problem any more.
#75
01-21-2008, 03:58 PM
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Long Island, New York
Posts: 570
RE: Cold starting (follow up report)
I read all the stories about the klx not starting. I have no problems starting. The klx can sit for weeks in my garage and with one hit of the button it starts right up no matter how cold it is
. The temps in my garagedoesn't get lower than 40 so maybe that has something to do with it. (doubt it). The fix has to be something simple that weareover looking. If it was a design flaw then all klx's would do it! Maybe there is a flaw with the choke on some bikes. I might be getting 100% of choke usage and others are only getting 80-90% usage and causing the hard starting when its cold. I don't know for sure its just a guess.. If anybody still has a warranty and having this problem I would bring the bike to them. Maybe a new carb is in order. Don't accept the fact that if the bike sits for a week or when its cold out, that it wont start its just the nature of the bike. I have had many bikes-Quads over the years and never didI have the hard starting problemsbecause the bike sat or it was cold out!
. The temps in my garagedoesn't get lower than 40 so maybe that has something to do with it. (doubt it). The fix has to be something simple that weareover looking. If it was a design flaw then all klx's would do it! Maybe there is a flaw with the choke on some bikes. I might be getting 100% of choke usage and others are only getting 80-90% usage and causing the hard starting when its cold. I don't know for sure its just a guess.. If anybody still has a warranty and having this problem I would bring the bike to them. Maybe a new carb is in order. Don't accept the fact that if the bike sits for a week or when its cold out, that it wont start its just the nature of the bike. I have had many bikes-Quads over the years and never didI have the hard starting problemsbecause the bike sat or it was cold out!
#76
01-21-2008, 08:08 PM
RE: Cold starting (follow up report)
ORIGINAL: onestarr99
I read all the stories about the klx not starting. I have no problems starting. The klx can sit for weeks in my garage and with one hit of the button it starts right up no matter how cold it is. The temps in my garagedoesn't get lower than 40 so maybe that has something to do with it. (doubt it). The fix has to be something simple that weareover looking. If it was a design flaw then all klx's would do it! Maybe there is a flaw with the choke on some bikes. I might be getting 100% of choke usage and others are only getting 80-90% usage and causing the hard starting when its cold. I don't know for sure its just a guess.. If anybody still has a warranty and having this problem I would bring the bike to them. Maybe a new carb is in order. Don't accept the fact that if the bike sits for a week or when its cold out, that it wont start its just the nature of the bike. I have had many bikes-Quads over the years and never didI have the hard starting problemsbecause the bike sat or it was cold out!
I read all the stories about the klx not starting. I have no problems starting. The klx can sit for weeks in my garage and with one hit of the button it starts right up no matter how cold it is
. The temps in my garagedoesn't get lower than 40 so maybe that has something to do with it. (doubt it). The fix has to be something simple that weareover looking. If it was a design flaw then all klx's would do it! Maybe there is a flaw with the choke on some bikes. I might be getting 100% of choke usage and others are only getting 80-90% usage and causing the hard starting when its cold. I don't know for sure its just a guess.. If anybody still has a warranty and having this problem I would bring the bike to them. Maybe a new carb is in order. Don't accept the fact that if the bike sits for a week or when its cold out, that it wont start its just the nature of the bike. I have had many bikes-Quads over the years and never didI have the hard starting problemsbecause the bike sat or it was cold out!
What seems to be missing from this information continuum is what each contributor of info has for his particular KLX.
Example: mine is an '07, Big Gun EvoX complete with header, stock carb, stock air cleaner, stock spark plug, 870 miles on the odo, running 91 octane fuel, bike sits outside of my motorhome in whatever temperature we incur. (Last night was in the high 30's.)
Problem: when I haven't ridden, or startedthe bike, it's invariably slow to startin the morning. Once I ran the battery down substantially and had to "jump it" from my Ford Van. (It fired up after a few revs on the starter. I supposed that the higher voltage from the running Ford engine was the contributor to it's starting with the jumper cables hooked up.)
Thetwo solutions that seems to work for me are:
[ol][*]Start it each day, (whether I intend to ride or not!)[*]Drop it all the way to the ground and let it stay there 'til I see the gas on the ground. Stand it back up, pull the choke and it seems to fire right away.[/ol]
Yep, I have the 4 year warranty, but am a bit hesitant to take the bike to the dealer here in Yuma, AZ because I'm fairly confident that they will point to the Big Gun as the cause....
I'd rather trust the KLX forum to help me rather than the dealer's mechanic at this point. Maybe the dealer will be sought later if I don't find a fix here on the forum.
#77
01-21-2008, 11:55 PM
RE: Cold starting
Ours is bone stock other than different grips and hand guards.
When the dealer moved the bike outside from the showroom floor for me to ride it home,I could not get it to crank and ran the battery down.They said I just didn't have the choke pulled, but I did. They took it in the back, got it cranked and brought it back around front for me to ride home. I figured it was just a fluke from it being brand new. I had no idea I would still be having problems a year and a halflater.
My wife and I discussed selling or trading the bike today.
I really think it is a carb or jetting issue. In summer months, laying the bike over on its side in the yardand letting it "pee" works the best of any method/trick I have tried. It does not work in Winter though. I am going to try Ether next I guess just to see if it works and this will show that it is a carb issue wouldn't you think?
I may try a dynojet kit first. If I need to buy a new carb, maybe that would be worthwhile too, but I just don't want to put too much into it if it still won't crank easily after the mods.
I don't buy into the deal of having to crank a bike every day because I have literally let my 06DRZ400S (stock engine from snorkel to exhaust tip) sit for almost 2 months and it cranks within a few turns of the crankshaft. I have had a 91BMW GS (no mods)that I did not ride for months at a time and it cranked fine every time I pulled it out to go for a ride, 1998 Ninja 250 (no mods)same thing, 1986 XR250L (no mods)same thing, old Honda Twin Star 200 (no mods)no problem, 1981 Husky CR250 (no mods)easy as pie.
The two bikes that have given me problems starting are my first bike when I was a kid, a 1980 KDX 80 (lime green) and now this bike (also lime green). Hmmmmm. Maybe it is the color? JK.But it has put me off on Kawis a little. If it weren't for the flawless little Ninja, I would probably be anti-Kawasaki after dealing with the KLX250S. But, we figure we just got a lemon (or lime)with this particular bike.
When the dealer moved the bike outside from the showroom floor for me to ride it home,I could not get it to crank and ran the battery down.They said I just didn't have the choke pulled, but I did. They took it in the back, got it cranked and brought it back around front for me to ride home. I figured it was just a fluke from it being brand new. I had no idea I would still be having problems a year and a halflater.
My wife and I discussed selling or trading the bike today.
I really think it is a carb or jetting issue. In summer months, laying the bike over on its side in the yardand letting it "pee" works the best of any method/trick I have tried. It does not work in Winter though. I am going to try Ether next I guess just to see if it works and this will show that it is a carb issue wouldn't you think?
I may try a dynojet kit first. If I need to buy a new carb, maybe that would be worthwhile too, but I just don't want to put too much into it if it still won't crank easily after the mods.
I don't buy into the deal of having to crank a bike every day because I have literally let my 06DRZ400S (stock engine from snorkel to exhaust tip) sit for almost 2 months and it cranks within a few turns of the crankshaft. I have had a 91BMW GS (no mods)that I did not ride for months at a time and it cranked fine every time I pulled it out to go for a ride, 1998 Ninja 250 (no mods)same thing, 1986 XR250L (no mods)same thing, old Honda Twin Star 200 (no mods)no problem, 1981 Husky CR250 (no mods)easy as pie.
The two bikes that have given me problems starting are my first bike when I was a kid, a 1980 KDX 80 (lime green) and now this bike (also lime green). Hmmmmm. Maybe it is the color? JK.But it has put me off on Kawis a little. If it weren't for the flawless little Ninja, I would probably be anti-Kawasaki after dealing with the KLX250S. But, we figure we just got a lemon (or lime)with this particular bike.
#78
01-22-2008, 12:00 AM
RE: Cold starting
Just turn the gas off and let it run out before you put it away and it'll start every time.One last thing I do to mine is when it dies the first time from lack of fuel,I pull the choke out and hit it again and let it idle itself completely dry,when I need to start it I turn the fuel on and give it a sec and pull the choke and she fires up.I also keep a yuasa battery tender on it so It's always fully charged.
#79
01-22-2008, 12:25 AM
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Washington
Posts: 21,060
RE: Cold starting
ORIGINAL: hokie01
Just turn the gas off and let it run out before you put it away and it'll start every time.One last thing I do to mine is when it dies the first time from lack of fuel,I pull the choke out and hit it again and let it idle itself completely dry,when I need to start it I turn the fuel on and give it a sec and pull the choke and she fires up.I also keep a yuasa battery tender on it so It's always fully charged.
Just turn the gas off and let it run out before you put it away and it'll start every time.One last thing I do to mine is when it dies the first time from lack of fuel,I pull the choke out and hit it again and let it idle itself completely dry,when I need to start it I turn the fuel on and give it a sec and pull the choke and she fires up.I also keep a yuasa battery tender on it so It's always fully charged.
Works everytime on the KLX and the XT225
