Ok gotta pick your brains on this one. 2013 KX250F shimmed valves to bottom of pec. would rather be in the middle, but its spec nonetheless. Fresh plug, will not start. Choke on, kick 30 times, nothing. One shot of giddyup in the airbox and it lights up 1-2 kicks. after it's warm I can fire it up with one stab of my hand. Walk away let it cool down for a couple hours, kick 30 times again ...nothing. One shot of go go in the airbox, pow lights right up. Consistently. Been doing that dance for a week or so and never fails, same routine. Checked the throttle body injector today (it has 2 injectors) and it squirts nice and strong just like I expected it would. Thing runs great when it's running, and starts up easy when it's warm or hot but pulling the seat off or sticking a catheter tube isnt a great option, so I'd like to figure this out. Any ideas bouys?
Starting issue
- Thread starter 2Wheels
- Start date
Pretty confusing; air, gas, and spark. Assuming giddyup is starting fluid. Just out of curiosity, have you checked your compression lately? Possibly, when the engine warms up and things expand, it’s just enough to restart easier? Just throwing out a guess.
I’m more of a carb guy (yeah - old) and don’t know all the intricacies of FI.
I’m more of a carb guy (yeah - old) and don’t know all the intricacies of FI.
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Compression seems good with the leg meter. I put a clear tube on the injector and fill it with throttle body spray, blow lightly into the tube and hit the connector pins with a 9v battery and squerrrrtt I thought maybe I had a dribbler but it's fine. I'm still not sure why the spray lights it up. I may try squirting some vP instead of that freakin xylene or whatever is in that spray cleaner and see if it still does it. Would at least rule out the volatile substance factor as being the reason it starts.
For a starting issue, I’d work through the basics first—battery, spark, fuel delivery, and air intake—before replacing parts. If it’s fuel injected, give the throttle body and intake a good inspection for dirt, loose connections, or vacuum leaks, and make sure the throttle is opening and closing normally. That should help narrow down whether the problem is fuel, ignition, or air related.
Electrical problems suck. My 2006 XR650L developed a problem when it was about a year old where it would intermittently die and may or may not restart. Was convinced it was a CDI box issue because when I replaced it, problem seemed to go away; for a few weeks. I kept the old one in the tool pack and once it died a few miles from the house, I swapped it on the side of the road. It started and I made it home. Fought this problem for the better part of a year and even the Honda shop where I bought it couldn’t figure it out. One day when tinkering with it, I bumped the main wiring harness next to the steering neck while running and it was like I turned the kill switch off and on quickly; there was a broke wire in the harness that would break contact if I bumped it with the bike running. Didn’t even bother with trying to hunt it down, replaced the whole harness assembly. Haven’t had a problem since.