I've got a 2009 KLX250S (EFI) with 67000km on the odometer.
I service the bike myself and generally take good care of it. Oil changes every 2000-3000km. Every now and then I spray all my electrical connectors with a contact cleaner/waterproofer spray.
During the last few months, I've had several episodes where the bike would suddenly lose it's power. First time the bike was just parked outside for a couple of hours (no rain), then it wouldn't start.
In 10 minutes I managed to start it, it wouldn't hold a steady idle (stalls), so I had to give it some throttle all the time, but when under load, as soon as I open the throttle more than a little bit, it feels just like if ignition suddenly cuts off, it would bog down. So I was able to ride at 20-30 km/h and after 10-15 minutes everything was back to normal. Since then I've had episodes with similar, but not exactly the same, symptoms.
A few times it happened after I did some water crossing, the bike would stall and won't restart, then finally when it restarted, lose power under load when I open the throttle. So low revs it would work but wouldn't rev higher. Would stall if left to idle, as well. A couple of times during this the FI light would light up, I did a diagnostic self-test and the error code was 21 - crankshaft position sensor. Later at home I checked the wiring to that sensor (no problems), and the sensor resistance was also nominal. Most of the times when this all happens and the bike won't start, the FI light would just flash, but not light up steadily and diagnostic self-test wouldn't not give any error codes (just flashing).
There was also one episode when I was riding rather fast (110-120 km/h) on a very bumpy paved road, and suddenly I lost all the power and had the same symptoms as before.
The last time the bike was working fine for a few weeks (no water crossings or rain during this period), but a few days ago I gave the bike a spray wash with a garden hose, and right after that the same symptoms came, after 15 minutes of riding at low speed the problem disappeared.
Every time this happens, after waiting 10-15 minutes the bike would finally start, and most of the times after 10-15 minutes of riding would start working normally again, but sometimes it would keep doing that power loss and hard starting repeteadly.
All the water episodes make me think the problem might be electrical, but the few times when it happened in absolutely dry conditions still make me doubt that.
I would like to hear anybody's advice on where to look next, and also if anybody had similar stories and what turned out to be the problem.
The worst thing about this is that usually when the bike is in my garage and I try to diagnose the problem, the bike works fine so everything checks out, but obviously something is wrong somewhere, maybe some connector is loose or some wire is damaged in the wire harness (is it really likely under the harness tape wrap?). Or something completely unrelated?
Any advice welcome!
--Gene
I service the bike myself and generally take good care of it. Oil changes every 2000-3000km. Every now and then I spray all my electrical connectors with a contact cleaner/waterproofer spray.
During the last few months, I've had several episodes where the bike would suddenly lose it's power. First time the bike was just parked outside for a couple of hours (no rain), then it wouldn't start.
In 10 minutes I managed to start it, it wouldn't hold a steady idle (stalls), so I had to give it some throttle all the time, but when under load, as soon as I open the throttle more than a little bit, it feels just like if ignition suddenly cuts off, it would bog down. So I was able to ride at 20-30 km/h and after 10-15 minutes everything was back to normal. Since then I've had episodes with similar, but not exactly the same, symptoms.
A few times it happened after I did some water crossing, the bike would stall and won't restart, then finally when it restarted, lose power under load when I open the throttle. So low revs it would work but wouldn't rev higher. Would stall if left to idle, as well. A couple of times during this the FI light would light up, I did a diagnostic self-test and the error code was 21 - crankshaft position sensor. Later at home I checked the wiring to that sensor (no problems), and the sensor resistance was also nominal. Most of the times when this all happens and the bike won't start, the FI light would just flash, but not light up steadily and diagnostic self-test wouldn't not give any error codes (just flashing).
There was also one episode when I was riding rather fast (110-120 km/h) on a very bumpy paved road, and suddenly I lost all the power and had the same symptoms as before.
The last time the bike was working fine for a few weeks (no water crossings or rain during this period), but a few days ago I gave the bike a spray wash with a garden hose, and right after that the same symptoms came, after 15 minutes of riding at low speed the problem disappeared.
Every time this happens, after waiting 10-15 minutes the bike would finally start, and most of the times after 10-15 minutes of riding would start working normally again, but sometimes it would keep doing that power loss and hard starting repeteadly.
All the water episodes make me think the problem might be electrical, but the few times when it happened in absolutely dry conditions still make me doubt that.
I would like to hear anybody's advice on where to look next, and also if anybody had similar stories and what turned out to be the problem.
The worst thing about this is that usually when the bike is in my garage and I try to diagnose the problem, the bike works fine so everything checks out, but obviously something is wrong somewhere, maybe some connector is loose or some wire is damaged in the wire harness (is it really likely under the harness tape wrap?). Or something completely unrelated?
Any advice welcome!
--Gene
