Sorry for your bad luck- I'd be surprised if it stuck the piston in the bore. Have you been able to pull the oil filter and cut it open to inspect the media? That will give you a better idea of the type of damage. You could also pop the valve cover off the see if there are any signs of oil starvation for the cams. The only area of the engine that relies on pressure lubrication are the cams-everything else uses roller bearings so the cams would be the first thing that gets torched if there isn't oil pressure. Very strange...

 

Yeah, I know its pretty strange. Ill get it apart sometime next week (car is in the body shop, figures) I dont think there will be any major damage to the valve train, can always find a new head if there is. I would put my money on the piston. That's what it feels like. Forbid I need to split the case for the con rod, that would suck.

 

That sucks. Where did all the oil go?
The only thing that will stop an engine without throwing a rod is a piston. That is where my money is. But they are really easier to fix.

 

Just read through this, have you had a chance to tear into the engine?

 

Wont be able to until I pick up the bike from my parents house. Car is in the body shop till thursday. Ill post up here first thing.

 

yeap.... completely different than what I had originally thought. Anyone have a spare head and perhaps some cams they won't be needing?

 

bit hard to tell from that photo but has the exhaust cam **** itself from lack of oil??? (ala KLR) these little engines only hold 1.5l of oil and it doesn't take losing much for it to be too low.....

condolences ..... good luck with the rebuild

 

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Litterally welded itself to the top portion. Seized up a valve that ended up bent by the piston. Luckily, it does not appear the piston was damaged hardly at all (need further inspection to check for cracks) and I'll just need a full cylinder head.

There was probably about a liter of oil in it. Extremely minute scoring on intake (I'd say normal wear). Just seems the exhaust cam decided it was not happy spinning anymore and started a meltdown.

Where about would I find a replacement Cylinder head? Ebay does not seem to be the answer...

 

damn!! that's bad luck. the KLR heads are getting rare now as so many are being run low and toasting the exhaust cams like this. That's not a a great deal to be donw when you think about .5l but when you think about it as a percentage of the overall amount it is a big deal.....There is a complete engine on ebay.au atm but that's not much good to you. Good luck in your search.

g

 

Hey wreckster, any chance of better/more/many pics? I'm keenly interested in WHY being down 1/2 liter would cause such a failure.
My DRZ specs 1.8L for a change but most will put 2L back in and that puts the oil level to the very top of the stick, but it has the sump-in-frame (dry sump) design.
Keep us posted will you, I'm a new-to-KLX250 owner that does all my own maint.
Anyone ever hear of putting in a little more than the spec'd 1.5L?
Thx