So the other night my girl was riding her KLX and it suddenly sputtered like running out of gas, then completely died. When trying to re-start it was like it was completely locked up....tried to bump start and it just slid the rear tire and refused to budge at all.

Got it home and realized no oil in window... did an oil change and maybe 1/2 a quart of old oil came out.

Went back to trying to start, and after quickly tapping the starter to try and break it free, it finally spun, but the motor didn't turn over at all... just like the starter is free-wheeling now and it sounds nasty. Engine doesn't make any noise from exhaust or sound like its turning over at all...

So I tried to bump start again, down a hill, and first try the tire just slid - no movement in the engine.

Tried again and it broke free, but then sounded like gears were grinding or rocks in a can...awful noise. Still no sound like engine even attempted to turn over.

So I thought crap, I broke something...starter gears or something.

Pulled cover off starter gears, looked fine... pulled cover off stator, looks fine.

So now I don't know what to think... turned the crank bolt while in neutral and it turns, but feels kind of "notchy" at the top of the stroke, then spins free again till it tops out. Maybe thats cams?

As you may be able to tell, I'm not sure of wtf I'm really doing. I've worked on cars for half my life, so I'm mechanically inclined, I'm just not familiar with the systems on a bike and especially engine internals. But given enough info I'm mechanically inclined enough to fix anything. I'm at a loss of what to think now

Thanks for any help!

 

If run low on oil the cams sieze up due to lack of lube. You will more than likely need a head and at least one maybe both cams. Any idea why the oil was so low?

 

prolly just her riding style...i never had to top off very often, and i'd checked it recently...

at any rate...

I reassembled the cover for the starter and stator, tried to start...and now the nasty noise is gone, but still nothing. however, the battery does seem a little weak now from all the trying, so gonna throw it on the big tender till charged and see what i've got.

maybe i knocked the gears on the starter out of whack when trying to bump start? like a dumb-***, i tried in 1st gear, so that could be a problem!

 

The starter torque limiter may have done it's job, saved the starter. But now needs to be replaced.

 

^ you hope this is the case.

Pull the top cover off and check the top end before trying to turn it over any more. Check the cams and quit trying to start it if it ran low on oil until the problem is found.

 

This engine isn't going to start and you're only doing more damage trying to make a damaged engine run.
As for oil, they only hold approx. 1.5 litres, so draining out only .5 litres means it had lost the majority of it's lubrication system. At least that will tell you clearly WHY it quit.

I understand the cams fail first, thats where I'd start looking. Thanks for posting this reminder, I will check the KLXs oils before riding more diligently than I have in the past. Let us know what you find?

 

Firstly DONT try again to bump start the engine!!!

try to manualy rotate clockwise the crankshaft many turns from the 17 bolt that there is under the cover at the magneto side. If the engine turns and you can hear the "compression release" while piston is near the top dead center , probably its a matter of starter, or starter torque limiter or battery, so you can try again bumpstart the engine.

If the engine doesnt turn or turns without hearing the compression release, than you must visit a repair shop.