Posts
32
Joined
10/8/2020
Location
Enumclaw, WA, USA
Edited Date/Time
3/6/2025 1:24pm
2017 Ktm 250 Sx-F, has trouble starting especially when cold, will turn over for maybe 2 seconds then stop and go again. Hard to get started because it won’t turn over long enough to actually get going. Video is attached. I’ve tried a new battery, new starter button, and fairly sure i have a good ground. I even ran another ground cable straight to the engine cases to ensure it was getting a connection. Any ideas?
How many hours? Done any top end work to it? I've seen similar issues where the decomp lobe was messed up on the cam. Does it turn over freely by hand? getting proper spark?
I picked up a 16 350 last year. It also started hard, sounded just like that. Found that the decomp spring and plunger were missing from inside the exhaust cam. One of the previous owners was a complete hack.
Also, the Lithium batteries have a warmup procedure in cold weather. Copied from the manual:
Lithium-ion batteries are far lighter than lead batteries, have a low self-discharge rate, and have more starting power at temperatures over 15 °C (60 °F). At low temperatures, however, the starting power of lithium-ion batteries drops to below that of lead batteries.
Multiple starting attempts may be needed. Press the electric starter button for 5 seconds, and wait 30 seconds between attempts. The pauses are necessary so that the created heat can distribute through the lithium-ion battery and the battery is not damaged.
If the charged lithium-ion battery does not or only weakly turns over the electric starter when temperatures are below 15 °C (60 °F), then the battery is not faulty, but needs to be warmed up internally to increase its starting power (current output). The starting power increases as the battery warms up.
Post a reply to: Ktm 250 Starting Issue