Bought Nihilo's KTM fuel transfer pump last December, ran it for about 9 months and roughly 40 hours on VP T4 and CA 91 pump gas exclusively, never exceeding 10% ethanol. The hose completely cracked and disintegrated, and the pump itself stopped working.
Reached out to Nihilo for a full refund. Their response: they've sold over 2000 of these pumps and only a small percentage have had this issue, and it's caused by ethanol and additives reacting with the original hose material. Their offer was a free rebuild, but I'd have to pay to ship it back to them.
I was willing to meet them partway: keep the rebuild offer but have them cover return shipping since the failure was on the part, not on anything I did. They refused, citing the 9 months of use, and stuck with the same offer, free rebuild, my cost to ship it.
I asked what specific chemical was supposedly causing this, since pump gas is regulated, and pointed out that a basic Google search turns up the same hose failure reported across multiple states, not just California. I also noted that they've since switched to a nylon hose specifically because the original couldn't hold up to common fuels, which suggests the original material was the wrong choice from the start rather than something on my end.
So now I have to pay shipping again to ship the defective product back to them so they can rebuild and use the proper materials they should’ve used in the first place. I’ll never use this shit company again!!
I understand your point, however 9 months is a stretch.
I imagine can KTMs warranty for the same part would have been 3 months, if you lucky.
Sure, that makes sense. If the pump had quit working I'd accept that. But the hose, and wiring was completely cracked. It was clearly not suitable for gasoline and all I was asking for was a return shipping label.
Seems like a reasonable offer from them to rebuild.
How are they supposed to last?
I understand your point, but after 9 months I thier offer is reasonable.
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Considering T4 had been eating fuel pumps up left and right with all the reported problems and recall of batches, adding in E10 fuel, I'm honestly shocked you got 9 months out of it. I had T4 waste a KTM fuel pump in no time flat and have seen so many fuel lines rot in mere months from ethanol.
Does it suck, yes. Do I think Nihilo's offer was reasonable? Yes. It's not under warranty and they aren't liable to do anything if they don't want to.
So a fuel pump and fuel lines are only supposed to last 9 months sitting in gas before they literally deteriorate and clog up the factory fuel pump?
Dumbgeon.
Complaining about a company that is offering to stand behind their product and rebuild for free is insane. Ship it back for repair and move on.
I originally wanted a refund but decided the rebuild was fair but I expected them to pay for return shipping. They are refusing to pay for return shipping. I paid for shipping when I purchased the product. They used the wrong materials and the part is now deteriorated beyond use. No fault of me. They never listed what the exact cause was, and they never pointed the finger at vp t4. They even stated I was using the correct fuels, but that there may be additives in the fuel that is the culprit. There’s nothing in the product description that says don’t use California pump gas or VP T4. It only says do not use fuel with ethanol content, higher than 10% which I never have. So they don’t even know the exact cause, but it was a big enough issue for them to revise the materials completely. So I think it’s completely reasonable for me to expect them to pay the eight dollars for a return shipping label, rebuild it and ship it back to me for free. This product is supposed to last a lifetime in a fuel tank and it didn’t last 9 months. It’s junk. I don’t even know why they want me to ship it back. The hose is completely deteriorated, the wiring and connector is too and the pump no longer works. The only thing salvageable is the pump impeller and the pump housing. Never mind the potential damage this has done to my OEM KTM fuel pump as all of this hose material has been picked up by the fuel pick up.
A “lifetime”?!
There is something wrong with VP that is eating fuel pumps, OEM or not. I wouldn't raise a hassle over paying 8 dollars if i shipped the pump out to essentially have a new pump for free, but that's just me. The fault isn't on Nihlo or you here. Possibly the VP T4.
Edit: Let me ask you this, are you running a different compression ratio than stock? If you are not, it is a waste of money. Little to no performance gain over pump 93.
All this for $8.00?
Bro...
You have to be kidding me! A Nihlo fuel transfer pump should only last 40 hours? The pump is $200 and has to be sent in for a rebuild after 40 hours? Because the hoses and wiring sheathing disintegrated. I would expect it to last at least as long as the main fuel pump. Mine is good at 350 hours.
You sound like a total asshole and I can’t believe we share an interest in the same sport. You whiney bitch.
A-A-Ron. Settle down. He makes a valid point.
This is why I only run ethanol free fuel in my motorcycles, generator and lawn mower. If I had a gas vehicle that wasn’t a daily driver, it would be ethanol free as well. Since I switched to ethanol free fuel all of my small engines have been extremely reliable and issue free.
Complaining about a $200 product lasting less than a year when used as describe ia being a whiny bitch?
Count me in the whiny bitch camp then.
Long thread about this here:
https://ktmtalk.com/threads/nihilo-vs-taco-moto-fuel-fuel-pump-snorkel.577617/
TLDR:
- Guys have positive things to say initially
- fuel line problems mentioned around page 17
- guys start checking their pumps and find lots of the hoses are falling apart
- Nihilo switches fuel lines towards the end of the thread
And this is why a “what happened to customer service” thread was started. I think it’s a pretty reasonable response from nihilo. Personally, I don’t use any of their stuff because I don’t think it’s great quality. But to bash them because you don’t want to pay for shipping after 40 hours and 9 months of use…
Pit Row
As a business owner myself, I generally try to help my customers when something like this happens if the customer is reasonable. On the other hand, if the customer acts like a toddler, is completely unreasonable and immediately threatens a bad Google review as leverage I usually tell them to take a hike. Nihilo went over and above on this one after 9 months.
Same thing happen to me and a riding buddy. Hose started deteriorating and clogging the filter. Nihilo also told me it was ethanol. That’s odd because the manual on the bike says the bike can run on e10
I was able to still see the part number on the hose.
It’s a Parker 7212 1/4”id. I pulled the spec sheet on it. It says does not meet SAE standards for mobile equipment or vehicle engine service. It also says not suitable for regulated gasoline (pump gas). Once I sent that spec sheet to Nihilo they said that’s what their vendor said to use.
Next I emailed the manufacturer (Parker) of the hose. They flat out said the hose is not rated to be submerged in fuel.
In about 30 min I did the research they should have before sending to market. Fuel type is a non issue. They spec’d in the wrong hose and they are failing
This is why they completely redesigned it I’m guessing.
Good dig job! 👏
All pumps from the old batch should be recalled.
As i said i understand. Why did you not buy the KTM Pump, too expensive i bet.
So you bought the cheaper pump.
As they say " you get what you paid for".
Higher quality hoses, etc and the price may have been more expensive.
Yes, i would be pissed and upset. However you made that choice.
He didn’t buy a KTM pump because KTM doesn’t make a “fuel transfer pump”.
This kit is to fix the KTM pump problem with the newer fuel pump location.
KTM moved the pump to a higher location in the tank. If you are racing off road the gas splashes up into the fuel pump pocket and most of the gas will be used.
If you are riding on a road the fuel won’t be splashed into the pocket and you will run out of fuel even though there is still gas in the tank.
I sold a pair of brand new 100% Accuri 2's on ebay. Customer messaged to return them because he said the strap color was different in person than on the ebay listing. I told him no problem, just make sure they are returned in the exact shape that they were when he received them. I get them back, and the mirror lens is covered in fingerprints the spare clear lense and goggle bag are just laying in the shipping box. I accept the return, but charge him 10% restocking fee, which was $2.90. Dude called me all kinds of insults and left me negative feedback even though he acknowledged that he left fingerprints on the lens.
didnt read through these post but the OP is correct in the fact that the whole Nihilo transfer pump situation has been a nightmare for many. My riding buddy has had nothing but issues and finally just toosed the whole thing. Seems they may have found solution though. I was wanting one for my duel sport and still do if the issue is resolved. But the stories are not false in the way its been handled.
This gives validation to the OP. Funny that there’s plenty of nay-sayers that didn’t do the due diligence that you did.
👍🏼
Shame on Nihilo for using inferior hoses and then not fully standing behind quality control issues they're fully aware of.
Shame on a bunch of folks here who are unaware of the overall issue going on but none the less felt the need to get snarky about something they don't know the details on.
This is far from the first time I've seen/heard of issues with Nihilo products. Based on that, count me as someone who'd never buy anything from Nihilo.
One of my bikes is a 2024 500 KTM EXC-F and for those who aren't aware ...Shame on KTM for the lame way they have the fuel pickup halfway up the height of the tank. Fuel light will come on when the tank is almost half full.
If I eventually do go with an upgrade to fix this...I'd buy the fuel pump/extended lines unit from Taco Moto.
Way to go! We should not just accept when a product is sub par as many comments here are suggesting.
This is insane. I thought this was because of the VP issues with fuel pumps but Jesus Christ Nihilo. How TF do your engineers skip checking if the fuel lines that you are using aren't rated to be submerged?!?!
With a whiney rant like this and the fact you will never use them again they should tell you to go F@$k yourself. I have never had a problem with their products or customer service..
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