TE 250/310 xlite starter issues...

[RailwayRog]

Changed the ring gear and it started fine a number of times in the garage but the real test will be this weekend when I'll be out riding for a full day (Thrill & Chill Turkey Run).
I'll update you after the ride.

 

[RailwayRog]

Alright update, went riding today in the 90 degree heat in some single track. About 3 miles into the ride the engine died and would not start for at least 5-10 minutes, this problem kept repeating itself until bailed out of the single track and headed back to the truck on some open road. On the fast open road it does not die (maybe it would make a nice street bike). My only guess is the heat from the engine is causing a problem with the fuel injection and or fuel pump, and the pump will prime every time the switch is turn on and off so the pump is not experiencing a total failure.

I'm back to square one with the E start, it worked great in the garage when I first replace the ring gear but after heating up the engine on the trail it's back to hardly turning over, at least not enough to start the engine.

So now I have to major issues, nice.

Again all the riders on the Turkey Run today got to see how good the Husky brand is as they passed me or stopped to offer help, I was dead last by the time I bailed out of the woods (the sweepers swept me out of the woods).

I never felt so frustrated about a piece of equipment. I tempted to write a letter to Husky USA (at least to vent my frustration) a matter of fact I'm going to start drafting one after I finish this post. All I got is a Corona, CA address, does anyone know if this is where I should direct my letter to?

 

[R_Little]

If it makes you feel any better, after over a year of changing starters and gears and adjusting valves and relapping flywheels my e-start has been working fine!

I really do need to replace the 4 pt injector with the new 12 pt and then it should run fine all over.

 

[RailwayRog]

Was there anyone thing that you suspected could have been the problem?
My next part replacement part i guess I would be to replace the starter motor and I don't think there is any after market manufactures.
When you relap are you referring to the ring and pinion gear?
On the auto de-compression side what did you set the valve at?

 

[Tessier]

Well stick with it there are lots of us that are reading this and following your progress.

 

[RailwayRog]

I'm firing off a letter to them right now, i don't expect to get any satisfaction from Husky but at least i get a little of my frustration out.

 

[Phoenix]

I'm firing off a letter to them right now, i don't expect to get any satisfaction from Husky but at least i get a little of my frustration out.

Post up the address. I'll write one too. Maybe making our voice heard will help. It seems that one of Husqvarna's biggest problems is an utter lack of communication.

The only thing that ever made my e-start work was changing out the starter, unfortunately. I did that last fall and it has been e-starting ever since. Since replacing that starter, I have been religous about checking my valves and I also will bust out the kick start lever if it even shows a tiny hesitation in starting. I don't want to burn out another motor.

This company suggested to me that I send in my starter and they could see what they could come up with on repair parts. At the time, I was in the middle of race season and didn't have the luxury of being without a starter for an unknown length of time.

http://www.stockers.com/index.php

 

[R_Little]

Was there anyone thing that you suspected could have been the problem?
My next part replacement part i guess I would be to replace the starter motor and I don't think there is any after market manufactures.
When you relap are you referring to the ring and pinion gear?
On the auto de-compression side what did you set the valve at?

The valves and the flywheel were the biggest issues I think.

That particular exhaust valve is hard to measure correctly...it seems to change with every crank rotation.

When I adjusted the valves the 1st time at about 50 miles it read .005 to I shimmed it 2 sizes and it should have been .009 but it measured .010 when I rechecked it. A year or so later it measured .011 so now I shimed it to .007 and it seems to be fine.

The sheared flywheel key was a huge issue. It advances the IGN timing which causes the spark to early which I guess keeps the piston from reaching TDC at kickover.

The ring gear may have helped too.

In my case at least the e-start if finally working fine!

 

[OlderHuskyRider]

I'm back to square one with the E start, it worked great in the garage when I first replace the ring gear but after heating up the engine on the trail it's back to hardly turning over, at least not enough to start the engine.

Just throwing this out there, for consideration by anyone having problems with their bike overcoming the compression stroke:
When my 450 started having problems getting past the compression stroke, I tried a new spring in the ADC, and tore apart the starter. Nothing really helped. What I do now, is hold the manual compression release in as I hit the starter button, then release after 1-2 engine turns. With kinetic motion in place, the starter can then overcome the compression stroke and start. I've been doing this for about 3000 miles/6 months now with no adverse effects.

 

[Phoenix]

Just throwing this out there, for consideration by anyone having problems with their bike overcoming the compression stroke:
When my 450 started having problems getting past the compression stroke, I tried a new spring in the ADC, and tore apart the starter. Nothing really helped. What I do now, is hold the manual compression release in as I hit the starter button, then release after 1-2 engine turns. With kinetic motion in place, the starter can then overcome the compression stroke and start. I've been doing this for about 3000 miles/6 months now with no adverse effects.

That would be awesome except for two big bummers:

They don't sell the spring for the X-lite ADC as a replacement part by itself.
The X-Lites don't have a compression release lever.

 

[OlderHuskyRider]

That would be awesome except for two big bummers:
They don't sell the spring for the X-lite ADC as a replacement part by itself.
The X-Lites don't have a compression release lever.

Dang, bummer. I've looked for the post with the pics of the x-lite ADC, it might have been your pics Phoenix, but I cant find them, anyone know where those big, clear pics are?

 

[Phoenix]

Dang, bummer. I've looked for the post with the pics of the x-lite ADC, it might have been your pics Phoenix, but I cant find them, anyone know where those big, clear pics are?

Here ya go.

http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/exhaust-cam-spring.17392/

That stupid little spring made a huge difference. With the straight spring, using the kick starter was like kicking against a wall. You would swear the motor was locked up. After the new cam was installed, I could kick it 1-2 kicks. Unfortunately, the starter was already fried, so I ended up replacing that too.

 

[RailwayRog]

Post up the address. I'll write one too. Maybe making our voice heard will help. It seems that one of Husqvarna's biggest problems is an utter lack of communication.

This is who I addressed the letter to. I called my parts supplier (ToyTec) today and he said for the 2012 models they have had no problems so far, so apparently they corrected those two major issues.
Kris Odwarka
Husqvarna Motorcycles
371 Corporate Terrace Circle
Suite 102
Corona, CA 92879

 

[Tessier]

Anyone got an email address for him? That might be easier for those of us with an issue.

 

[RailwayRog]

This is a pretty important issue and email I believe does not have the same effect as a letter will, at least that's what I have been told. Will find out from my letter.

 

[ray_ray]

Heart wrenching story ....Its like your faith is being tested to a new height.

Alright update, went riding today in the 90 degree heat in some single track.

 

[MikeB]

RailwayRog: Let me see if I've got this right:
- you started having problems with the bike not e-starting but would kick start easily.
- you applied LOTS of amps to the starter but it still would only turn the engine over if the plug was removed.
- the flywheel key and the decompressor have been inspected and are working.
- you changed the ring gear and it worked fine in the garage.
- on the trail the engine stalled when it got hot and would not re-start with e-start or kicker until it cooled down.
- when it dies on the trail the fuel pump does prime when ignition is turned off and then on.
I'm not a mechanic but: if you applied a LOT of amps to the starter it may be fried (or semi-fried which causes a heat related failure). If the bike dies when it warms up there's something else wrong.
- when the bike died on the trail could you kick start it or was the engine "locked up"?
- how many volts AT the starter when it's acting up?

 

[R_Little]

I dunno..you can't apply any more AMPs to the starter than it will draw..can you?

 

[joedirt]

My 2010 txc250/310 sometimes starts with the e-start hot or cold. The e-start just has a hard time getting the engine past tdc. I can kick start it all day long with no problems but there is a reason I bought an e-start bike. Are the starters known to go bad on the xlites engines?

 

[RailwayRog]

Let see if i can clarify my problems with the bike, sometimes it hard for me to make my post clear so bear with me.
Before I changed the ring gear it wouldn't crank at all so I had tried starting it with two motorcycle batteries in parallel to have the extra amps available for cranking (like jump starting your car, does that make sense?), that's what I meant by a lot of amps. After I changed the ring gear it started multiple times in the garage with no problem using only the one battery on the bike. It wasn't until this weekends ride when the engine got hot it barely would crank again. I've been told that if I decrease my (ADC side) exhaust valve gap from .009 (presently) to .006 this will allow more compression out of the cylinder during starting. If this doesn't work I buy a starter motor for 200+ dollars.
Now as far the engine dying out on the trail it only happened a few times in the past, I'd wait a minute and it started up and ran fine the rest of the day but those times I'm referring to the temperatures where much cooler than what I was dealing with on Sunday.
So on Sunday what was happening I'd go for a few minutes in 2nd gear single track and it would die like as if you hit the kill switch, wait 10 minutes kick start it and go another few minutes, over and over until the sweepers got me out to some open road headed back to my truck. Funny thing was on the open road it ran fine even with the throttle wide open, my only guesstimate is the wind passing over the engine and gas tank kept things cooler. So it looks like I will be replacing the fuel pump. What else could it be?
Hope that clears my post up and thanx for putting up with me, I'll get the bike straighten out some day!