Bike starts missing, then it gets worse, then it dies .....

I tried to restart it but it would only idle for 2 seconds then died again.   I pushed it for a while, maybe 1 minute then tried again.  It ran well enough to take me 200 yards, then it started missing again then died pulling into my driveway.  

It has plenty of gas and was running fine for 1/2 hour on it.  The fuel pump runs when the key is turned on.  The bike cranks over fine, so the battery is good.   I still need to replace the stator under the warranty, but don't think that's it.

It almost sounds like an intermittent electrical problem because it first miss fired a few times but kept on running fine, then a minute later it misfired again, then increased in frequency until it died.   I don't know if this bike has a fuel filter.....  

Any ideas what this could be?

Has the fuel pump been replaced, that is the most common problem, they sound like there working, but there not.

Fiftygrit wrote:

Has the fuel pump been replaced, that is the most common problem, they sound like there working, but there not.

No, it hasn't. It does run or whirr when I turn the key on, but maybe it's not moving any gas. I guess I'll first try to get it to idle long enough to check the charging voltage on the battery since that's another problem, but then check the gas filter if I can find one and see if there is any pumping pressure.

Where is a good place to buy a new pump and are there any instructions anywhere on how to replace? It's probably not too hard.

Thanks!

Thats another thing there is a stator recall, if your not charging and your battery is close to being dead the fuel pump wont work well at all. couple of things to check.

At the top of this forum there is a Sticky that may be of help:

https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/t5549-bike-won-t-start-try-this

Another thing you may want to do/try is replace the spark plug.

I'd try draining the gas out of it and putting new gas with some gas line anti freeze ( not that its freezing but it mixes with water making it burn) in it first.

I've got crappy gas twice in the last year but the bike never died it just ran a little bad until I got new/good gas, my atv all but died one trip due to this too.

AFAIK when the fuel pump goes it doesn't come on at all, so if you hear it wirr its ok.

Biglake wrote:

I'd try draining the gas out of it and putting new gas with some gas line anti freeze ( not that its freezing but it mixes with water making it burn) in it first.

I've got crappy gas twice in the last year but the bike never died it just ran a little bad until I got new/good gas, my atv all but died one trip due to this too.

I was about to suggest the same. I had similar problems with my lawn mower this spring, even though I'd recently performed a full engine service and gas in the mower and can were less than 2 months old. The mower engine was so simple that I eventually drained and replaced the gas because there wasn't anything logical left to try. With fresh fuel it started on the 2nd pull and has been running great ever since. I now add Sta-Bil 360 to my mower fuel too.

wwguy wrote:

Biglake wrote:

I'd try draining the gas out of it and putting new gas with some gas line anti freeze ( not that its freezing but it mixes with water making it burn) in it first.

I've got crappy gas twice in the last year but the bike never died it just ran a little bad until I got new/good gas, my atv all but died one trip due to this too.

I was about to suggest the same.  I had similar problems with my lawn mower this spring, even though I'd recently performed a full engine service and gas in the mower and can were less than 2 months old.  The mower engine was so simple that I eventually drained and replaced the gas because there wasn't anything logical left to try.  With fresh fuel it started on the 2nd pull and has been running great ever since.  I now add Sta-Bil 360 to my mower fuel too.

Thanks, I guess it's worth a try, but I had been out riding it for about a half an hour with no problems and didn't buy any gas.   Still maybe there was a little pocket of water at the bottom that found it's way to the inlet.  I'll try it.  Thanks!

*edit* I had a little bit of time today ... I put a meter on the battery, it was like 12.8VDC. I started it up and it reads 14.2VDC ... and pretty steady regardless of the rpm. So, it's not a low voltage issue. Then I took it for a quick spin and it died several times, but in between misfires and stalling, sometimes it would pull well and run ok Too, everytime I cycled the key, the pump runs, so I'm thinking that is ok.

The plan tomorrow is to purge out the gas and look for a fuel filter somewhere.

So, here is an update if anyone cares ........

I got my new replacement pump but after screwing with the old one trying to get it apart without breaking it, I gave up. I reinstalled the old pump, put in a new plug, some new gas as well and it fired up and seems to run ok.

The reason I did this is because in my quest to find something online on how to disassemble the old pump, I noticed that all the failures were on hot days and that the pump wouldn't run when the key was switched on. My problem didn't occur on a hot day and the pump always made the wrrr noise when turning the key on .... even after it died on me. I'm still not sure what the problem was, but with new gas and a new plug, it's running again. Oh, also, I never had any fail indication on my display, so that's a good thing, I think.

At least I have a spare pump if I ever need one. I couldn't figure out how to get that black tube off without breaking something. then the snaps looked to be challenging as well. If anyone has a writeup on the pump mod, I'd love to see it.

Google it there are all kinds of info, google WR250R fuel pump replacement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949P9Ytvu9w
hope this helps some.

Fiftygrit wrote:

Google it there are all kinds of info, google  WR250R fuel pump replacement    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949P9Ytvu9w
hope this helps some.

Thanks, I saw that one. :) That is what got me to realize this was a heat related failure.


I googled and googled and all I found was how to swap the entire assembly  ... which is a no brainer.

I could have pulled the thing apart, but I would have broken that black plastic tube and don't know if a reinforced rubber hose would be a suitable replacement (pressure wise).

Anyway, it runs.  Now I realize I forgot to install that orange fuel line safety device... I hope it wasn't too important.