ASK THE MXPERTS: MY HOUR-METER HURT MY ENGINE

Click on image to enlarge

Dear MXA,
    Help. I took my 2016 KTM 350SXF gas tank off to install an hour meter, and when I put it back together, my bike wouldn’t start. It ran before I put the hour meter on, but now it doesn’t. Can an hour meter affect the spark plug?

No. Your problem is not related to your hour meter in any form or fashion. There are two possible causes of your problem:

(1) When you reinstalled the gas tank, did you remember to put the fuel pump’s electrical lead into the back of the tank? Without power, the fuel pump won’t work and your bike won’t start. It is easy to check. Pull off the seat and look at the back of the gas tank. There should be an electrical plug attached vertically to the fitting on the trailing edge of the tank. If that is plugged in, then move to the second possible solution.

(2) Unlike with a two-stroke fuel system, gasoline will not flow through a fuel-injection fuel line without pump pressure (which is the reason that no fuel ran out of your fuel line when you unplugged the quick-release fitting); however, if you do not connect the quick-release fitting back together completely, no fuel will run through the line to get to the throttle body. Why not? The KTM’s fuel line has a one-way valve inside the fitting that has to be depressed in order for fuel to flow. Check your KTM’s quick-release fuel line. You must push it together until it snaps. If it doesn’t snap together, you will either not get any fuel to flow or you will get fuel to flow right up to the point where you land from a big jump and the fuel line disconnects. When this happens, the engine stops instantly. Always make sure that your fuel line clicks into the locked position when installing a KTM gas tank.