After hosing my KQ off I was warming it up to unload it from the trailer. It started making an unsual noise from the transmission, and the oil temp light had come on. I immediately shut it down. After some inspecting (there was oil in the engine), I started it up again, no noise, everything seemed fine. When I was putting it to bed in the garage, I dropped it into neutral, and the noise started again... sounded like a gear or something spinning in the transmission, and the oil temp light came on. If I shifted into gear, the noise would go away, and the light would go out. I got it to do this a few times. The warranty was up several weeks ago, and I don't want to blindly take it to the dealer (they charge me too much for oil changes ;-) ) Anyone have any ideas on what might be causing this?

 

Well, I think I narrowed the problem down. On the weekend, the KQ was a little cranky to get started. After lots of cranking by the starter motor, it started. I immediately recognized the sound I heard two weeks ago. It wasn't something in the tranny spinning that I was hearing, it was the starter motor turning over. I don't think the pinion gear was engaging, just the motor spinning. When you start the KQ by the electric starter, the oil light come on as a check. This would account for the oil temp light being on. I haven't found the cause of the problem, but I am now closer to it.

 

That explains why it quits when you put it in gear. When in Gear, the neutral safety switch, kills the power to the starter. It has to be the starter button sticking or a relay/solonoid. If the starter was sticking itself, it would keep doing it in gear.

 

Yes, exactly...

On the weekend, when I diagnosed it, the bike would not reproduce the problem. It was only because it was hard to start (cold morning, not enough choke) that I again heard the noise - by my actions. So I don't know if it was the switch or the relay that was sticking. And I am not going to start pulling things apart until I can get the bike to reproduce it. Oh well, no "noise" is good "noise".