Starter motor stuck in ZZR250

[nickname]

Hi all, I can't get the starter motor out of my ZZR250.

I've undone the two mounting bolts, and removed the power cable. It's not moving.

I was told the starter motor was also being held in by an oil o-ring and that it needed a whack to pop it out. Well I've hit it pretty hard, several times without any luck. How hard do I need to hit it? I really don't want to damage anything else.

Judging by the mounting holes, it's moved back about 6mm, and has maybe another 10mm of clearance to go.

Is there something special about getting these out? Please help.

[T.W.R]

Nothing too special about removing a starter motor, just a bit of patience.
The O-ring that sits on the starter motor housing partially fuses in place and just needs some encouragement to get moving. rocking it back & forth on it's axis usually frees it enough to get it moving.
spray a bit of CRC or similar around the area where it fits into the housing & let it sit for a while then have another crack at it.
The housing & fit between the housing & starter motor has to be pretty solid.

[Korea]

Good luck...
...and welcome to the site Nickname.

[nickname]

Pretty solid? That's for sure. The starter is much looser now, I can see the rubber o-ring when looking from above. I sprayed heaps of CRC last night and several times this morning but it's not going anywhere. I'll keep trying but I wonder if I need to power the starter up to get things moving. It would mean putting it all back together again - lol. What would be the next step if I still can't get this thing out?

[skidMark]

mechanic...

i may be down your way this weekend...maybe so i could have a looksie if you wanted?

[nickname]

Hi Markauckland, thank you for that offer, but unfortunitly I'm heading out of town this weekend (in a cage). Hope you enjoy your trip down to Welly

[nickname]

Right looks like we've solved it. With many thanks to Uncle_B, we managed to get it out. For all of those '91 ZZR250 owners, this is how I removed the starter motor.

1. Remove tank (I think optional) and farings. On right-hand side, remove two mounting bolts and power cable from starter motor.

2. Loosen by levering up/down/left/right (on right side) and pushing from the left side. It may help to tap the starter motor, but be warned, you can cause other damage including demagnitising the magnets. Keep this up until you can see a rubber o ring when looking at the starter from above, on the left side.

3. You need two people here - One levers the starter motor up and to the left (standing on right of bike) whilst the other person gently pushes or taps the starter motor out. It popped out after this.

The main problem to be aware of, is cast-webbing on the mountings for the starter motor. If you don't lever the starter clear, it won't come out. Lever too much and you may damage something. This being said I got quite physical with it, and all seems ok so far.

Good luck to others getting these out, and a thanks to all KBs for helping - especially Uncle_B. Thanks Unc.

[Uncle B]

Good to meet you and glad I could help.

[twinkle]

Its been a while since I last took a starter motor out of one of those engines, but I think from memory it is difficult to get out not because of any O-ring but because of this little sprocket.

If you find you can't get the starter motor back in (I wouldn't try whacking it back in with a hammer if I were you) then you'll need to take the alternator cover off and take this sprocket out. The starter motor then slides in and out really easily. Bolt the starter motor down. Put the sprocket back in. You will probably need another gasket or some silicon to put the alternator cover back on.