Starter motor body Grounding Out

Hi there, new member first post.

The starter in my KZ1100 is grounded between the body and the positive terminal. When it was in the bike, it would crank really slow and fried the CDI ground wire (which is grounded to engine cases) No telling if it's fried the whole unit yet as it won't turn over. Ignition system is running through a 10A fuse which is fine.

Surely this can't be normal. I just replaced the starter with this one from a wrecker thinking it was worn out, my original starter is grounded out too.

By this i mean No resistance between the starter positive terminal and the body of it.


Thanks, hopefully somebody can tell me whats going on.

Should also point out that the starter spins up fine when i run it on the bench

I'd open the starter up and do an inspection for loose windings.

Most electrical motor rebuilding shops can check the motor for you.

I wrote this for starter solenoid and motor check out:

Starter Solenoid/Motor Checkout Procedure

Some simple steps to determine what is working and what's not:

1.Fully charge and test the battery(most bike shops can load test the battery, and then use a floating ball hydrometer to check specific gravity in the charged cells).

2.Clean all battery terminals of corrosion.

3.Tighten all starting related connections(Positive RED(+) battery terminal, Negative BLACK(-)terminal) and from the terminal to the engine case. All connections must be clean and tight.

4.Clean the cable from the starter solenoid to the starter motor.

5.Clean and check the "bullet connectors" going to the coil side of the starter solenoid.

6.Try again to start the bike, keep in mind some Kawasaki’s have a clutch interlock to prevent cranking the engine while it’s in gear, so the clutch lever must be squeezed.

7.If no luck, go to step #8

8.Wearing eye protection, bridge with pliers or a screwdriver the two heavy duty(large)terminals on the solenoid. If the bike cranks, your solenoid may be bad.

9. If the starter won’t turn over, one of several things has happened; The starter motor has seized due to brushes binding up, lack of lubrication in the bushings of the motor, the battery is weak , the engine has seized or it could be a combination of any of the above. Some websites for starter motor rebuild kits are:

A. www.mawonline.com/newsite/rick_s_motorsp...-starter_brushes.htm

B. www.cyclewareables.com/pages/street_star...kits/startmtrkit.htm (not sure if the website is still viable)


10.The dealer may want $$$ for a new solenoid, but take your old one along and visit the nearest riding lawn mower shop. They have solenoids for about $15 that with a little work will fit. Be aware that the new solenoid from the lawn mower shop may require a ground wire for it to work.

11. I’d recommend upgrading from the existing battery cables to at least 6 gauge welding cables.
They are available in two colors(RED and BLACK) have more flexibility due to being constructed with finer conductors, and will fit in tighter areas.

12. The welding cable is sold by the foot, so take careful measurements or bring your old cables along. Most battery shops might be able to supply the cable too, so call to find out. The battery shop should be able to crimp/swage on the end of the welding cable the terminal ends or lugs using either a dedicated crimping machine or a tool that looks like a bolt cutter that has special dies to terminate the cable.

Normally, the starter motor is connected to the engine via the mounting bolts, providing a ground return for the positive terminal when the motor is energized, turning the engine over.

As to why the IC Igniter is affected(it's not a CDI as people think, more a devise that gives the ignition coils their grounds, firing the sparkplugs).

Well i just got this starter from a wrecker 2 days ago, so I will just bring it back and try to find another.

Very frustrating.

As for solenoid, I dont have one. Just a heavy switch between battery and starter.

Also if the starter was shorting out internally, would it still spin up to full rpms fine (no load) when i just connect it to a battery on my bench?