I am getting water into the trans oil & suspect water pump seal/impellor may be bad. Do you have to split the cases to replace them, and does it require specialized tools? Thanks for your help, John.
I noticed I was a little low on coolant, and I've been finding some slightly grey gear oil in my '00.
I just started racing the bike, and it's been subjected to a lot of hard running in a lot of water, with radiators caked with mud. I'm not sure what to think right now.
I bought it used 12-31-03 and rode it the following weekend for about ten laps around Lakeside track near Austin. I had fallen and hurt myself really bad on lap 3 & rode two other times that day. I was realy hurting on the way back and spent the next 2 months healing. I started taking the bike apart and checking everthing(swing arm, shock & linkage wheels, forks, steering trees/stem, carburator, radiators) and lubed, adjusted, cleaned & reassemble. Un fortunately, the last thing I did was to change the oil. It was a lite green color(like a catus). I was advised to put new oil in and see if it would change. This last weekend, my 1st time to ride since my accident, I took a 4 hour lesson, not really much riding, & on Sunday I cleaned the bike and changed the oil to check it, and it was grayish in color, and smelled like anti-freeze(I used engine ice as coolant). I took a sample of the oilto a local independant shop and he said that is what it looks like. I pulled the right side cover to replace the seal & impeller, like I am told you can do on most bikes, and sure enough you have to split the engine case to replace them, just like the factory manual says. To save money, they said I could bring them the engine and I could pull the head cylinder, piston and they would do the rest for 2-3 hours labor @ 45.00 hr. Better than the local Susuki dealer 380.00, I bought it from. It is hard to believe they would make a engine you have to take all apart just to change out the seal/impeller! I am thinking about getting it fixed and going to another color, maybe a 4 stroke. I am told the oil will change color do to the clutch. Jeff Gilbert, whom I work with, changes his oil about every 2 or 3 days of riding and it looks pretty bad. Hope this helps, John
RM250's from 96-2000 have the internal waterpump that require spitting the cases.
I usually get 2 years of weekend riding out of a seal.
When I tear it down to replace the seal I put a new shaft in it too.
Who wants a worn shaft to make your seal wear out faster and than have go back though that fiasco any more often than is necessary???
Yes I do all the work to my bikes myself. (Ok well except for shock and crank rebuilds)
You do need a few special tools.
flywheel puller
clutch lockup tool (made mine from a few old plates)
topend lock up tool (or a length of rope)
I lockup the topend so I can break all the lower end fasteners loose.(clutch nut , flywheel nut , primary drive gear bolt)
Then take the topend off
Actually splitting the cases themselves is the tricky part
If you arent careful you can do some really expensive damage.
I wouldn't recommend trying this yourself for the first time.
Know anyone thats done it before that could help you out?
Pehaps if you got it this far the labor cost from the local shop could be cut down considerably.
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