Starter repair kit

Where can I buy a starter repair kit for an XJ? I looked at AutoZone, Advanced Auto, and Napa but no dice.

Thanks Guys!

Burley

repair kit? what do you mean?

XgeekstarX said:

repair kit? what do you mean?

Click to expand...

I don't know how else to state it. It is a repair kit for a starter. In particular the brushes and the contacts.

Burley

oh, i'm pretty sure there isn't a repair kit available. the starter died on mine after driving through some swamps a while ago and my only option was to buy a new one. get one with a lifetime warranty.

Have you tried a local elec. rebuild shop yet? I have gone to one down in Lex. Ky, and got mine rebuilt for about $35. As for the "kit", I don't think any-body offers one.

Starter repair kits are something of a bygone age. I don't know of anyone who offers those kits over the counter any longer. Most times, putting a rebuilt starter is what is done when a starter needs brushes, or it's commutator needs polishing.

Ah yes, the good ole days. Why, I remember when you used to be able to buy the selenoid contact stud for Mopar starters for $0.40. A set of brushes for good measure - as long as you had it apart - and you were good for another 100,000 miles. While you were at it, you could grind the off-set off of a hack saw blade and clean out between the commutator contacts for good measure.

Of course, that was a different starter than the one on the XJ, and this is a different time. Oh well. It's not worth the trouble for the parts stores to pay labor and shelf time to handle little bags of parts when they can special order remans on demand.

Let us know if you do find a source for starter parts.

Man, what a scam! The cheapest starter is about $65. So inother words I can pay someone else $65 to put $10 of parts in a starter for me?! I am in the wrong business. I'm really suprised I have not heard anyone else complain about this before.

Damn the man!

Burley

BeckArnley seems to have the best remanufactured Mitsubishi starter out there for the XJ... Mine failed becuase of the solder joint on the solonoid snapping... I went ahead and put the beck arnley on for good measure even though it was a simple solder joint

Burley said:

Man, what a scam! The cheapest starter is about $65. So inother words I can pay someone else $65 to put $10 of parts in a starter for me?! I am in the wrong business. I'm really suprised I have not heard anyone else complain about this before.

Damn the man!

Burley

Click to expand...

Try Franks Auto Parts, Shelby Auto Parts or Auto Parts Store in Mansfield.
Also try [size=+1]Rex Gilbert Auto Elec Inc[/size]
(419) 522-2023
[size=-1]110 Marion Ave[/size]
[size=-1]Mansfield, OH 44903[/size]

Burley said:

Man, what a scam! The cheapest starter is about $65. So inother words I can pay someone else $65 to put $10 of parts in a starter for me?! I am in the wrong business. I'm really suprised I have not heard anyone else complain about this before.

Damn the man!

Burley

Click to expand...

Welcome to the 21st Century!

Don't worry... 40% of Cherokee owners (that is, the Great Unwashed) would probably gladly pay $300 to a local shop to get the starter replaced, rather than spend $65 to $100 to put one on themselves.

Another 40% will pay $600 to the dealer for the same operation.

Only 20% of us would even think of doing it ourselves.

Den

DenLip said:

Welcome to the 21st Century!

Don't worry... 40% of Cherokee owners (that is, the Great Unwashed) would probably gladly pay $300 to a local shop to get the starter replaced, rather than spend $65 to $100 to put one on themselves.

Another 40% will pay $600 to the dealer for the same operation.

Only 20% of us would even think of doing it ourselves.

Den

Click to expand...

I bet it's more like 5% rather than 20% doing it themselves!
When I first started working on my own vehicle I kept saying over and over again; "I can't believe I used to pay someone to do this for me!" especially when doing things like brakes.

Oh well.

Burley

langer1 said:

Try Franks Auto Parts, Shelby Auto Parts or Auto Parts Store in Mansfield.
Also try [size=+1]Rex Gilbert Auto Elec Inc[/size]
(419) 522-2023
[size=-1]110 Marion Ave[/size]
[size=-1]Mansfield, OH 44903[/size]

Click to expand...

Your the man! Rex Gilbert has them!

I appreciate the help. I am rather new in the area and didn't know where to even start looking for a place like that.

Thanks again!

Burley

The main reason that you cannot get parts to rebuild starters and the like is because the replacement parts industry caters to the professional car repair industry first and foremost.

Back 40 years ago, the FSM's cover how to rebuild alternators/generators, carburetors, starters, distributors, power steering pumps, and even water pumps. Parts were available from the parts houses to do all of those things.

Nowadays, a service tech. is paid for his DIAGNOSTIC skills (which come with some intensive and expensive training), NOT his ability to do rather mundane rebuild procedures. The shop does NOT want a highly skilled tech. "wasting" his time doing repair, when he can be doing diagnosis. So, it pays for a professional repair shop to "outsource" the rebuilding of such items to places where the labor rate is not so high. The tech then spends most of his time doing the diagnosis and quickly throwing in the new parts, which is a relatively efficient use of his training.

The end result for guys like us, who do it ourselves, is that we cannot get the parts to do those mundane tasks anymore, and we pay for someone to do the rebuilds for us as well.

They may not be able to stop us from driving old stuff yet, but they sure can make it "fun" to keep it running. Sometimes I HATE modern business methods.