Replacing a starter

[braeden]

So after having my heep towed to the nearest garage for $160, the mechanic goes out to check it out and sure enough it fires right up. This was after i spent a week trying to get it started myself. Battery is giving otu full juice, but not so much as a cliock from the starter. I drive home from the mechanic, and 8 hours later, bam, no start. The mechanic says most likely the starter is going bad, and I can smack it with a hammer if I get stuck somewhere and it may turn over. This is not cool with me. I want my jeep to start with a key, not a key and a hammer. So where exactly is the starter. What tools do I need to pull it and install a new one. Any other caveats?

[XgeekstarX]

if you hit the key and absolutely nothing happens, then i suspect it's your neutral safety switch. try wiggling the shifter while you try to start it or put it in neutral and see if it starts then. they're super easy to remove and clean.

http://www.jeepin.com/features/nss/index.asp

[riverfever]

Drive it and the next time it does it then run a few checks. Definitely try wiggling the shifter or moving it to neutral and see if it starts. If it does, then you're likely looking at a bad neutral safety switch (or just dirty). I just dealt with the starter about 4 months ago. The starter wont do shiat when you turn the key. If you crawl under passenger side and look...it's right under the oil filter. Cylinder shaped. It's held on by 2 bolts. There will be a smaller cylinder piggy backing on the big one. Just take a hammer and hit the starter. Youre not beating the crap out of it just give it a whack. Chances are pretty good you will be able to go back in and turn the key and it will start. It is not hard to replace and it's not that expensive (~ 100 bones). Wont take you longer than 20-30 minutes. Just unhook the negative on the battery and then get under there and disconnect the wires from the starter and undo the bolts holding it on. Put the new one on and reconnect the wiring. If you need any more help...yell.

-Chris

[MudslinginXJ]

Starters not hard to replace i just had to do it about a week ago. Make sure you take off the positive and negative wires off of the solenoid first, as it will make life a hell of a lot easier then trying to get it off with the starter off b/c you can barely move it. Also before you take those wires off remember where they go so they are in the right place on the new starter. Next theres 2 bolts that hold the starter in place. I believe facing in opposite directions. One is extremely easy to get to, the other was tough with a boxed end wrench, i could get not even a 1/2 turn out of the wrench before i hit something. It can be done, a wratchet wrench might be nice in this situation. After that, yank the starter out, put the new one in, you'll feel it fall into place, then just throw the bolts back in, hook up the wires and your good to go.

[braeden]

Thanks for the replies,def not the NSS, I cleaned it right away when this problem first started. Guess its time to get to NAPA and order this thing. The stealership wanted $155, which is actually less than I expected.

[MudslinginXJ]

I think all said and done after i took the core back my starter was around 100. Its a remaned one but, its the only one they had, and i needed it.

[XgeekstarX]

100 bucks for a reman? damn man, i got my reman with a lifetime warranty for 65 bucks after core.

[yardape]

Most replacement starters installed these days are remanufactured. That's what your mechnic most likely would have installed unless of course you requested otherwise.

[sjx40250]

One area you guys forgot was the ignition switch. I thought my starter was bad but it ended up being the ignition switch. They are arount $18 at NAPA. The trick is to get to it and replace it correctly. What I did was take mine apart and clean the contacts and grease it up. Works great.

[GreenXJ2K]

changed 4 starters in 2 days, only to find out that it was a bad starter relay. Got pretty good at changing them, got it down to about 10 minutes

JH

[churky89]

One other thing to look for,loose bolts on the starter.The top bolt on my 89'had loosened up and caused the solinoid to fubar....When it would try to starter was leaning out and to the right of the flywheel.Solinoid would kick the gear out but not close enough to turn the flywheel...which in turn was putting the solinod in a bind...which caused the solinoid to try tobreak loose from the starter...Had taken the starter off to get it checked at AZ.Starter worked until we tried to remove the starter from the tester stand.Solinoid would move @ .50" up and to the left.
It was a lifetime warranty so no denaro...To avoid the same problem I put lockwashers on both starter bolts.Ever now and then I'll check to see if it's loose,no problems and it's still nice and tight...

[Ramsey]

what the hell is up with these cheap($) starters. it seems like everyone here wants 180$ for one. what years interchange with the 4.0?

[anony91xj]

100 bucks for a reman? damn man, i got my reman with a lifetime warranty for 65 bucks after core.

Yes, if you do ANY type of wheeling at all, get the lifetime warranty :D

[5-90]

Replacing a starter is not difficult, but it might also not be your actual problem.

Check the NSS (if you have an automatic,) because it gets crapped up after a while and wants cleaning. I'm not sure where the clutch safety switch is on a manual - I usually remove them myself, but the one manual I've got had its removed before I got it.

The start relay is also an issue - if you have a 1991 and up, it's a Bosch relay in the PDC. If you have a 1987-1990, it's the gold-coloured squarish can in front of the other four relays, behind the battery. It's OEMR only, but it can be replaced with a Bosch with just a little work - and I've got to figure out how I did it (I was in a hurry, and didn't write anything down. I was tired of going to the dealership, and I order Bosch relays by the dozen.)

It's also possible it's the ignition switch, which is located on top of the steering column, same side as the key, down by the firewall. Check for loose wires before you start to change the thing, since that's a possibility.

One way to make sure it's not the start relay is to take a voltmeter, hook the + lead up to the SMALL terminal on the start motor solenoid, and the - lead to any convenient ground. Have a helper turn the key to START, and watch the voltmeter. If it goes to 12VDC (or battery voltage, actually,) then the ignition switch and start relay are both good, and you can suspect the starter. If not, I'll need to know your year so I can tell you how to work backwards from there (it's always a good idea, when posting ANY tech question, to put your year/engine/transmission/axles somewhere in the post. I'll put an example at the bottom.)

One thing to watch out for - the starter bolts are also often 1 inch and 1 metric bolts. For instance, one starter bolt on RENIX is 3/8"-16, and the other is M10x1.5. I don't know why either - but if you do change the starter, grab a bolt, and it doesn't go in - DON'T FORCE IT! Try the other one before you start to get goofy, it might go right in. Failing that, try the bolt in the other hole, same net result.

A sample of a good line to throw in your posts - a "tech line" - is this:

1988XJ/4.0/AX-15/NP231/D30/D35 (3.07),

which reads as:

"1988 Cherokee, 4.0L inline six, AX-15 five-speed transmission, New Process 231 transfer case, Dana 30 front axle, Dana 35 rear axle, 3.07:1 axle gearing."

Believe me, it's a lot easier to answer a technical question knowing that stuff, since there were a few changes made over the years. If you don't know what you've got, we can help you identify it (for instance, the automatic used behind all 4.0L engines was the Aisin-Warner AW4 four-speed, written as "AW4," and all front axles from the factory were Dana 30's,) so you can put that line in all your tech posts. I'm hoping to get more people doing that - since it's small, yet easy to break down and interpret. Adopting a "standard format" will make life a lot easier for all of us... It's the format I use when I have to ask a tech question, and no-one's (oddly enough) had to ask me what it means...

Given the changes wrought by Chrysler, OBD-I, OBD-II, transmission differences, and previous owners, it's not easy to tell what you've got without your telling us. And, while you might have that information in your profile, it's really a courtesy to NOT make us have to go look your information up, and there are quite a few of us here who have more than one rig (I currently have five, as of to-day. Here they are...

1987XJ/AW4/NP231/D30/D35 (3.55)
1988XJ/BA-10/NP231/D30/D35 (3.07) (Soon to be AX-15 replacing the BA-10)
1989XJ/AW4/NP231/D30/D35TL (3.55) (Rear axle has Trac-Loc Limited Slip)
1989XJ/AW4/NP242/D30/D35 (3.55)
1989XJ/AX-15/NP231/D30/D35 (3.07) (Soon to be parts.))

You see, you can really wedge a lot of information into very little space, and it really will help us to answer your questions. Help us to help you - the more we know, the more we can tell you that you don't already know.

5-90

Oh - on the "Lifetime Warranty" note? I guess they've improved somewhat. I wasted enough time behind the counter at Kragen's out here to have known that they offered that "Lifetime Warranty" for a REASON. The reason? They had a one-month return rate of some 60% - but it could usually be explained away some other way than just a "shonky build" - which is what it really was. No, thanks.

The rebuilder I use doesn't offer a "lifetime warranty" on his stuff - it's only a year - but I've never needed a warranty anyhow. I prefer to deal directly with the guy that does the building, and when you see a man face-to-face, you get better quality of work. When you talk to a live person on the phone, and that person does the actual work as well, you get better quality of work.

And, when you send him business because he does good work, your prices start to get better as well, and you get people who are happy with his work - which is good all around.

Want to know who I'm talking about this time? Go to the "San Jose Generator" section of my website - click the link in my sig... I talked him into doing mail order, and there are those here who have profited from that arrangement. The more business I can send his way from here, I must admit, the more open he'll be to expanding his offerings to us as well. I'd like to give Mean Green a run for their money - being the only real major "high-power" house out there that we can use, they've gotten entirely too comfortable, and their prices show it...

5-90

[langer1]

The important tip here is click or no click
If you don't even hear a click it's not your starter.
One more thing, if you hit a jeep starter with a hammer, you will need a starter for sure.

[sjx40250]

BTW: I think the difference in the bolts is due to which side the treads are on. The starter is japanese and therefore a metric bolt. The bell housing is american and therefore an SAE bolt!

[5-90]

Thanks - I never could keep that straight...

I usually end up making a stud to go into one hole (I've got allthread in LOADS of sizes...) and the starter goes in with one stud and one nut. Even I can't screw that up!

5-90