starter trouble

ok, so i do alot of mudding. last week the went to start the xj and all i got was a spinning noise from the starter, sounded like an electric motor spinning never got it to kick over. Today replaced the starter finally, free lifetime warranty, gotta love it. Well went mudding today hit some nice puddles of mud and slop. Tonight right after ran to the grocery store and the starter was spinning again. Brand new starter.

My previous starter got water in it and the guy at the auto store asked me if it had a cover to keep water out. I'm not aware of any cover.

what can i do to keep these starters from going out. I rinse after mudding, but still this happens... can i silicone around the starter or will that just make more trouble for getting it off.

help please

does anyone have any response? i've got a snorkle as well, how do i water protect the starter and alt.

there is a good chance you just got a bad starter. Most of the time you get reman parts with a lifetime warranty you will need it.
Take your starter to a reliable local shop and have them build it correctly and you should be fine.

Check for missing teeth on the flywheel

so the starter, since it's the 3rd one can be bad?

or is my flywheel messed up? how do i check for missing teeth, how does it rotate for me to do so

also, she started fine this morning, if i had a flywheel problem, it would do it all the time correct?

back up to the top, any help would be nice

check your flywheel by removing the starter and turning the engine over by hand using a socket.

if the flywheel was bad it would only just spin when the flywheel is positioned at the starter. It might do it every time or might not do it for another year....it just depends on where it stops.

My vote is still the starter is bad. It will make that noise when the gear does not come out of the starter to contact the flywheel. Forget the reman starters and have a local shop rebuild the one you have and it will last.

Go Jeep has a good write up on starter servicing. I do a fair amount of mudding, i keep a spare starter and rerouted my cables little to make the swap a little easier.
The spinning without engaging the teeth is most often the Bendix full of mud, has burrs or excess wear. If the overrunning clutch is bad it will always spin and never engage. Front shaft bushing is a possibility, but unlikely. If the mounting bolts are to long this can also happen or if they are loose. And like mentioned the teeth on the starter gear or the fley plate are worn or chipped. You can remove the inspection cover on the bell housing and turn the flex plate with a large screwdriver, prying/levering a few teeth at a time.
A cracked and/or warped flex plate is also a possibility.