Starter strip and clean

Just added a write up on how to strip and clean the starter in case it has been playing up after some mud abuse in case anyone is interested. It is not meant as a re-build write up, but will fix problem starters that are not worn out.
See my write up as usual in the electrical section. http://go.jeep-xj.info

Great writeup but why not seal it up so it don't happen again?

I've never done an electric WINDOW motor on an XJ (Mine is manual windows). But on other Chrysler Vehicles, I've had the electric windows stop working, especially during cold snaps. I pulled the motor and cleaned it up like GoJeep did to his starter motor, put it back together and it worked great ever since.

The dealer would probably charge you $350 for parts and labors if you took it too them to fix a stuck electric window.

The key to the electric window motor is they get caked up with dirt, gum and carbon from the brushes, and the brushes get worn out of shape. Which actually happens to all electric motors. Just clean the commutator with a scotch brite pad and take a nail file to the brushes to square them up and the motor works great again.

langer1 said:

Great writeup but why not seal it up so it don't happen again?

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Biggest cause of failure for starter motors is them overheating. I would "THINK" sealing it up would greatly increase the chance of overheating.

Rick Anderson said:

Biggest cause of failure for starter motors is them overheating. I would "THINK" sealing it up would greatly increase the chance of overheating.

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I don't because there are no air vents or internal fans.

The greatest failure for starters, that I've seen, is the brushes being worn and/or caked up with mud, oil, brush (carbon) dust and what not. Oil leaks at the filter, will eventually find there way into the starter and cause problems at the brushes, mud always seems to find it's way into anything. I've sealed up the joints with silicon, seems to work just fine. The front end is a little rougher to seal, I've never tried it.
I've seen an occasional, gummed up bendix or a worn out overrunning clutch.
I imagine if you continiously cranked one until the battery was dead, you could possibly overheat it enough to melt down the windings some (I've never seen it).
I've got a least two starters, that were installed/produced in 1987 and still doing just fine, with periodic cleaning and an occasional set of brushes. I've caked them up with mud on numerous occasions. I learned to get the mud out of there quick, before the sand starts wearing the brushes and/or starts grinding things up much.
I think in something like 19 years, I've bought one XJ starter (complete), that had a Bendix problem that I never did figure out how to fix, a burr or something. The Bosch/Misubishi/Chrysler starter is pretty darned well engineered and actual failures are rare. I think a whole bunch have been replaced, when a simple cleaning would have fixed them up just fine.
Back in the early days of XJ in Europe, I did starter (and alternator) rebuilds for a local Jeep parts distributor (basement business). The guy shipped all over the world from Europe, south and east. 95% of the time, the problem is junk in the brushes. Or the brushes full of mud and sand and worn down to nubs.
About 50% of the time, the problem was the same for the Alternator. If caught quickly, it could be fixed with a simple cleaning. But when ignored often caused the diodes or the regulator to fail from shorts. The next biggest cause of Alternator failure was coolant. I don't know the reason, but radiator failure (or serious leaks) where often followed by Alternator failure. I've got my suspcions that coolant is a pretty good conductor ( better than water or mud) and shorts out the Alternator internals (pretty quickly) until the diodes, the regulator or both are toast.

8Mud said:

I imagine if you continiously cranked one until the battery was dead, you could possibly overheat it enough to melt down the windings some (I#ve never seen it).

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As far as air cooling? I've had starters that had openings in them, I don't know if its for air cooling or not, but I wouldn't seal those up.

If the XJ starter has no openings, I'd agree, I don't see the harm in sealing up seams that aren't for letting cooling air in anyway.

Cranking too long I "THINK" is the real cause for overheating. I don't know if its in the XJ Owner Manual, but in other cars I've read the limits for cranking with the starter motor. Something to effect of, your not suppossed to crank more 30 seconds the first try, wait 90 seconds for a 2nd try and then only crank 15 seconds, wait another 90 seconds, for another 15 second crank for a 3rd time. After that wait 10 minutes for the starter to cool.

How many people have followed rules like that when they had trouble starting their motor?

I bet the advent of EFI has made the starter rebuild industry loose a lot of money. The old Carb Motors were often hard to start and you could exceed those limits on the starter regularly. The new EFI motors start much quicker and easier, its rare you'd ever have to crank more than a few seconds or have to make a 2nd attempt, let alone a 3rd.

I've had to replace starters several times on my Carb vehicles, I've only had to replace a starter once on one of my EFI vehicles. And, funny, that was an old mini-van shortely after I replaced the fuel pump, and had cranked the motor excessively while troubleshooting the dead fuel pump problem.

I'll probably pull the starter on my XJ and clean it up as suggested, I would agree, that could easily get a lot more life out of it.