97+ Starter different than RENIX?

Recently the starter died in my '89 4.0. Click. Click. It's happend a few weeks ago as well and I just tapped it with a starter to make it work. No dice this time.

So I went to the local pick n pull and found a couple 97 Cherokees (extremely rare to find 97+ there!) and grabbed a chrysler started out of one of them. It looked identical to the RENIX one I gave as core. In the end I paid $27! Awesome.

I got home, installed it and started it up. Holy ****, does it ever turn over quick now. I'm talking a startup time in under 2 seconds, which is amazing for a RENIX rig from what I hear. This thing is FAST, almost unnverving at first.

Was my old starter just that old and worn out/slow, or is the 97+ starter different? In any case, it's nice to spend a tiny amount of money replacing something only to find out it's much better than you were with before. For the record, the cheapest rebuilt starter would have cost me $127. Go Canada!

mattbred said:

Go Canada!

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They shouldnt be any different. Yours was probably just on its way out.

The only thing I can think of that changed on the 242ci/4.0L starter motor was the solenoid terminal - they went from a #10 ring to a 1/4" spade lug somewhere down the line. That's about it. I think they're all rated for the same power output.

The usual reason for long RENIX crank times is a contaminated ground strap from the engine to the firewall, as it's the main ground reference for the chassis (and therefore the ECU.) Adding a secondary ground from the battery negative post to the chassis directly usually helps with this - use a minimum 8AWG wire, and clean the paint off of the contact patch with the chassis (grounding through paint don't work too well...)

The starter on my '96 (unknown if it's original) is a mitsubishi part. I think they also used some AC Delco starters as well. Anyone have any more info on this to confirm or deny?

ChevelleSSLS6 said:

The starter on my '96 (unknown if it's original) is a mitsubishi part. I think they also used some AC Delco starters as well. Anyone have any more info on this to confirm or deny?

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Oh right - the one I got was made by mitsubishi, yet it also had Chrysler written on it somewhere as well I think.

Didn't they change starters around 99?

Not really - it's common to find Mitsu parts on ChryCo vehicles, from about 1980 forward. AMC used a lot of Mitsu goodies as well (and Delco, and Motorcraft, and Bosch, and ...) The Neon was designed (and mostly built) by Mitsubishi - as was the Dodge D50 pickup, and a few of their other compact vehicles.

They didn't really change much but the solenoid connection, as I recall. Apart from that, allee-samee.

D50 = Mighty Max
Stealth = 3000GT ad so on.
And, as far as Mitsu and Chry. Chry owns mitsu..

Johnnie Walker said:

D50 = Mighty Max
Stealth = 3000GT ad so on.
And, as far as Mitsu and Chry. Chry owns mitsu..

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Actually, I think it was a merger more than an acquisition - but yeah, compact ChryCo and Mitsu are generally the same thing. Just like Ford/Mazda, Ford/Jaguar, Ford/Rover, GM/Isuzu, ... GM and Toyota got together and founded Geo/NUMMI as well.