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Clunk

First of all, BE CAREFUL trying to jump that thing. If you're new to CJ's, you can start them in gear and they will roll right over you. Make sure the thing is in neutral before you go jumping around on there so the starter doesn't cause the Jeep to roll off.

I believe the extra wire in hanging off the starter solenoid wiring is there for the extra terminal on the solenoid on an Jeep equipped with an automatic transmission, as they have a neutral safety switch.

I bet it's your starter. Before you start throwing parts at this, take the starter off and take it to your local napa, oreilly's etc. They can test the starter and see if it's good. The starter has the one wire and two bolts holding it on. It's easy to remove and have tested.
 
Thanks for the heads up! Thankfully Ive kept it in neutral. ill try taking the starter over first tomorrow morning then.
 
I may still have a good starter in my rather small stash of Jeep parts. I had it tested years ago and it was good. It's got Ford on it but I believe it was the original stater to my scrambler/258. If you wind up needing one you can have mine for the cost of shipping. Bit first I need to confirm that I still have it and to confirm that it's the right one.
 
Sorry to go MIA for a while. Just got back in town and got the starter out. Looks pretty beat to me. From other things ive seen it appears the gear is stuck. Im going to get it tested this afternoon and will come back with the results. In the meantime i cleaned some of the terminals on the solenoid and the wire going to the stater motor.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/90944947@N06/8354085381/" title="IMG_0273 by Tlow2191, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8053/8354085381_1621cd8967.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_0273"></a>
 
Eager to see how it goes. Nothing like starting your CJ up for the first time after working on it :)
 
as yall figured starters shot. So next move is to order one of those. Robert Slone I appreciate the offer and nothing wrong with that but i kinda want to start fresh and not potentially be working backwards. That said anyone have any knowledge on what is a good starter that will last?
 
A little pricey, but I'm psyched I can reuse the Mean Green starter I had on the Postal's 258 on my new FSJ.

Had a short in the starter relay wire with the Mean Green as I was driving down the road in the Postal years back. Screeched like hell as the starter was trying to/engaged as I was driving. Stopped and the starter kept running until I pulled the battery +. Starter was smoking like a SOB but once I found the problem and unshorted the wires, started right up and never had an issue in a number of more years of service.


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I get the cheap autozone starters. They're crap, but they are cheap and they have a lifetime warranty on them and it takes about 20 mins to swap one out. I picked up a used starter on ebay, and when I had a starter go out I put the used one on the Jeep and took the bad starter to Autozone and got a new one, so now when that used one goes bad, I have a new one on the shelf in my shop ready to go.
 
wm69 that sounds like solid deal. I wonder why one of those starters would have a lifetime warranty where as the mean green would be 2 years? Despite the great reviews i hear, i may end up going that route and put the extra money towards something else. Im gonna hit up autozone and see what their "limited lifetime" means ha
 
My experience with parts made to last is that something goes wrong immediately due to a manufacturing error or material defect, otherwise it will last a very long time.

Just ask yourself what it's worth to you if you're in the most inconvenient place possible when you find you need that lifetime warranty on the cheap starter. Easy to say you'll throw in another one if it's on the shelf in the garage and you're miles out in the woods out of cell service.
 
bigwalton said:
My experience with parts made to last is that something goes wrong immediately due to a manufacturing error or material defect, otherwise it will last a very long time.

Just ask yourself what it's worth to you if you're in the most inconvenient place possible when you find you need that lifetime warranty on the cheap starter. Easy to say you'll throw in another one if it's on the shelf in the garage and you're miles out in the woods out of cell service.
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You make an excellent point. I don't go far from home in my Jeeps, and with them being standards I'm good at push/ roll starting or using the winch to get them started if I have an emergency (got good at that with my old '50 Jeepster with the 6V system. Had to push start that thing all the time).

I've had one autozone starter go bad, and it was about 3-4 years old and just started dragging/ turning over slowly, so I took it back and they gave me a new one. I've never had a starter just die outright, they always start dragging. I bought a much more expensive NAPA unit the first time around and it only lasted 3-4 years, so the next time I went with the Duralast and so far I've been pleased with them.

That said, if you go way out in the boonies or plan on using your Jeep as a bug out vehicle, you might be better off getting a mean green. My Jeeps stay close to home, so worst case scenario I call a buddy or walk to the nearest house/ country store and call someone to bring me the extra starter from my shop.
 
tlow2191 said:
wm69 that sounds like solid deal. I wonder why one of those starters would have a lifetime warranty where as the mean green would be 2 years? Despite the great reviews i hear, i may end up going that route and put the extra money towards something else. Im gonna hit up autozone and see what their "limited lifetime" means ha
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They rebuild old starters (probably in Mexico or China) and figure chances are the warranty will never be used. Most people don't keep good records and trade/ sell vehicles off every few years. Only those of us who keep a vehicle for decades will benefit from a lifetime warranty on parts.

If your Jeep is a toy, the lifetime warranty is great. If it's your daily driver or you take it WAY out in the boonies, I'd probably spring for a NEW starter (not reman) or something like the mean green.

I'm all about good parts, but for starters and alternators the cheap duralasts with the warranty have worked fine for me and are cheap enough that I have spares in the shop so swapping one out is a 15 min easy job if I ever need one.
 
I appreciate the advice. I ended up going with the Autozone one on the basis that this will not be a trail rig of any sort at least for the foreseeable future, I have a JK im building up for that, and I plan to hold on the this CJ. So knock on wood I will never be stranded. I do like to drive it as much as possible but changing the starter seems like an easy enough job if something goes wrong and if it becomes too much of a hassle its less out the pocket than something else. Picked up a new soleniod too, on the off chance that somethings wrong there. Im going to work on it saturday morning hopefully and ill let you know what happens.
on another note, autozone told me to bring back the bad starter for some sort of refund, do you think theres any benefit or added value to holding on to the original one?
 
No benefit to holding on to the old one. They probably have a core charge that they'll refund when you bring it in, they send your old one back to Mexico to be repaired and sold again.
 
I'm having the same problem/symptoms as tlow2191 with my '83 CJ-7 Renegade with 258 inline 6 engine. When it warms up a bit, I'll be checking out/replacing my starter or the solenoid, or both. Some very good advice given above. Many thanks.
I can say of Autozone that they have stood behind their warranties in my somewhat limited dealings with them, and they're helpful too.
I'm glad you're up and running, tlow2191.
 
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