I Need a Starter...

[Rock.Wgn]

I need a new starter... I searched the old threads and came up dry. What starters do you recommend? I have a 95 XJ...
Thanks,
Sean

 

[8Mud]

You probably need a new set of brushes. The Chrysler starter you have in there, is pretty robust and will last through a few brush changes, before the front parts (Bendix, gears overunning clutch and such) start to act up, most times.
If you do buy a new one, I´d shine on the core charge and change the brushes, in what I got, for a spare. Nice to have an extra starter handy, especially, if you see some mudden from time to time.

 

[Rock.Wgn]

Maybe so, mine is starting to go click, click, start. I know the battery is good.

 

[XJXJ]

Maybe so, mine is starting to go click, click, start. I know the battery is good.

If you have an automatic tranny, the NSS may fool you into thinking you have a bad starter. One way to qualify is to bypass ignition-switch/NSS and jump-start the start solenoid terminal directly from the battery B+ when this happens.

 

[8Mud]

The click is probably the solenoid actuating, the brushes are what actually, completes the circuit and turns the motor. If the brushes get too short, they make an iffy contact and starting can be a sometimes thing. When they get bad (to short or oily contact), you can sometimes hear them crackle a bit, kind of an arching sound.
If the starter spins and fails to start the motor (or rngauge the teeth on the flywheel or flex plate) it´s usually the solenoid or bendix, sometimes the overunning clutch.

 

[XJXJ]

NSS may or may not click. Just depends on how little or how much current gets through the intermittent switch. I've heard it both ways when my NSS acts-up.

Yes, could be bad brushes too but the smart thing with an auto XJ is to qualify the NSS before R&R'ing the starter.

 

[8Mud]

On the 95 I beleive there is a connector near the fuse/relay box that is the plug for the solenoid wire to the relay wire. You could put a volt meter in the relay side of the plug and wiggle the shifter around a bit and try a few gears and check for low voltage or intermittant power loss. The NSS, like the relay could be an iffy thing, sometimes and sometimes not making good contact (I once found a bad solenoid wire, that had fatigued almost completely through from vibration). But most times, when the solenoid clicks and the starter don´t turn, the brushes (either oil soaked, mud covered or worn) were the cause of the problem. Really not that big of a deal, to take the starter off, mark the case for reassembly and pop the back cover off and look at the brushes. If your oil filter mount is leaking, it could be as simple as oil on the brushes and a squirt or two of brake cleaner will get things working right again. Takes two people and some patience, to push the brushes back into there holder and put the rear cover back on.

 

[Darky]

I just installed a remanufactured gear reduction unit from AutoZone. I paid $85.99 + $35 core charge. It was a simple fix, took me and my wife about an hour to hour and a half and most of that time was just breaking the nuts and bolts loose. I had problems with my NSS in the past. Then it wouldn't do anything. I'd let it sit awhile and then it'd start until one day I got nothing. So we pulled it apart, sprayed it out real good with carb cleaner (same as brake cleaner pretty much), scrubbed the contacts with a wire brush and put it back together with new, fresh grease. No more problems. You can check it by wiggling the shifter around in park or neutral while holding the key in start. If you hear it catch a little here and there as you move the shifter its probably the NSS. Or you can see if your reverse lights work. Mine didn't because the whole thing was gummed up. Or touch the 2 points together on the starter with a screwdriver. Sounds more frightening than it is. Just make sure you're in Park...If you touch the starter terminals and it turns, then its the switch, if there's still nothing its the starter.