4.0L Starter Bolts

[buckwheat]

1987 MJ with 4.0L and BA 10-5

 

Went to town for dinner tonight and when I tried to go home my truck wouldn't start. When I turned the key I heard the fuel pump prime and the starter whirl, but the engine wouldn't turn over. Looked under the truck and realized that the starter was just barely hanging in the bellhousing. Top bolt is MIA, bottom one is scarred up. I got it home, however I am left with two questions:

 

1: What size are the starter bolts? I have access to two 90 XJ's for parts, both with the 4.0L engine. One is an auto and the other a manual. Would the bolts from those be the same as mine? Not sure since the bellhousings would be different since they are different transmission, right?

 

2: When I hillbilly fixed it in the parking lot (still had the bottom bolt, and tightened that one to seat the starter down) it sounded horrible starting. It would crank fine for 1 second, then clunk and cause the lights on my dash to dim for 2-3 seconds, then go back to sounding fine for 1 second, etc. The truck has been doing this for the past year, just not as bad as it was tonight. Does this mean the starter is at the end of its life? Could I use one of the starters from the parts XJs mentioned above?

 

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

EDIT: I also remember reading a thread on rebuilding your starter, but I can't seem to find it. Could someone link it for me?

[gogmorgo]

The starter may be wearing out, but most likely it's just binding because it's not bolted down properly, which could shorten it's life too, I suppose. Mine did that too for a while. Still worked when I bolted it back on.

[buckwheat]

Any info on the bolts so I can put it on properly?

[gogmorgo]

Sorry, don't know, and googling returns pretty wild variation in results. What I do know is they aren't both the same size, and I'm pretty sure only one of them is metric, which was the cause of my problem, the bolts were in the wrong holes and not tightened down properly at all.

[cruiser54]

The one going INTO the starter is metric. The one going into the bell housing is SAE. The ones from your donor will be fine. 

[buckwheat]

Thanks Cruiser. Got it tightened down again. Now I have something else to be paranoid about and check constantly. 

 

I would like to rebuild my old starter instead of relying on stuff from the parts stores. Is there a walkthrough on it? I seem to remember Hornbrod having trouble finding correct brushes recently? Really any good articles I can read over to prepare for it would be nice.

 

Thanks for all the help gents.

[HOrnbrod]

http://comancheclub.com/topic/50837-replacing-mitsubishi-starter-motor-brushes/?hl=brushes

[cruiser54]

Update since I removed a starter yesterday:

 

 

Upper 10mm by 1.5 by 25mm long. 15mm wrench/socket required.
Lower 3/8" by 16 by 1.5 inches long. 9/16" wrench or socket required. 

[HOrnbrod]

The parts manual shows:

 

Top Bolt:        J4006192, 3/8"x16, 1-3/4" Long
Bottom Bolt:  11502689, 10mm x 1.5, 1.18" Long

 

This is the way my starter is mounted, and I recently changed it out. And my starter was original. Both bolts were over 25mm (.98") long for sure, and are pretty easy to mix up if you didn't know they were different. 

[buckwheat]

Hornbrod,

 

Do your part numbers cross for all years? Or could it be another Renix vs. HO thing?

 

And since I am asking stupid questions, here is another one: Would different transmissions change starters and bolt lengths? Or is the bellhousing part uniform across all the MJs and XJs?

[cruiser54]

Hornbrod,

 

Do your part numbers cross for all years? Or could it be another Renix vs. HO thing?

 

And since I am asking stupid questions, here is another one: Would different transmissions change starters and bolt lengths? Or is the bellhousing part uniform across all the MJs and XJs?

It's definitely not a Renix versus HO thing. 

[FrankTheDog]

Also one has a 14mm/9/16's head and the other 15mm. I want to say the upper has the 15mm head thereby being the metric bolt.

This is in all my 92-99 jeeps.

[cruiser54]

Also one has a 14mm/9/16's head and the other 15mm. I want to say the upper has the 15mm head thereby being the metric bolt.

This is in all my 92-99 jeeps.

Correct. I corrected/added to my post above with this:

 

Upper 10mm by 1.5 by 25mm long. 15mm wrench/socket required.

Lower 3/8" by 16 by 1.5 inches long. 9/16" wrench or socket required. 

[3r1ca941]

Would these bolt sizes be the same on a 02 TJ 6cyl. ??