Need help with a CJ7 starter

[maddhatter]

Ok, So here is the deal. I have a 85 CJ7 with a 258 and a 5speed. When I got the CJ it had washers that shimmed the starter out like 1/2" to 3/4" now before you say it I KNOW JEEPS DON'T HAVE STARTER SHIMS! But this one does and if I put the starter on without them it will start but the starter will never release. I know the motor is not stock and came from a 85 or 86 waggy and I have no idea what bell housing they used.

So what I need to know is. I have looked at pic's of the starters for older CJ's and it looks like the gear might be shorter. Before 76 or something like that.
Can anyone tell me if they are? and if the bolts are the same?

I am thinking they might have used a much older bell housing when they built the Jeep. They want over $100 for the older starter and would have to order it so if it is wrong it is a wasted cash that I just don't have. Any help would be great like a cheap used older starter or just one I could use to try it out.
It has always made a nasty sound even when it worked so I wonder if the tooth count might be different also. The teeth on my flywheel look bad but I am not going to change it just to end up right back here with the same problem.

Any info or help would be great. Thanks.

[maddhatter]

Bump!


























HELP!!!!

[KargoMaster]

sorry, i got nothing... somethings definitely fishy...

[tjjeepjeep]

I got even more nothing.

[Redriverranger]

It's probably a ford starter. There are different ones depending upon standard shift, or automatic. There are also a couple different bendix tooth counts by application. Not really sure how to tell you which one to get.

[GPER]

PAD



Oh wrong board




I was going to take a picture of mine, but my hood is froze so that wont happen.

[tjjeepjeep]

PAD



Oh wrong board

I believe my 'I got even more nothing.' Is the equivalent of that for here though.

[KargoMaster]

so is continuing to post no help to our starter challenged friend...

I think that Casey was right on with the AMC starters being Ford... just can't help any more than that... all my AMC/Ford starters are '78-'83-'86 -ish

[maddhatter]

so is continuing to post no help to our starter challenged friend...

I think that Casey was right on with the AMC starters being Ford... just can't help any more than that... all my AMC/Ford starters are '78-'83-'86 -ish

But are they all the same?

[KargoMaster]

I believe that all of my starters ('78 AMC304, '83 AMC360, '86 Ford302) are interchangable... you mentioned something about a pre-76 starter, so I thought I was out of luck in the helping you dept, but if it would help, I would happily bring you my collection.

Say the word... I'll PM my number...

[KargoMaster]

Here's what I got... Dirtier one is from the AMC360 (82-83 Cherokee Chief) but was most recently on a (CJ) AMC304... the darker one is from the Ford 302 (86? Mercury Grand Marquis):




AMC



Ford



AMC left, Ford right



Ford left, AMC right



Ford left, AMC right



Ford left, AMC right




Dammit it's cold out.... crappy phone pics, but they are what they are.

Some slight variations, but overall dimensions are interchangeable...
Hope this helps...

[ldhyatt]

starters

like mentioned above,auto & manual trannys have different nose length on starters.You may just need one for manual tranny.I buy cheap one year starter from autozone for like $27.00. lifetimes are a little more.
good luck

[KargoMaster]

My pics:

Dirty = stick....

Dark = auto...


so interchangeable, IMO... at least for this case.

[kyrel69]

well they do not make a shim for the "jeep" starter but they do for the ford. I thought I had to use that shim and tried it but did not fix my problem. I had the same problem you are haveing that it would not release once the motor got started. Well I got another stater from a buddy and that fixed my problem. So I took my other starter back to Auto Zone and made them give me another one.

So you might try another starter with out the shims and see if that helps. Also are the holes in your bellhouseing getting worn out. My got so bad that it started kicking my starter back so it would not touch the flywheel. Yours could be going the other way maybe?