Are my starter's days numbered?

[Special_K]

ROCKER GUARDS neeeeded! *yj*

Lately when I crank up my '95 YJ, I noticed that it seems to turn over with a little more difficulty than normal...not much...but turns a little slower and seems to take a little longer to catch. Similar to slowness you get when you crank on a near-dead battery.

My battery is fine, so is this an indication that my starter is on it's last leg?

I have about 160K miles on my Jeep...all with the original starter. I'm wondering if I should replace it before it completely dies and leaves me stranded.

 

[Saurian]

Hhmmm... Where are you living? If it's colder out, this could explain slow cranking... Starters usually make a ghastly clattering/grinding noise when they are getting ready to go, at least, they did in my experience...

 

[TwistedCU]

RE: Are my starter

Hhmmm... Where are you living? If it's colder out, this could explain slow cranking... Starters usually make a ghastly clattering/grinding noise when they are getting ready to go, at least, they did in my experience...

When the mechanism that engages the starter gear with the flywheel fails, that is the case.

When the electric motor is failing, it can drag as SpecialK described.


Yes, your starter is probably on it's way to becoming a core charge.

You can try to beat on it a few times if it fails completely. Sometimes they are just dirty.

 

[Craig]

I had the same problem a few weeks ago. If you look back, you can find my posts on it. I thought for sure it was my battery because I'd just replaced it with a new one and never had the problem of slow cranking till I changed my battery. I thought I'd bought a faulty battery but after installing another battery, the problem was still there. Turned out that the starter just happened to start going right after I put in the new battery. Before you go changing the starter, check that all the electrical connections to the battery, starter and ground are all clean and tight. I had a problem of slow cranking a few years ago and it turned out that the battery cable was corroded inside, underneath the sheilding all the way from the battery to the starter.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Could be a bad battery cable or terminal if you're 100% sure the battery is fine.

 

[laneiac]

RE: Re: RE: ZJ V8 Fan and Fan Clutch Swap

Yeah, always check the cables. Made that mistake once.

 

[extremeYJ]

you starter is going to die, same thing happened to my 95 yj not to long ago, kept doing the same thing yours did and i waited to change it and ended up screwed

 

[flyboy]

RE: Oil pressure sending unit (I think)

I say wait till it dies completely, it only takes a little while to change. But if you do live where it is cold this time of year you might want to think wether you have a place to change it or not. Changing parts and lying in the snow ain't much fun!!