I have an 87 wrangler with a starter problem.  The problem is that the starter grinds against the flywheel and tears it apart.  Then I have to make sure I'm parked on a hill.  It just happened for the second time in less than six thousand miles.  I fixed it myself last time, and had to pull the transmission and t-case just to get to it.  Why would this be happening, and what should I do about it?  Could the engine be out of alignment, or would the position of the starter most likely be the cause?  Can you access the flywheel when  you pull the engine?  I assume so, but could be wrong.  The jeep has a heap of miles on it and runs okay, but  since I have to pull everything out, would it make sense to rebuild it.  Any cheap fixes?  I have a 258 with a puegeuot transmission and I swore that if this happened again I would replace everything, but in reviewing my finances I've only got $2000 to spend.  It would be a bummer to pull all of this stuff, replace the flywheel, put it all back in, and have it do the same thing.  I also have moved to a new town with no wrenching friends or garage, so I will have to contract everything out.  Any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated.  I would really like to prevent this from happening again!

Thanks

Pedro  

send a PM to kiethpapa. the one with the bouncing boobs..
he's near missoula, I would imagine he may be willing to help out there...

if the starter bolts to the block shimms may be the answer, if it bolts to the bell housing, it may have the wrong pitch gears.  

Thanks, I will give it a try.  

If you replaced the flywheeel and it happened again, i would say its an issue with the stater. And yes, you can get to the flywheel when you pull the engine.  

The shoulder design on the bolts also make a difference. Are you working on a 4cyl or I6?  

I'm working on the I6.  I'm not even sure what the shoulder design is, so you may have to help me a little more.  This may be of interest-the first time it happened, I hoped it was just the starter, so I replaced it.  After installing the new one (and finding all the metal shavings), I found out that it wasn't the starter, but I kept the new one in anyway.  Thanks for all of your help, everyone!

Pedro

PS...Why don't they make the metal in the starter softer than the metal in the flywheel?  I would happily replace a starter every so often, rather than having to dig into the flywheel.  

Last time you replaced the flywheel, how did the gear on the starter look? where any teeth broken or missing?  

The shoulder design makes the bolt a nice tight fit going through the starter so the starter can not move at all when bolted in place.  

If I remember correctly, the starter looked okay, but I'll check to make sure there's no way it came loose.  I have another question.  You guys have been great about coming up with solutions, or at least diagnosing the problem.  Since I don't really have the time, space, or tools (or skills, apparently, 'cuz I didn't fix it right the last time), I feel like I should take it in somewhere.  Do you think that a shop would be able to fix it if I explain what's going on? I currently live in Helena, MT.  Does anyone know of a place nearby, like within a hundred miles or so?  I'm willing to spend the money, but I'd hate to take it in and pay labor and have someone "fix" it the same way I did.  

Im not sayiny the starter would come loose. Im saying it would be able to move around before the bolts are tightened. Imagine putting a bolt thats 3/8" dia. in a 1/2" hole. I would be lose. Now imagine putting a 1/2" bolt in a 1/2" hole. there would be no room for movement side to side. thats what im trying to explain.  

There are special/different bolts for mounting the starter. Some times they get lost and a non-starter bolt gets used, cause it screws in.

This is more common with the 4cyl which uses a GM type starter. Mid 80's GM is hard because things switched from SAE to metric, but not on everything at the same time. You have to be sure you have the metric starter bolts that go into the non metric block, for example.

One way to shim the Ford type starter (yours) is to use bolts with shoulder spacers to shim the starter.

But, I'm not saying you need to shim. Just some babble.  

AEV in missoula could direct you to a good place I'm sure... Idon't think they do PM or genral repairs...

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