My friend's 1975 Jeep CJ-5 with an unknown 8 Cyl Engine (not stock i.e.
304).
The starter starting making the horrible fingernail on the chalkboard sound.
So we took the starter off and the edge of the flywheel is ate up pretty bad
(not all the way around, only in a spot about 4" long along the gear). So
can I get the flywheel fixed, or do I need a new one?

Also, not knowing the size of the flywheel, are their many different types?
Or do Jeeps typically come with a 10" or 12" flywheel? From what I can
tell, it looks the original bellhousing (ironduke?).

Thanks.

Jo Baggs wrote:
You will need a new one. Also check the starter gear and make sure it's
not buggered up also. Bad alignment is usually the culprit.

Can't help you with the flywheel except to say that since it has to
come off you can look on it for a stamped part number then have NAPA
look up the part.

--
DougW

"DougW" <I.only.read.usenet (AT) invalid (DOT) address> wrote

how do you make sure the starter is aligned properly?

Hi Jo,
First off get all the info. In every case I can think of the bell
housing goes with the engine.
Then find out what the cause the problem, was it a bad bendix that's
ratchet when into the free wheel position, and a frustrated drive kept
slamming into the wheel. Or did the engine and starter need a spacer, like
some used in the 70's GM 350 era.
http://www.billhughes.com/temp/gmStarter70.jpg You may just see the shims.
They sell ring gears for all the wheels, just heat it up and slip in on.
God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
mailto:BillHughes (AT) billhughes (DOT) com
http://www.billhughes.com/jeep_bookmark.htm

"Jo Baggs" <Jo (AT) says (DOT) shaddup> wrote

"Jo Baggs" <Jo (AT) says (DOT) shaddup> wrote

Somebody might correct me here, but the Iron Duke was the 4-banger engine,
and nothing else.

Can you connect the starter to the battery and see if the noise is still
there? My guess is that the marks on the flywheel and the noise yo report
are not related. If so, the marks are probably not important -- they've been
there a long time, no point in worrying abut them now.

In any case, if you elect to go after the flywheel, it would be a good time
to consider a clutch because you'll have it off anyway.

"Jo Baggs" <Jo (AT) says (DOT) shaddup> wrote


The alignment of the starter would not change over night. If the starter has
been working fine for years, and suddenly started to make noises, then the
alignment is not the likely problem.

The starter has a gear that has a one-way clutch inside. The clutch can
fail, and this can be noisey. The starter also has bearings that can fail.

Hi Jo,
Make sure the starter has the right bolts, with a knurled shank to take
all the walking out of it:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/starter%20bolts/mrcser84/Parts%20For%20Sale/StarterBolts.jpg
God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
mailto:BillHughes (AT) billhughes (DOT) com
http://www.billhughes.com/jeep_bookmark.htm

"Jo Baggs" <Jo (AT) says (DOT) shaddup> wrote

Doug and Bill both bring up excellent points, but they would make problems
pretty much immediately when the issues came up. The alignment would not
change if the bolts were right, and if the bolts were wrong, the noise would
start immediately.

If you recently replaced the starter, and wondered why all of the racket was
going on, then Doug and Bill would have good stuff to be looking at. Since
the problem seems to be that everything worked fine for a long time, now it
works not-so-fine, then the stuff that would have changed is wear to the
one-way clutch or the bearings. Both of these require the starter be
removed, whereby you can inspect the bolts and the mating surfaces of the
starter and the block to be sure the starter was fitted properly.





"L.W.(Bill) Hughes III" <BillHughes (AT) billhughes (DOT) com> wrote

"Jeff Strickland" <crwlrjeff (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Jeff, Bill, and Doug,

We took the starter off today and the ring gear is chewed up in a spot about
4" long. I looked at the starter gears. Should they be straight up or are
they curved a little like a helical gear? A couple of the gears appeared to
be angled i.e. not perpendicular to the ground when it sits straight up.

The starter is making the noise as it's not engaging the ring gear. Rather,
it's just grinding the shit out of the ring gear. There was quite a bit of
metal filings attached to the starter gear when we took it off.

Jo Baggs wrote:
Typical starter gear.
http://www.made-in-china.com/image/2f0j00cBgEwOPqrikoM/Starter-Gear-SG-02-.jpg

By "gears" do you mean "teeth" All the teeth should look alike.
The material in the starter gear is much weaker than the flywheel.
It's supposed to wear/break before the flywheel gear does... supposed to..
Possible it got buggered up when the missing teeth in the flywheel
came around and failed to mesh. Actually, take a close look at the
starters nose to make sure it's not cracked.

Alignment depends on the engine and starter mount. My ZJ just has two
bolts and that's it. The old C-10 had a small set of shims depending
on what brand of starter went in. I just put a bit of spraypaint
on the starter gear and stuck the starter in. Cranked the engine over
a few times (ignition disabled) then dropped it and looked at the pattern.

I actually had a hell of a time starting my old Chevy till I got under
and noticed there was only one bolt holding the starter on. :O
It was fairly buggered up, but the flywheel thankfully was undamaged.

--
DougW