Chick-N-Picker

89 XJ 4.0 auto 105,000 miles.

Went to town and shut my jeep off. Tried to crank it and nothing. No click but radio and all worked. Thankfully had my tools. Checked voktage at battery. 12+. Took the ends off and wiped them. Put them on good and tight. Still nothing. Bumped the starter. Still nothing. Tried cranking it neutral and wiggling shifter.

Decided maybe I didn't bump the starter good enough or exactly in the right place. Bumped it again and it crunk right up. Drove it home. Shut it off. And it crunk right back up. So I know it was starter related, obviously (starter, solenoid). Does this mean it is just a short time before the starter needs replaced or could go another 6 months or more and not do this again? Just curious.

Edit: I seen in another thread from 5 years ago that Cruiser54 said regarding somebody tapping a starter that "he'd bet there starter was coated in oil on the outside and inside due to a leaky oil filter adapter O ring".

Guess who had to loosen his oil filter adapter last spring/summer to change motor mounts? Guess who now appears to be leaking a little more than I used to? My starter does not appear to be extra covered in oil but I know some is almost inevitably getting on there. Can the starter be took off and cleaned? Also I was thinking what a weird spot to put a starter under a spot that oil comes out, both from the adapter and filter when changing that. Maybe we should take a gallon freezer bag and cut it, then lightly wrap around our starters and secure with zip ties to keep debri and oil from getting on them haha. Cause other than that I don't know how you would cover them from oil or even simply road debris.

Jeepwalker

How old (miles) is the starter is what I'd like to know? Oil can soak the motor and contacts and it interferes with the electrical path at the motor brushes or somewhere else in there. If it attracts a lot of dust it can get thick and prevent the plunger from freely moving and doesn't start either. The starter solenoid contacts arc every time you go to start the vehicle and eventually erode away till there's no copper left to make contact. You can replace just the solenoid, and I believe also just the end cap on your year solenoid ...but not 100% sure (install new contacts). More than likely the contacts are either oil soaked or eroded away.

If the starter is fairly low mile, sure you can take it apart and clean it ..and I've done just that before. If it's several years old, they are cheap enough nowadays, it's hardly worth cleaning. But yeah, just unbolt, disassemble, and spray some degreaser on the parts, hose off with hot water ...allow to dry. You could have a missing armature commutator brush causing a 'dead-spot' also, or an internal wiring problem. You can test all the comutators, there's videos on youtube how to do it.

Did you double-check the solenoid? Could be that is the problem too ...and the starter just happened to go. I would consider replacing it.

I remember buying just the solenoid cap (like a GM solenoid repair kit) for like less than $10 ..but maybe they've gone up since then. If it's a GM-style, they look like this. But yours might be different so look it over.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Napa-STK27-...EAAOSw2fVc1Dx0

boxburn

My one recently had a no crank situation and a tap to the starter got it going. Within the course of 4 days I went from the first none crank to every time needing to tap the starter. It also progressively cranked slower with each start. I ended up putting a new starter in it and it's been perfect since.

I decided to take mine apart to see if it were worth repairing (internals weren't worth buying in the UK cost wise). I found that the carbon bushes were worn down to their limits and it was gunked up with oil residue. My starter was the original so no surprise at its condition.

cruiser54

I have had success taking them apart and cleaning them. But only if the brushes are good.