Try and take it apart and look at it first. Mine did that to me Saturday while we were wheeling. Got a push start and didn't shut it off til I got home Sunday. using my 3' of extensions, took it off. First I jumped it with jumper cables. The solenoid would kick, but no spinning. So then I took it apart. There are 4 pieces of hardware that hols it together. The two longbolts hold the body of the starter to the nose cone. Take those out and seperate those pieces. Then take the other two bolts out. That holds the back of starter to the main body. Seperate those. I took eleictrical contact cleaner and sprayed the center part down. trying to spin it it was locked up. i grabbed it with my hand and made it spin. looking at it, there was some crud in there, I guess wheeling in 3' of water all day, then a couple weeks later, 2' of mud and water, then Saturday hitting a few puddles and mud pits it had some crap in it. Sprayed it all clean, put it back together, and i swear it works better now than it did before. Try it, it's very simple. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I used fasteddy's trick when I did the clutch- 3' of 3/8' extension worked great for me

3/8" it is then...I'll get the extensions and breaker bar either later today or first thing in the morning, then get that starter out...

I got a 2' extension at autozone and then stacked it with some 4"-6" ones I already had. Turned out to be the cheapest way for me.

I just stacked a bunch of extensions together to get the length. The slop in the joints makes a curve that helps get on the bolt. 14mm, iirc.

All you guys and socket extensions. I use 2 wrenches from this set and don't have to get under the truck, all done from access next to the carb:


Husky wrench set at Home Depot

I have a set of wrenches like that, and can actually see the top bolt of the starter. I sprayed some PB Blaster on both starter bolts from the top, and will let it sit overnight. I might try to loosen that top starter bolt from the top. I don't think I'll be able to reach it with a wrench, but I'll give it a try in the morning. All else fails, I'll use the extensions and get it from underneath.

Well, that was an interesting repair. I used an 18" and two 10" extensions, and was still short, so I used a short one I had in my socket set. All total I figured it was about 3.5', in order to clear that cross member that the torsion bars end in, so that the breaker bar could swing freely. So I have this three and a half foot wobbly extension on a 14mm socket, connected to a breaker bar, and when it finally breaks free, my hand slams into the cross member, the socket comes flying off the end of the extension and gets lost in the engine compartment somewhere, etc. I decide to take a short break and reassess the situation, and take care of my hand, which is now dripping blood thru my shredded latex gloves, lol!

I decide to make a parts store run and get another 14mm socket, and get a 14mm ratcheting wrench (mine was missing). Since the top bolt was now broken loose, I was able to use the new socket, an extension, and a universal joint and loosen it by hand. When it came time to break loose the bottom starter bolt, seems that there was a slight clearance problem there as well in using a socket, extension, and breaker bar. Luckily, I had that new ratcheting wrench, and it made quick work of that bolt.

So once I figured out how to drop the starter out and clear the torsion bar and frame rail, I took it to the auto parts store and bought the new one. Reversed the process, got it up into place, and started with the lower bolt, to hold it on place. Got it nice and snug, using the ratcheting wrench, then used the socket/universal joint/extension setup and tightened the upper bolt by hand. Then I got up top in the engine compartment and finished tightening that one with the ratcheting wrench, then tightened the bottom one with the ratcheting wrench. Anyone see a pattern here?!

Reconnected the wire to the spade connector, and the cable to the post, reconnected the battery, and she fired right up. So I'm all good to go now. For me, in my particular repair, I would HIGHLY recommend using a 14mm ratcheting wrench and loosening/tightening that top starter bolt from on top, and NOT using three and half feet of extensions.

The new starter cost me about $70, and I'm sure being able to do this myself saved me at least a couple of hours of shop labor. Plus, I gained some knowledge and experience on how to do this myself. Hopefully, this starter will last another 170K miles, and I won't have to deal with it for a good, long time! But if I do, the first tool on my list is going to be that 14mm ratcheting wrench, NOT three and a half feet of wobbly extensions!