2002 liberty starter

[mark sr]

I was in the middle of doing a compression check on my stepson's jeep when the starter quit engaging. Starter motor turned but bendix wouldn't engage so I got a new starter and installed it [no little job :x] but the new one does the same thing. Am I overlooking something or did I buy a defective starter?

 

[JPNinPA]

You should be able to get both checked at auto-zone or O'Reilly's . Take your battery too. Look for dirt on the bendix gear that is allowing it to rotate but not kick out fully to engage.

 

[mark sr]

The battery was replaced last week. Sure don't look forward to pulling the starter again.

 

[mark sr]

The starter is good. After a lot of research on the net I came across one person that said he heard once of a bendix drive not engaging when the plugs were out. I had removed all 6 plugs and did a compression test on the left bank [all good] but when I went over to the right side is when the starter quit working. Reinstalled the plugs on the drivers side and the starter works. The really bad news is the first cylinder on the right has no compression :x

 

[JPNinPA]

The starter is good. After a lot of research on the net I came across one person that said he heard once of a bendix drive not engaging when the plugs were out. I had removed all 6 plugs and did a compression test on the left bank [all good] but when I went over to the right side is when the starter quit working. Reinstalled the plugs on the drivers side and the starter works. The really bad news is the first cylinder on the right has no compression :x

Glad you figured it out and shared.


For the bendix to not engage means either there is not enough rpm and initial torque for the shaft to spin faster than the bendix. Or something on the shaft keeping the bendix frim moving fully out.
If the engine poses no load and spins so freely it out spins the shaft that the bendix disengages. If this is occurring I'd wonder what all the cylinders compression readings are.

 

[mark sr]

Every cylinder except the one with no compression was 185 psi +/- Had to quit working on it when his brother came up with a new hub to put on his car ..... at least I got to take a break and work on something easy!

 

[JPNinPA]

185 is good. Spec 170-225 psi

 

[mark sr]

Ya, but I'll have to dig deeper next week to find out why one cylinder has no compression, sure wish it was on the other side - lot of stuff in the way just to get to the valve cover