Lesson learned…the hard way. Can you help me identify the starter I need?

DammitDuckworth

New Member
Joined
May 26, 2022
Messages
2
Location
West Virginia
Hello friends! I just picked up my 91 2.5l 5-speed about 6 months ago. It was, of course, love at first sight. I’ve hit a bit of an issue though and hope the collective knowledge and years of experience within this forum can help me out.

I am unaware of how many owners she has had, nor any of the modifications each of them made, which has lead to my current debacle.

A few weeks ago I found myself stuck at work, with an obvious starter issue. Luckily some co-workers helped me get her bump started and I got her back home. Thinking I only wanted to make one trip to the parts store, I dropped the starter and went to the parts store to pick up a replacement. Like an idiot I turned in my old starter for the core charge without confirming the new part was correct. This was very very dumb.

Got home that evening and put the new starter on. I found it odd that the new starter didn’t have the bolt pattern of the old one but she turned right over when I tried it so I didn’t think much of it. A few days later I went to start her again and you could hear the starter skipping teeth, and finally after a few revolutions it would grab and turn over. Obviously something is wrong so I dropped this starter and took it back to the parts store. Unfortunately, they had already shipped my old starter to wherever old parts go to die and be reborn. So no hope in running it down. So now I find myself here. At the mercy of the universe and the hard lesson gods.

The only photo I have of the old starter is this one which shows the electrical hook ups.

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The old starter had a bolt that went where the silver chop stick is in these photos.

61EE686B-B68E-492B-B9A6-811E20DA599E.jpeg


Possibly one of the previous owners swapped out the transmission. Here are some photos of it for reference.
BC2EE0EB-ED50-4D7B-9E7A-8D8D98F22302.jpeg


C0A7C9B1-364B-4114-998F-6F8A095AC78A.jpeg


Can anyone help me identify what starter I need? Ol’ girl is just stuck sitting on the road when she should be out enjoying this weather. Any help would be appreciated.
 
One thing you could try is running the VIN number on the internet. I can’t tell you what website that my wife used but she found one pretty quick. That is how I found out that my 89 with a 5 speed was originally an automatic. It should tell you all the original configuration of the Jeep, and that may help you to find your starter.
 
One thing you could try is running the VIN number on the internet. I can’t tell you what website that my wife used but she found one pretty quick. That is how I found out that my 89 with a 5 speed was originally an automatic. It should tell you all the original configuration of the Jeep, and that may help you to find your starter.
Thank you! I will try this.