Experience with swapping starters
 

Anyone have any advice? it seems easy but everything starts out that way! Just 2 bolts and the cables?

its just as easy as it looks

Ditto. I just did one in mine. Took maybe five minutes. Literally.

yeah its very easy. mine was after i just went muddin and it poured out so i had to get the caked on mud off while i had muddy water dripping on my face. its all good though.

Easy like changing a battery. Disco the battery first ;)

The most complicated part of the procedure is dodging the falling pieces of mud/dirt that tries to land in your eye.

prob one of the easier things that can go wrong on a car

I don't know if I'd say that's universal. On the Cherokee it's an easy job, but I've seen some PITA starters to get to on FWD cars.

swapped it in 20 minuets... wow that was easy guys! But it worked fine yesterday, today i started it and it sounded like it was going, than it was grinding metal to metal, and than it starts ok... weird? i heard a shim would work but i cant seem to find one, do i have a bad starter?

There is no way of shimming the Xj starter that I am aware of.
Double-check your electrical connections and re-tighten the mounting bolts.

It is quite possible you have a bad starter . Did you get new or reman?
Did you get it from AutoZone????
How did the flywheel/flexplate look when you removed the old unit?

.,...yes... autozone... god why do i go there... lol

ok so i think its a bad starter, the flywheel looked fine, no teeth missing i could see when i got the old starter out. im going to replace it this weekend but it ONLY grinds as its starting, i think the starter is not disengageing.. ive never shim'd a jeep before but i knew it happens alot on gm/ford...so its a reman starter probably a bad spring... ugh...

Ha that is funny. I put an Autozone starter in mine about a week and a half ago, and it has been making a grinding noise ever since I put it in! It was even the more expensive one.

There is no way to shim out the XJ starter.

Two bolts and it slides into a machined opening.

Mostlikely, the A/Z starter you bought was defective.
Take it back.
DEMAND another starter.
IF they give you any grief that you installed it wrong.
Inform them...there is no possible way to install it wrong, and that they should be a little more knowledgable about the items they sell.

If they don't give you another starter-
DEMAND your money back and patronize a different parts supplier

Right on! My brother had a '95 Eagle Talon TSI that you literally had to pull the engine/trans to get to it.