Missing Transmission/ Starter Bolts
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 53
Likes: 1
From: Moore, SC
Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0L
I just bought a used 97 Jeep Cherokee Sport with a 4.0L , Automatic trans. Changed the oil and saw that only two bolts are holding the trans to the motor ( rear mount is OK) Who know the size and length of the bolts ?? Are they all the same ?? Also the starter is missing two bolts and the one holding it has a " billon" washer under ( too long) What size, lengths are these ??
Any help is appreciated. This is for my daughter who is trying to get to Maryland for a Summer job, while home from college
Thanks HJ
Seasoned Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 404
Likes: 0
From: Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada
Year: Sold my 1991 to go to school for 2 years.
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 53
Likes: 1
From: Moore, SC
Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0L
You are right....only two..I can't count....
Here in SC ,in my area it is hard to get a junk yard to let you do that...usually they try to sell the engine and tranny as a set !!! So for me it is easier just to buy them new from Carson Bolt Co. down the road...if I knew the size!!!
I will keep looking...last option will go to the dealer and see if he will give me the sizes...
Thanks, Guys... HJ
Here in SC ,in my area it is hard to get a junk yard to let you do that...usually they try to sell the engine and tranny as a set !!! So for me it is easier just to buy them new from Carson Bolt Co. down the road...if I knew the size!!!
I will keep looking...last option will go to the dealer and see if he will give me the sizes...
Thanks, Guys... HJ
Since you mentioned Carson Bolts, I'll assume you are in Greenfield SC.
There is a Pull-A-Part in Columbia, about 100 miles away. Take some tools and make a day of it... you may find lots of goodies you need.
There are 16 Cherokees out there... five just in April.
SJ
There is a Pull-A-Part in Columbia, about 100 miles away. Take some tools and make a day of it... you may find lots of goodies you need.
There are 16 Cherokees out there... five just in April.
SJ
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 53
Likes: 1
From: Moore, SC
Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0L
I live in Spartanburg and work in Anderson, SC.
Carson Bolt Co...is just down the road from my work.
Columbia, yes only 90-100 miles away from Spartanburg right down Interstate 26......that is good information...I am sure I will be needing other items...
Sounds like a Saturday Road Trip just to check the place out...
itzdan420.....that would be awesome...thanks to all !!!
Carson Bolt Co...is just down the road from my work.
Columbia, yes only 90-100 miles away from Spartanburg right down Interstate 26......that is good information...I am sure I will be needing other items...
Sounds like a Saturday Road Trip just to check the place out...
itzdan420.....that would be awesome...thanks to all !!!
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Upper bellhousing screws are 3/8"-16. Hex head capscrews will work neatly to replace those E-Torx atrocimacies.
Lower bellhousing screws are 7/16"-14.
Starter motor mounting screws are either 3/8"-16, M10-1.5, or one of each.
For lengths, simply measure the thickness of the part they go through, and add the nominal diameter of the screw. If the part/flange is 3/4" thick, for instance, and you're running a 3/8"-16 screw into it, then you'll need a screw that is 3/4+3/8 = 6/8+3/8 = 9/8 = 1-1/8" long. For a case like this, use the next longer size - 1-1/4". You can use a washer or two to take up any slack (but the lower bellhousing screws and starter motor mounting screws should be drilled & tapped thru.)
EDIT - there's a chart of screw sizes on my site, in the Tech section. If you know a size I don't have listed, tell me so I can add it!
Lower bellhousing screws are 7/16"-14.
Starter motor mounting screws are either 3/8"-16, M10-1.5, or one of each.
For lengths, simply measure the thickness of the part they go through, and add the nominal diameter of the screw. If the part/flange is 3/4" thick, for instance, and you're running a 3/8"-16 screw into it, then you'll need a screw that is 3/4+3/8 = 6/8+3/8 = 9/8 = 1-1/8" long. For a case like this, use the next longer size - 1-1/4". You can use a washer or two to take up any slack (but the lower bellhousing screws and starter motor mounting screws should be drilled & tapped thru.)
EDIT - there's a chart of screw sizes on my site, in the Tech section. If you know a size I don't have listed, tell me so I can add it!
CF Veteran



Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 18,786
Likes: 14
From: CT.
Year: 88
Model: Comanche (MJ)
Engine: 4.0 HO
Upper bellhousing screws are 3/8"-16. Hex head capscrews will work neatly to replace those E-Torx atrocimacies.
Lower bellhousing screws are 7/16"-14.
Starter motor mounting screws are either 3/8"-16, M10-1.5, or one of each.
For lengths, simply measure the thickness of the part they go through, and add the nominal diameter of the screw. If the part/flange is 3/4" thick, for instance, and you're running a 3/8"-16 screw into it, then you'll need a screw that is 3/4+3/8 = 6/8+3/8 = 9/8 = 1-1/8" long. For a case like this, use the next longer size - 1-1/4". You can use a washer or two to take up any slack (but the lower bellhousing screws and starter motor mounting screws should be drilled & tapped thru.)
EDIT - there's a chart of screw sizes on my site, in the Tech section. If you know a size I don't have listed, tell me so I can add it!
Lower bellhousing screws are 7/16"-14.
Starter motor mounting screws are either 3/8"-16, M10-1.5, or one of each.
For lengths, simply measure the thickness of the part they go through, and add the nominal diameter of the screw. If the part/flange is 3/4" thick, for instance, and you're running a 3/8"-16 screw into it, then you'll need a screw that is 3/4+3/8 = 6/8+3/8 = 9/8 = 1-1/8" long. For a case like this, use the next longer size - 1-1/4". You can use a washer or two to take up any slack (but the lower bellhousing screws and starter motor mounting screws should be drilled & tapped thru.)
EDIT - there's a chart of screw sizes on my site, in the Tech section. If you know a size I don't have listed, tell me so I can add it!
So, you'll see lots of hack work.
Also, bear in mind that it's possible for the screws to just work themselves loose due to vibration - that's how I ended up rebuilding my first AW4. The upper bellhousing screws had disappeared, the lower ones had backed out about 3/8", and the transmission was no longer coaxial with the crankshaft. I needed a Sawzall to tear the transmission down - got another one from the salvage yard and overhauled it.
NB: LocTite is your friend!
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 729
Likes: 1
From: Cape May, NJ
Year: 1998
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Upper bellhousing screws are 3/8"-16. Hex head capscrews will work neatly to replace those E-Torx atrocimacies.
Lower bellhousing screws are 7/16"-14.
Starter motor mounting screws are either 3/8"-16, M10-1.5, or one of each.
For lengths, simply measure the thickness of the part they go through, and add the nominal diameter of the screw. If the part/flange is 3/4" thick, for instance, and you're running a 3/8"-16 screw into it, then you'll need a screw that is 3/4+3/8 = 6/8+3/8 = 9/8 = 1-1/8" long. For a case like this, use the next longer size - 1-1/4". You can use a washer or two to take up any slack (but the lower bellhousing screws and starter motor mounting screws should be drilled & tapped thru.)
EDIT - there's a chart of screw sizes on my site, in the Tech section. If you know a size I don't have listed, tell me so I can add it!
Lower bellhousing screws are 7/16"-14.
Starter motor mounting screws are either 3/8"-16, M10-1.5, or one of each.
For lengths, simply measure the thickness of the part they go through, and add the nominal diameter of the screw. If the part/flange is 3/4" thick, for instance, and you're running a 3/8"-16 screw into it, then you'll need a screw that is 3/4+3/8 = 6/8+3/8 = 9/8 = 1-1/8" long. For a case like this, use the next longer size - 1-1/4". You can use a washer or two to take up any slack (but the lower bellhousing screws and starter motor mounting screws should be drilled & tapped thru.)
EDIT - there's a chart of screw sizes on my site, in the Tech section. If you know a size I don't have listed, tell me so I can add it!
bringing it back from the grave but THANKYOU 5-90 you have saved my ***. i just need to get a measurement, but im probably just goign to grab a 1,1.25, 1.5 bolts and a few washers. but im sure a 1.25 bolt should be perfect. but thankyou soooo freaking much!!!
Senior Member

Joined: May 2012
Posts: 925
Likes: 5
From: Fort Erie, CANADA
Year: 1987
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
[QUOTE=5-90;179576]Starter motor mounting screws are either 3/8"-16, M10-1.5, or one of each.
God-I hope it isn't one of each. My Jeep wouldn't start yesterday-had a loose battery cable. When I put it back, I could hear the starter spinning (not the motor)! Looked underneath and the starter was hanging by the bottom bolt. I put one 3/8 bolt into the top but it seems like it's stripped. Is it really one of each or could it be that the PO just had the wrong bolts and had already stripped the thread on the top hole. I tighted the bottom bolt and there is a bolt in the top hole-it's just not holding really tight.
I know-This is a really old post!
God-I hope it isn't one of each. My Jeep wouldn't start yesterday-had a loose battery cable. When I put it back, I could hear the starter spinning (not the motor)! Looked underneath and the starter was hanging by the bottom bolt. I put one 3/8 bolt into the top but it seems like it's stripped. Is it really one of each or could it be that the PO just had the wrong bolts and had already stripped the thread on the top hole. I tighted the bottom bolt and there is a bolt in the top hole-it's just not holding really tight.
I know-This is a really old post!
[quote=67 GMC;2080907]
It usually is.
Which is funny - it's usually the ISO screw threading into the bellhousing, and the SAE screw into the starter motor (funny because the bellhousing is adapting a Japanese transmission to an SAE engine, but the starter motor itself is Mitsubishi - Japanese, and therefore ISO. I think most of the internal fasteners on the starter motor are ISO, and I know the transmission internals are SAE...)
Starter motor mounting screws are either 3/8"-16, M10-1.5, or one of each.
God-I hope it isn't one of each. My Jeep wouldn't start yesterday-had a loose battery cable. When I put it back, I could hear the starter spinning (not the motor)! Looked underneath and the starter was hanging by the bottom bolt. I put one 3/8 bolt into the top but it seems like it's stripped. Is it really one of each or could it be that the PO just had the wrong bolts and had already stripped the thread on the top hole. I tighted the bottom bolt and there is a bolt in the top hole-it's just not holding really tight.
I know-This is a really old post!
God-I hope it isn't one of each. My Jeep wouldn't start yesterday-had a loose battery cable. When I put it back, I could hear the starter spinning (not the motor)! Looked underneath and the starter was hanging by the bottom bolt. I put one 3/8 bolt into the top but it seems like it's stripped. Is it really one of each or could it be that the PO just had the wrong bolts and had already stripped the thread on the top hole. I tighted the bottom bolt and there is a bolt in the top hole-it's just not holding really tight.
I know-This is a really old post!
Which is funny - it's usually the ISO screw threading into the bellhousing, and the SAE screw into the starter motor (funny because the bellhousing is adapting a Japanese transmission to an SAE engine, but the starter motor itself is Mitsubishi - Japanese, and therefore ISO. I think most of the internal fasteners on the starter motor are ISO, and I know the transmission internals are SAE...)
Senior Member

Joined: May 2012
Posts: 925
Likes: 5
From: Fort Erie, CANADA
Year: 1987
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
[quote=5-90;2081217]
It usually is.
Which is funny - it's usually the ISO screw threading into the bellhousing, and the SAE screw into the starter motor (funny because the bellhousing is adapting a Japanese transmission to an SAE engine, but the starter motor itself is Mitsubishi - Japanese, and therefore ISO. I think most of the internal fasteners on the starter motor are ISO, and I know the transmission internals are SAE...)
Thanks-I had a Pontiac in the early 80's like that (metric/SAE all over) but never on the same part! I'll get a metric bolt and see if it will work.
It usually is.
Which is funny - it's usually the ISO screw threading into the bellhousing, and the SAE screw into the starter motor (funny because the bellhousing is adapting a Japanese transmission to an SAE engine, but the starter motor itself is Mitsubishi - Japanese, and therefore ISO. I think most of the internal fasteners on the starter motor are ISO, and I know the transmission internals are SAE...)
[quote=67 GMC;2082238]
Yah. The 80's were transition years for US automakers. SAE-spec engines held on until at least the mid-1990's, while redesigned chassis in the early 1980's were using ISO fasteners. Also, new engine designs in the mid-1980's used ISO fasteners, while legacy designs used SAE.
What's worse? I was an industrial mechanic, I worked on everything. I've still got spline drive, double-square, five-point, Whitworth, ... and I sometimes grab the wrong tools while I'm working and can't figure out why a wrench that should fit on a screw head won't.
What's worse? I was an industrial mechanic, I worked on everything. I've still got spline drive, double-square, five-point, Whitworth, ... and I sometimes grab the wrong tools while I'm working and can't figure out why a wrench that should fit on a screw head won't.


