yeah I assumed as much.. I will take it off today and clean it up. I assume I will be buying a new one eventually..

 

Just changed my starter this week. Starter was very labored when starting the engine. I started by cleaning the ground connection points. Checked the battery/alternator. It should be about 12.5-12.6v when turned off and about 13.5-14v with the engine running. Mine had finally reached the point where sometimes the starter would do nothing when you turned the key but if you tapped it with a hammer handle then it would start.

Fortunately I bought the lifetime warranty starter from Autozone about 4 years ago so they swapped it out at no charge. It has been my experience that the starters will last around 4-6 years on a Cherokee. If you plan to keep the Jeep for a while the lifetime starter warranty will come in handy.

By the way the "free with coupon" meter from Harbor freight works great for this type of testing if there is one near you.

 

I have had good results disassembling and cleaning them.

 

I took it off and cleaned it up the best I could, had oil caked all over the connections.. but with the help of some pb blaster and a roll of paper towels I have it looking better. It cranked up just fine today, I also noted that the teeth look fine and not worn down so maybe I will get more life out of this thing. I do want to note that they just had a **** show of a design down there.. the starter is almost directly beneath the oil filter, and you have to have baby arms to really get in there to do anything..

 

Did you take it apart and clean inside?

If it's wet with oil, your oil filter adapter seals are probably leaking.