I have a 99 xj and a couple weeks ago when starting cold for the first time in the morning never again the rest of the day, it would stall out if I didn't keep it above 1000 rpms by holding my foot on the gas until it warmed up to around 1/2 of normal operating temp. that went above when i gave it a tune up and a new battery (old battery had 10.6 volts so it was gone and 5 years old) Now when i start cold I get some sort of clunk noise and it takes a little longer to start then it should it seems like. I also noticed my oil pressure has been actually a notch above normal on the gauge. Any ideas? its a 99 xj with 95k miles dosent burn any oil and barely leaks it.

 

I'm a bit unclear..is the stalling when cold issue resolved now?

Exactly when do you hear the clunk? When the starter engages? Disengages? Some other time?

 

As soon as the starter disengages the stalling problem went away with a new battery and tuneup

 

my oil isn't low or anything either in fact its just above the safe mark on the dipstick.

 

I'd guess a worn starter bendix if that's the only time you get the clunk.

 

Do I need to replace the whole starter to fix that?

 

I'd pull it and take a good look to see if you can find where it's hitting. Might be installed wrong, or loose. You can change the throwout (bendix) assembly...if you can find one. Sometimes they retract too slowly and get smacked.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if its oem there was alot of old looking mopar stuff under the hood. Plug wires looked original battery was 5 years old some other stuff too