Eating starters

[City]

i have 76 CJ7 AMC 304 and i am eating up starters every couple of months
fly wheel is good not not real sure what else to check
do they have a shim u can use like chevy has?
i mean by eating starters it gernades the gear in pieces

 

[jdarg]

What's the clearance when the gear is retracted? My thought is its either that or you are just getting cheap starters.

Are the gears grenading just going down the road or at startup?

 

[Hedgehog]

While talking to Rob at Willy's Works here in Tucson. He said that CJ's are getting used and are so old the indexing hole in the bell housings are becoming warn in an egg shape. When installing a starter, before the bolts are in place, make sure there isn't any movement in the starter. It should index in the hole and have no slop or movement.

Why does this happen? All it's life the started is under pressure to move AWAY from the ring gear, eventually opening the hole. This might not be the problem at all, but it's something to look for. How do you fix the problem? I really don't know, a machinist could weld a heavy bead in the index hole then machine to match the original.

 

[CJim7]

If it's eating starters, I would be surprised if the ring gear isn't chewed up some.
I would make sure the gear is seated correctly on the fly wheel. If there is any wobble in it, it will eat starters in a short time.