Flywheel damage.

[Vikingone]

First off hello! New to the forums.
Now onto the question. I acquired an 85 CJ7 yesterday. It was my fiancé’s uncles and she bought off of him for my birthday because he really didn’t have the time. It has the stock AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l motor but the stock Transmission was swapped for a T-18 . The starter was making a terrible noise on startup so he replaced it with a new starter. Made no difference. I climbed underneath and found the inspection plate missing and saw that the teeth on the flywheel are ground down a bit. I’m gonna be getting a new flywheel but do I get one for the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l stock motor or one for the T-18 Transmission ? And would anyone know why the starter and flywheel are having a problem with each other. I’ve considered getting a stock T-4 Transmission but have heard that they aren’t great. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dons78CJ5]

You should be able to just buy the ring gear for the fly wheel and just replace the ring gear. Very easy to do,you just need a torch to heat the ring gear up. Most likely the starter needed to be shimed out

First off hello! New to the forums.
Now onto the question. I acquired an 85 CJ7 yesterday. It was my fiancé’s uncles and she bought off of him for my birthday because he really didn’t have the time. It has the stock AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l motor but the stock Transmission was swapped for a T-18 . The starter was making a terrible noise on startup so he replaced it with a new starter. Made no difference. I climbed underneath and found the inspection plate missing and saw that the teeth on the flywheel are ground down a bit. I’m gonna be getting a new flywheel but do I get one for the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l stock motor or one for the T-18 Transmission ? And would anyone know why the starter and flywheel are having a problem with each other. I’ve considered getting a stock T-4 Transmission but have heard that they aren’t great. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[jp360cj]

As said, you can just get the flywheel ring instead of the whole flywheel. Either way, flywheels are engine specific, so get one for you engine. The Transmission has nothing to do with the flywheel.

If you change the ring, inspect the flywheel itself and have it refinished if needed.

Inspect the clutch while you have it out. If it hasn't been changed recently, I would go ahead and replace it while the Transmission is out. You will need to ID which T-18 you have to know which clutch kit to get if you change it.

 

[Vikingone]

Thanks for the info guys. It is much appreciated. As for the clutch, I'm definitely going to be replacing it when the Transmission is out as well as the rear main seal. Once I get the info off of the Transmission do you know of any resources which will lead me to what the id is off the numbers?

 

[jp360cj]

Depending on which number you get off the Transmission , they may or may not be any help. But The Novak Guide to the Borg-Warner T18 & T19 Transmissions has lots of info.

The 2 most common T-18 swaps for a CJ are one from a '76-'79 CJ, or one from a Ford. Both of these use a 1-1/6" 10 spline input, so they can both use a clutch from a '76-'79 CJ. The Ford version has a shorter input shaft and needs a special pilot bushing (Novak sells them, not sure where else you can get one). Every CJ T-18 I've seen had the PTO port on the driver side. Ford's have them on the passenger side.

Older CJ T18s use a 1-1/8" input shaft.

What Transfer Case do you have

 

[Vikingone]

Not sure on the Transfer Case .

 

[Lumpy Grits]

YES, on just replacing the f'wheel starter ring gear. Easy job.
Stay with the T-18 tranny.
You most likely have a Dana 20 t'case.
Tell us more about your '85.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

If it is a ford T-18 you likely have a Dana 300 . If it is a Jeep T-18a it's likely a Dana 20 .