How to Replace the Starter on a Jeep Cherokee

The Jeep Cherokee starter will sometimes fail with very little warning. I have had to change them in store parking lots, driveways and most recently in front of my son’s apartment. Using this simple procedure you can get your Jeep running again quickly and possibly avoid a towing bill.

For most people, there is plenty of room to get access the starter without even jacking up the Jeep. In fact, not jacking it up makes it easier to get the starter past the control arm when removing it from the engine bay.

Remove the negative battery cable

Remove 8MM nut that holds the starter trigger wire to the solenoid.

Remove the lower mounting bolt. Note this is an SAE bolt with 9/16 head. It goes in from the front of the starter.

Remove the upper bolt. This one is metric with a 15 MM head that goes in from the transmission side.

Remove the starter and lower it enough to remove the battery cable from the terminal. This is a 13MM.

To install the new starter, first install the battery cable in place and move the trigger wire out of the way.

Position the starter so that it indexes into the hole in the backing plate. Start the upper bolt but do not tighten. This is the shorter metric one.

Start the lower bolt (longer SAE one) and make sure the starter is aligned properly with the hole in the backing plate. Tighten the bolts.

Attach the trigger wire and tighten the nut.

Reattach the battery cable.

After everything is back in place, you can turn the key and start up your Jeep. Be sure to reset your clock and radio presets that you loose by disconnecting the battery.