Starter info

[garage gnome]

If anyone has any info they would like to add to this list, please feel free to post it. I'll add it into this post.


These are the various starters used on 2As and 3As and 3Bs. It is common to find them swapped around due to engine and transmission swaps.

CJ2A starter. Engaged by foot push button.



CJ3A mechanical starter. This one uses a bushing in the bell housing like the 2A one. The lever does two things, it engages the bendix drive and then hits the button to make the electricity flow. The PO thought this jeep had a junk engine because he would ONLY push the button and the motor would spin without turning the engine over.







Key start 3A starter. Has a nose cone, thus eliminating the bell housing bushing (see below). Notice the difference on the way the band connects. It uses a clip instead of a screw. Better picture of it on the generator thread. Note the unique solenoid mounted on the motor.



This starter came out of an early 3B. It too uses the push button like the 2A one.

[garage gnome]

I'm going to add some pictures of the mechanical linkage through the firewall.

Does anyone know why Willys went from from the 2A push button to the mechanical linkage starter? It seems to me like the push button one would be better. I can see why the key start would be an upgrade.

[F Bill]

This is only my opinion, Nate, not gospel . The floor mounted starter switch is fairly unreliable partly due to the angle you are forced to push it when you are seated in the driver seat.  Also the intertia type bendix tends to kick out very easily if the engine coughs but does not fire up, which makes it a pain to start in those conditions.  A foot operated bendix engagement is far more reliable, and the lever operated switch is always going to get a square engagement if the wood block is in place. I don't know why Willys did not go directly to a solenoid start, but that is the best of all the starters. You also may want to include the flywheel/starter drive matching diagram we have here in your post, or a link to it. Adding part numbers for each starter would also be good.

Moderator hat on now.. Can you split the generator info into a separate post? it will make it a bit easier for searches and also make it less confusing. Thanks! (Just cut and paste it into another thread....)

Gotta get up at 3AM again (running oilfield stuff 3 hours away) so gonna call it quit for now, see you guys tomorrow. 8-)

[Bob W]

Also the intertia type bendix tends to kick out very easily if the engine coughs but does not fire up, which makes it a pain to start in those conditions. �A foot operated bendix engagement is far more reliable, and the lever operated switch is always going to get a square engagement if the wood block is in place.

That is exactly why Willys went with the mechanical foot actuated linkage on the CJ-3A and Utility series vehicles as they stated in a period press release.

[garage gnome]

Ok, thanks for the info Bill and Bob (or is that Billy Bob? �:o �;D ). I haven't driven a jeep much with the push button, so I didn't know that. Just another reason why the 3A is the best flatty.  8-)

I can count the teeth on the 2A and 3B starters. I can get their matching flywheel info too. I can't read the numbers on the 2A starter, my 53's tag is hidden and I'll see if I can get my '49s data tag. I'll do that with the generator post. Someone else will have to get the info for the key start and the tooth count for the two 3A starters and flywheels.

[garage gnome]

Then one must ask, why did they go back to the push button with the 3Bs?  :-?

[athawk11]

The 2A starter is likely an Autolite MZ-4113.

Got one attached to my GPW engine and another in my '46 2A.

[Bob W]

We have some good starter information on our website here...
http://www.cj3apage.com/index/Tech_Tips/StartersAndRinggears.htm

The timeline for CJ-3A starters is a bit mixed up on that page. It should read....

Early MZ 4137
Mid � �MZ 4162
Late �MCH 6203

[F Bill]

We have some good starter information on our website here...
http://www.cj3apage.com/index/Tech_Tips/StartersAndRinggears.htm

The timeline for CJ-3A starters is a bit mixed up on that page. It should read....

Early MZ 4137
Mid � �MZ 4162
Late �MCH 6203

Hi Bob...This week I did a lot of sitting around at an Oilfield site, waiting for the roughnecks to dismantle the rigs so we could escort them to a new site. I had your book with me, which was a great way to pass the time, and started to look up all the parts differences over the years.. I will be posting some of the numbers you had listed there, with the serials  number breaks of you don't mind, in this thread. Hopefully we will get this all hammered out and be able to make sense of it all, then build a new thread with all the info in a nice clean form easy to read, and eventually correct the webpage mentioned.

Much thanks to Nate for taking this on.. and everyone who has contributed info over the years about it.

Bill

[garage gnome]

So, was the key start an option or did the '53s just get it because thats the way they were?

[F Bill]

My understanding is that all jeeps after a certain date were Key Start.  The key start starter is larger, has a nose cone, and used a different flywheel, engine plate,  and bellhousing. If I remember correctly what I read in Bob's book.

[Bob W]

Key start became the standard. The firewall push-rod hole even went away.

[garage gnome]

I should probably get one of those books then...

[Quebec Jeep]

You should get one! Now!

[F Bill]

Starter info and numbers:


MB used WO -A1245 � AUTOLITE MZ4113 and MZ 4311*      * �might be a typo in the book, number is goofy.

GPW used GPW11001, GPW 11001A, GPW 11002 and the Autolite numbers above.

Autolite �MZ4124 was 12 volt starter..


Cj2A used MZ4113 according to the maintenance manual.

All starters up to this point were operated with a pushbutton switch mounted underneath the floor that looks similar to a dimmer switch but is actually a large contact that �the pushbutton jumpers. �Also they used a 97 tooth flywheel and a ____tooth drive.


Earliest 3A used MZ-4137 � �It had a pushrod operated switch with the pushrod thru the floor 124 tooth flywheel ,_____tooth drive


At CJ3A 51911 it changed to MZ 4162 � With a different pushrod and lever. Still same flywheel as previous 3A models.

in 1952, at VIn number 452GB1 -30973 � it changed to MCH-6203 � with key start, solenoid mounted on starter.

This required a new 129 tooth ring gear, a different flywheel, flywheelhousing, rear engine plate, and the starter no longer uses a bushing in the bell, as it has a nose cone with a bushing installed in it. Starter drive uses ______teeth.



Anyone want to fill in the blanks with documentation?


All above courtesy Bob Westerman, Wes Knettle, Ryan Miller, and TM ORD9 SER G 503 , and Willys Maintenance manual 1945 edition.