starter rebuild

My (V6) starter sometimes makes a horrible grinding noise. It only does it about once or twice a month. Sounds like it starts spinning before it engages the ring gear.

When I had the tranny out I measured the spacing and added a shim to get the exact correct spacing but it made no difference. The teeth on the ring gear are not too bad.

Question - can I rebuild this thing or should I take it in to the local rebuilder? I don't want to take a chance with a parts store rebuild.

Haven't yet been able to find instructions on rebuilding it myself - maybe this is just not usually done? I've rebuilt alternators before with bearings, brushes and diodes but I've never had a starter that didn't work before.

 

Replacing the Bendix gear shouldn't be too bad, but I wouldn't want to mess with the internals of the starter motor itself. Lots of folks do 'em though.

 

I've never done a Jeep starter, but I've done a lot of GM starters. There's really nothing to be afraid of in there...they're really pretty simple. Generators and alternators are about the same level of difficulty (fairly easy). As long as you can find the parts for it I'd say go for it. Someone here I'm sure can offer some Jeep specific tips.