weak starter??

pulled my enigne (f-head 134, 4cyl.) to re-do all the seals. ran great before, just leaked alot of oil. put engine back in and starter is not working. turned the key and clicked like battery was dead, it's not- battery is good. tried to jump with starter with cables and... nothing. pulled starter, looks ok. connected to power on garage floor and spins. doesn't go running off on the floor though. didn't even have to hold it down. reinstalled and turned key, nothing- click. jumped with starter with cables, turns engine over once or twice slowly then stops. what's wrong?? always started up great before?

 

two posible things I can think of
1- check the ground conection between the battery and frame, frame and engine block
2- brushes in the starter, take to your flaps and have them check it. might be time to put in the toyota starter

 

Starter motors have a lot of torque-if you didn't have to hold on to it when you tested it out of the vehicle, I'm thinking you have a bad starter.

 

Yup, check connections and cables. Also check the control circuit connections.

 

all conections are fine. i guess the starter is just weak. thanks 68 swamper, i never knew about the toyota starter swap. i researched it after reading your reply, i think i'm gonna try it!

 

If it worked before why not just tune up the original starter?

I'd guess that stock Jeep starter rebuilds and parts will be around long after the toyota part# is obsolete. How many 50 year old toyotas do you see?