it never ends... killed the starter

[newby92]

well i got the car together... got the fans working, and now i just got done driving it... went to shut it off and even with the ignition off the starter was still cranking... i jumped outta the car and disconnected the battery bu8t it was too late... starter was smoking and batterey cables were so hot i couldnt touch them with my hands. anyone have any idea what happened??? im replacing the starter as you read this but i need to know why this happened so i can keep it from happening again. the only thing i can think off is the small wire on the alternator might have come in contact with the huge terminal that has direct power from the battery. i notcied when i ran the cables they were very close and the small wire was not insulated. its just weird because the starter has been working fine for the past 2 days.

 

[Ishodu]

That could have happened or the solenoid stuck. Tape up that wire and separate them.

 

[mclarida]

I went through 4 starters-all rebuilt-all bad. Lasted about two days each. Go figure-
M

 

[Mr95Gl]

Before my starter quit, I had the same problem. It turned out that the nut that rests against the ground strap on the back of the intake had backed itself out. After I fixed that, all was fine and dandy until it died.