So I am driving to my buddy's place last night when I notice the dash lights look rather dim. The dimmer switch is set correctly but then I see the the voltmeter indicating slightly more than 8 V. Pull into the nearest parking lot and smell burning plastic... I was like "it's on fire!!!" . Popped the hood and there was smoke just billowing out from the under the passenger side manifold. I left the car there for the night after disconnecting the battery and making sure the car wasn't burning. I went back this morning and hooked the battery back up to see if it would start and smoke like last night. Lo and behold, car jumped to life, alternator pumping out a healthy voltage (slightly less than halfway between 13 and 18). I drove it back home, still no smoke. Still not convinced, I pulled the alternator and the starter and had them both tested. Both checked out just fine, passed all tests. The starter smells like burnt plastic and it's cranking slightly slower than it used to, but otherwise there is absolutely no problem. The starter could be cranking slow because the battery got run down pretty low last night.

What could have possibly caused this ? It doesn't seem right for the alternator to quit working if the starter was cooking itself. And if the starter was cooking itself, how come it still works? I thoroughly checked all the underhood wiring and found nothing burnt or melted. Is my car possessed or is there some logic to this voodoo electrical fire ?

 

I'd put money on the solenoid. It was intermittantly sticking in the on position keeping the starter rotating while you were driving. It happened to me but when I got out of the car, with the power off, the starter was still rotating. Later that day it rotated but much slower. This would account for why you had a current draw when you were driving but later when the solenoid was not pulled in, you don't have a current draw. Think about it, you were driving around with the starter motor engaged.

It is best to replace the starter. Any good shop can look at your starter and tell you it's cooked. When you do replace it, consider wrapping it with a heat blanket.

I got a high torque starter from summit and it works well. Pay attention to shimming, mine was a night mare.

 

Take the starter out and take it to autozone. They will test them for you for free.

 

Just an FYI, Summit has the Powermaster 9000 on sale for just $112 until Oct. 31. Just put one on mine and it's great. Hi-torque mini starter.

 

Thats if its even bad, ive had mine smoke once before and it is still good. Not trying to talk down to you. But if it is bad, you could go with this one or the LT4 starter. Ive heard good things about the LT4 starter.