I took the replacement starter I bought to autozone to have it tested. On the machine it drew 240 amps...way over the 145 its suppossed to be. Could this be why the car wont start and the battery seems to be drained.

This isnt right is it? Could this be why after trying to start the car multiple times the battery seems to be dead enough it wont start the car but will run the lights and radio?

A large draw like that will make the battery sound like it is dying when in fact it is fine. There is a problem with the starter internally. Replace it will a good quality rebuild and everything will be fine. These starters develop bad contacts in the solenoid apparently - mine did the same thing.

Ok cool, looks like I finally found the problem...lets hope this is it.