hello again all, i recently had some wiring problems or so i thought i have power to everything except the starter i used a tester light and i showed power going to the starter. someone had a similar problem and he got a reply to use jumper cables to test the starter to see if it was the starter or the wiring. i had it tested and it worked at the auto store so i put it back in and it turned but would not pop out but would not work every time mabye every fourth time of turning the keys. so i put jumper cables up to it negative, then positive then hooked them all up and when i touched the positive wire to the solenoid it did the same thing it only worked every few times of touching the wire and now now nothing and it tried to melt the wire that i was using for the solenoid. so im guessing that the starter is toast i just want to be sure before i go and spend 200 bucks on another one, as it is a mini starter and those arent cheap.
thanks for helping a newbie
jason

Before doing any work, clean all battery cable connections (both ends) and then disconnect the negative cable. If you can get a dead man's switch to do this work that would be best. But here is how to make a home made remedy to test it while its in the car.

Have only the positive cable connected to the starter, disconnect the smaller leads going to and coming from the starter. Using a #12 or larger wire connect it to the starter at the "S" terminal (on the starter solenoid) and route it up so that you can touch the positive terminal of the battery.

Now reconnect the negative cable and then touch that wire to the positive post. If it turns over, you had a bad connection from your key switch to the starter. If it is doing the same as before (not turning over) then you may have a big voltage drop in either the positive or negative cable. The actual cable can have bad corrosion inside the sheathing itself.

If you are having a different problem (starter turns but doesn't engage) you may have an issue with the ring gear being worn, missing teeth or the wrong size. A lot of the mini starters are set up for both size ring gears.

Hope this helps.