1991 Cabrio - No Start & Hot Battery Cable

[mikerob97]

Tried to turnover the engine today and only a click from the starter without any engine turnover. Tried turning the key again - and again only a click. Battery is good and charged. The click was not the dead battery shutter but a hard click sound. Then I looked under the hood and noticed a very slight whiff of smoke from the starter area and the positive cable on the starter solenoid was very warm / hot. I disconnected the battery ground to be safe.

Could the starter (or the starter solenoid) have a hard short to ground when the key is place in the start position? I have never seen this before.

Any ideas or suggestions before I pull the starter. I'll have to find a shop here in Raleigh to test I suppose is the next step...

[rcsoundn1]

you could disconnect the starter, reconnect the battery and see if all the other electronic systems are in good order. I believe you can have a starter tested and like an autozone for free.

[Das Delfin]

the starter solenoid have a hard short to ground

My buddy's old jetta did this one time. Actually he was kind of a douche

[Ether-D]

Also, if the starter (or engine) was say, seized, it would warm the battery cable significantly if you held the key a couple times.

[redsubdivisions]

Check grounds. Had this happen, turned out to be the ground cable from the oil pan to chassis. tightened it down with the 13mm in the trunk tool kit and went on my way.

[mikerob97]

Problem solved - and I am slightly embarrassed. Turns out a nut had fallen and wedged itself between the braided positive conductor from the solenoid to the starter housing. So when I turned the key, and engaged the solenoid, it grounded immediate. So, I removed nut - which was semi welded to the starter housing (LOL) and seems like all is good. I am fortunate that I only turned the key twice and in short bursts or this could have been quite dangerous.

For the life of me, I can not figure out why they leave a high current braided conductor exposed like that on the started.