another f-ing problem! car is turning over w/o key in ignition

[Warm Pudgy]

so ive spent i dont know how many hours replacing the starter, and i finally get everything together and as soon as i connect the battery the damn thing starts to turn over, by its self, with keys still in my hand!!!!

i know ive read another post where this happened to someone else, but i cant find it at the moment

can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

[cribbj]

It happened to my engine while we were testing it on the engine dyno. I removed the heavy lead and the control lead, inspected them to see how/where they were shorting together; found nothing, so I put them back on the starter and it worked fine after that. There had to have been a short between them, but it sure wasn't visible.

 

[Warm Pudgy]

well its dark now, i'll have to go at it tomorrow, but thanks

 

[sideshow]

did u get the starter tested
being in a prik of a spot u would be silly to just throw in another 2nd hand one

its prob been sititng round for 2 to 3 years and the solenoid plunger is stuck to the plates internally that feed the power through

 

[Warm Pudgy]

i got around to taking everything apart again. it is indeed a short in the positive lead
how am i supposed to find a short in a wire that disappears after about 8 inches?

 

[Warm Pudgy]

i am so pissed off at this car right now, im half tempted to just get rid of it

 

[cribbj]

It's probably as Sideshow said; the solenoid plunger is hung up in the "start" position without the coil being energised. That's the only possible explanation for what happened to mine as well.

Maybe a couple of raps with a plastic mallet or a 2x4 are in order......

You definitely don't want to dent the solenoid casing.

 

[Warm Pudgy]

i found the problem
it was just the relay stuck in the start position
thanks for editing my f word there, i thought the forum would automatically put **** for me, then i couldnt figure out how to edit my post

 

[Nick M]

so ive spent i dont know how many hours replacing the starter, and i finally get everything together and as soon as i connect the battery the damn thing starts to turn over, by its self, with keys still in my hand!!!!

i know ive read another post where this happened to someone else, but i cant find it at the moment

can anyone point me in the right direction?

If you hadn't said the relay was stuck, I would have said you installed the wiring wrong, and have energized the signal wire to battery positive, the same as the main power. The signal is obviosuly for the crank position. A stuck relay does the same thing. It energizes the signal wire all the time.