Installed brand new Mean Green starter as old starter was getting too hot and not wanting to turn over.
Just for clarity, why was it getting hot? Just sitting there next to some headers maybe? Or was it getting hot while cranking?
Does the engine crank normally, as it fairly quickly, or does it always crank a little slow?
What is your compression ratio?
Headers?
Ignition timing?
When the old starter wasn't turning the engine over, was it cranking really slow, or just not at all?
Thing ran like a dream. Was driving and truck all of a sudden died.
Do you have a tachometer and did you just happen to be looking at it when the engine died? If so, did the tach needle just drop like a rock, or did it bounce around a little when the engine was slowing down?
Just wondering if there is an electrical problem or a fuel problem.
Or a mechanical problem.
Hard to say at this point.
Place auto trans into park and tried to start. The truck lunged forward like it was a manual trying to start in gear (very odd).
Very odd indeed! What trans and what shifter? Shifter feels normal and positive shift positions? Any chance you made a mistake in gear selection, or is it nice and distinct?
Is the NSS connected? Perhaps it overheated, wore out, or something is buggered in the wiring. Extra heat will do that, and it sounds like some of your wiring is taking a beating from heat.
Truck finally did start and I punched it as tide was coming in and didn't want to get stuck in the surf.
When it did finally start, how did it crank? Solid and fast, like you would expect? Or lazy and slow, like a low battery or a straining battery?
Just as I landed on pavement, the truck died again and smoke was coming from under the hood. My starter was toast (literally yellow in color).
Could you tell if the smoke was only from the starter? Or could it also have been from some of the wires that you found were hot later?
...but with truck lunging when starting what is this?
As someone already said, an issue with the trans only. Shifter, or mechanism, or internal fault keeping it in Drive but the linkage is telling the Neutral Safety Switch that it's in Neutral or Park and is safe to start.
Best to at least check the NSS soon. Don't want that happening again!
Also, I took MG starter out and put old one in and when going to start it just clicks.
Could be many things at this point.
Battery, cables, connection points, relay, starter, engine, etc...
Appears to have enough amps so not sure why engine is not at least turning over.
How do you know it appears to have enough amps?
Wires from battery to relay and then relay to starter got really hot.
Not good, but consistent with an overworked starter.
What gauge are your battery cables? What condition?
You said the engine is new, but are the battery cables?
Definitely try turning it over by hand. If you have a mechanical fan this is a fun proposition, but it works. Most of us have done it at one time or another. The old socket-on-the-crank-bolt gets it done.
Work slowly and carefully, and wear long wristed gloves!
If it was not the cause, it could very well be a victim of the overworked and overheated parts. Is it new? If so it's even more likely to have failed.
Perhaps it was actually failing already and caused the starter to hang up. You would normally hear that, but it's possible that with the MG starter's unique sound you didn't notice it when driving. Putting around (or racing around in the dunes!) with the starter spinning is going to build up some heat in some things, that's for sure.
If it's a new relay, since so many are crap right out of the box this is still a perfectly legitimate suspect.
Really hoping this is a quick/easy fix.
Might still be... A few things to check still.
When you first fired up the engine, did you do the specific cam break-in procedure? Is it a flat-tappet or roller cam? Was it a crate engine that was already run and dyno'd, or did you build it and fire it up for the first time yourself?
Have you checked the oil level lately?
Good luck.
Paul
