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OK, I know this is way OT but I'm really stumped. I have a '93 Ford Ranger XL that I picked up for peanuts. It wouldn't turn over and in fact nothing at all happened when turning the key. No lights would light up using a known-good battery so I knew we didn't have good connectivity somewhere. But I did note that something was pulling enough current with the key off to heat up the (+) cable. I pulled the starter and sure enough it was dead as a doorknob. I thought there might have been a short in the starter so I just replaced it. Bad move evidently as the replacement never managed to turn the engine over before it died. It did click as if the solenoid was kicking in and so I though it was a battery connectivity issue. Now it doesn't click at all and the battery cable was once again warming up even when the ignition is off. This is a fairly simple vehicle but the issue is complicated by the fact that the previous owner was just smart enough to pawn it off on me. Note that he had also had the steering column open at some time when he had some difficulty with the ignition interlock mechanism. Any reasonable recommendations appreciated.

Problems almost never occur with the original equipment. Check all the mods/work done in the ignition, something is pulling all your power out quick smart, which will need a pretty big unfused wire. Follow all the big big wires from the pos terminal to see which one(s) are warm. Perhaps check the coil is not wired power-to-ground.

Interesting and not something to overlook but I don't think the problem is in the ignition system. I'm considering putting a resistor in place of the starter and starting to trace the current. There must be something in the base power or starting circuits that is grounding. I agree that it's not in a fused circuit. I'm thinking that perhaps it's something feeding the keyswitch.

As suggested before and found on a car I used to work on, the main "huge" cabling was shorted to the block on a tight section of wiring. Only when you tried to crank all power sucked straight to earth!!!

I would suggest disconnecting everything from the +ve terminal and run 1 large wire (as big as the starter motor main wiring) straight to the starter motor (after the solenoid - on the casing) , not the battery connection side the other, and see if it cranks, obviously it will not fire but at least you'll know if the starter can turn.

Work from there if it does connect 1 wire back at a time and then try. I bet it will be a shorted huge wire somewhere!

Does it blow any fuses?
What wire actually heats up?
Remove all fuses (noting their position and value) and replace 1 at a time!

Hope it helps

How cheap was it again????

Time to fine some other person to pawn it off on.

You could spend DAYS looking for some stupid wireing issue. How much was that starter you just killed?
How many more do ya want to buy.

I ain't bangin on ya, I'm just pointing out whythat truck was so fookin cheap in the first place. False economy here.....
Your time is worth just as much as the repair guys. You work on it and you aren't doing what YOU do to make money. That's what it cost you

The solenoid on the Ford trucks (and most Ford cars til the late 90s) is seperate from the starter. The positive battery cable goes to the solenoid and then heads down to the starter. It'll be on one of the fender-wells. The solenoid may be damaged, or just old because it's likely to be original equipment. A starter solenoid not completely disengaging will cause your problem. Might be getting some bleed over through the column switch, but that would likely cause a fire. I think the problem is most likely the solenoid itself. The very fact that the wire to the starter heats up, suggests to me that the solenoid is not completely disengaging.