Earlier this year I had bad starting problems, it felt like a flat battery, but would not jump start, and after a while smoke started coming from the starter wiring. Breakdown man gave us a tow start having diagnosed a faultystarter. What it turned out to be was the earth cable from the starter to the chassis had corroded - the smoke was coming from another wire going to the earth point trying to carry the full load from the starter earth supply back through a relay which the excess power had burnt out.
Solved with a new £8 earth strap rather than £200 new starter.
Solved with a new £8 earth strap rather than £200 new starter.
