starter/wiring questions?

I purchased my son a 97 , 4.0 , auto, with 188,xxx miles on it. bought it for 2,100$. Took it for a test ride before I bought it and everything ran fine looked fine nothing out of place. Came out a while later and tried to start it and nothing. Figured out the starter relay fuse burned out. Changed it started fine drove fine. 15 or so starts later I changed another fuse. Battery died for no reason, took it to the shop eventually they figured out that it needed a new starter and there was a short in the wiring(said the wiring in it was all jacked up and out of place.)as the dome light all of the sudden would not go off. Put a new starter in it , disconnected the dome light took it home. Then the rattling started. sounded like the catylitic converter going south in a hurry, got very loud over the next 3 miles or so. kept it running and looked under it and smoke was coming out of the starter and it was engaged the whole time. shut it off the noise continued, pulled the stater relay fuse and it quit engaging. Put the fuse back in, started it up ran fine with no noise at all. By the time I got within a mile of my house the noise came back. Got to my driveway shut off the engine and the starter was still engaging, pulled the fuse again and it died. Shop thought it was a bad starter put a new one in. About 20 starts later right in the middle of my son's driving test it died on him. He said when it started the noise was back but very quiet so he thought he could get away with taking his test but this time it died. It has never just died. He tried to start it but no response, no noise, no nothing. So now it is back at the shop. The previous owner put a new alternator in it and never mentioned any of this B.S. Like I said when I put it through it'd paces before I bought it none of this crap happened. The mechanic told my that the wiring looked way messed up when he was tracking down the short, maybe these two things are related? Previous owner denies everything............. Input? Thanks

Nothing?

mizzutgr said:

The mechanic told my that the wiring looked way messed up when he was tracking down the short

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I think you answered your question.
Sounds like the wiring has been seriously messed with and will need to be straightened out. Sorry but there is no easy answer to this.

First thing to find is the cause of the starter relay engaging while running.
Look for burned, taped up or rubbed bare wires. There might have been an alarm (with a starter cutout) or remote starter installed at one time.

Find a wiring diagram that shows the starter circuit and start tracing and correcting.
Looking at this positively, it might be a good educational experience for both you and your son.

If the starter relay is engaged I would check your ignition switch. I do not know what wire out of the switch goes to the starter relay, but I've had a faulty ignition switch in my 96 make the starter engage when it wants.