found the truck running at 3am this morning, it had been running half the night!! key was in the house. had to disconnect battery to shut it down, I think the alt was feeding back into the elec, has this ever happened to anybody??. There has been several "hacks" into the elec wires, but I can't figure out why it would do this all of the sudden. by the way my starter is now toast, it probably ran for many hours truck is a 93

 

Be thankful it's not a manual left in gear! That would really stink to wake up and find your truck half way through the garage wall.

 

Never heard of this before. You are lucky you have an auto transmission, or you might have a big hole in your house now. Whatever shorted must have applied power to both the start circuit and the run circuit. Do you have a remote start installed? Aftermarket stuff like that is sure a good place to start looking. If not, ignition switch and steering column wiring need a good inspection.

Was it actually running, or just cranking when you got to it?

 

Definatley sounds like ingnition switch or column wiring.

 

There is no remote start and yes the truck was running for several hours b4 I got to it, took the starter off and it was completely toasted, fried, cooked the main power lug was even melted off. Been chasin up a 12point socket to remove said starter so I haven't had time to trouble shoot

 

thats funny, maby sombody was trying to steal it but forgot how to put it in gear

 

Maybe a hot wire under the dash fried itself and came into contact with the starter wire? I'd definitely be looking for other burnt wires all over the place after that.

 

I'm thinking that if a short developed in the solinoid portion of the starter it could backfeed the ignition from there. The column wiring and ignition switch should be inspected but it may have been all at the starter.

 

i would start at the solinod wire and work my way back

 

This did cross my mind, I looked into the solenoid after I removed the starter and though it did get very hot I couldn't tell if that happened. The starter motor was completely cooked so who knows? The ignition sw is defenitely fried along with a few wires ( still trying to get those f-ing torx screws out ), they look like a security head of some type

 

If you have a Harbor Freight nearby they sell security torx bits. Most auto parts stores have them too. I think they are T-20 security, but they might be T15.

 

Thanks Dave I'll give em a try!!

 

I seen this happen several years ago on a GM, it was the starter solenoid back feeding the electric system. While I was trouble shooting the car, I had taken out the ignition switch, holding the ignition switch in my hand, the engine started cranking and started up.