My starter went out Thursday, or i assume it went out because when i turned the key on, the wire from the middle relay to battery was really warm and smoking. The starter would not engage. Bought a new one and it's worked fine. Yesterday i went to start my truck, wouldn't start and i smelled wires burning. The brown wire that goes from the middle relay to my battery was melted. I pushed truck off and got it started and home. Now, it starts...sometimes. I'm not driving it right now until i figure out what is going on. Does anyone know what the middle relay is for? Does anyone have any ideas why the wire would keep shorting out. It's melted from the relay to the battery all the way down it, or any ideas period! Thanks!

 

The middle relay is the starter relay. My guess is the contacts are burnt. Put a new relay on, it's a standard Bosch type relay.