I have a '96 Ranger--4 cyl, man trans, non-4x4--that keeps blowing the starter fuse in the interior fuse panel when you try to start the truck. It used to hold if you put bigger fuses in it, but now it blows everything. I have replaced the starter relay under the hood on the fender well 2x now in hopes of the 1st new one being junk, but no success. I have looked for bare spots in wiring under the dash thinking maybe something was shorting out, but I see nothing out of the ordinary. I have also replaced the starter thinking maybe the winding was shorting out inside it, but no success there either.

Has anyone had any issues with this? What can I check? Where can I look? I am usually pretty good with trouble-shooting, but this one has me stumped.

 

The first thing I would check is the ground connection from the battery to the engine.
If that ground is insufficient to handle the load of the starter it will take whatever path it can to operate and it may be using the circuit that is blowing the fuse for it's ground.

 

Okay, I will check that. Anyone else have any other ideas of what to check while I'm working on it?

 

maybe the starter itself has a short ! i would have the starter checked out and the ground wire from the battery to the body !

 

you might want to replace the start wire(s) and see if the one or more are too small to handle the load and it might have gotten too close to the exhaust pipe

 

I just replaced the starter again this last weekend wondering the same thing, but no success.