Engine Mechanical problem
1994 Ford Ranger 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Manual 222000 miles
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I have 1994 Ford Ranger XLT and it would not start and so I put a new Battery and Solenoid and now my truck won't start. When I hooked my battery terminals back up correctly, the small grond wire from the positive terminal started smoking and now the small ground is crinkled all the way to the starter. What could the problem be now? Any help is greatly appreciated.

the small grond wire from the positive terminal started smoking -you shouldn't have a ground wire hook up to the battery positive terminal-

At the starter relay check for power red and lite blue do you have it? get back

What I was meaning to say that where the main positive battery cable is connected to the battery terminal, there is a smaller red cable with it that was together and that is the way it was when I bought the truck. It is the original positive cable to the terminal and all I had to do was put on a new terminal because it would not tighten down but there is two red on the positive side and two black on the negative side of the battery. That was the way it came, I hope I am explaining without confusing anyone. Sorry if I did. I hope this helps and THANK you so much for replying.

I have 1994 Ford Ranger XLT and it would not start and so I put a new Battery and Solenoid and now my truck won't start.

Do you mean it cranks over and refuses to start or just won't crank at all-if it cranks over and refuses to start do below

If the engine's condition is in tip top shape-do below to determine if its fuel or spark problem that's if its cranking over and refuses to start

Get a carb cleaner and spray into the carb or the throttle body on an EFI. Did it start and die? If not disconnect a sparkplug wire or 2 and ground it to the engine -have helper crank engine over-do you have a snapping blue spark? If so-you have a fuel problem, check the fuel pressure to rule out the fuel pump/pressure regulator and listen to the injector/s are they pulsing or hook up a noid light. No snapping blue spark continue to troubleshoot the ignition system-power input to the coil/coil,distributor pick-up coil, ignition control module, cam and crank sensors-

If both fuel and spark is present-check the valve and ignition timing, this will lead you to problems with compression and valves opening and closing at the wrong time

No it won't even crank. It's like there is absolutely no power anywhere. When you hook a test light to the solenoid, it will show power on one side and that is all you get. No headlights or anything else. I had it running and then it died and would not hit again. It will not even crank. Fuel pump and everything else was fine until the solenoid was changed and then we had to put on a new starter. It was running and then we turned off the engine and now it does nothing.

Test all the fusible links -make sure the starter relay is grounded properly and test out the ignition switch-

I have checked all the fuseable links and today I put on another new starter, because we had the first new one checked and was told it was stuck and fried. I went back to the auto parts store and they replaced it with another one. Then we checked all wiring and found a ground that had melted all the way to the starter. We took it out and ran a new one and the truck started and ran so we took it for a test run and thought it was o.k. but when we heard a noise we new it was the starter again, and of course it was. We took it off and had it tested by a mechanic and he said that it had stuck too and it had to be another hot ground somewhere. I explained what had happened and he said it sounds like the starter is not shutting off after the truck starts, because after everything was connected right that the battery was showing no charging as the truck was running. We are stumped, 2 starters and 2 solenoids and new ground. I don't understand why it keeps destroying starters. Any opinions PLEASE.