need help ASAP

[rapidoxidationman]

Hi Y'all,
My truck just got a new starter today. The old one would only go "click" when the key got turned. New starter in, turned the key, truck fired right up. What is that wierd noise??? Turned the truck off, starter is still spinning... pulled the battery (-) cables, pulled the starter, the battery post terminal was just barely touching the solenoid to starter motor post. No problem, fixed it, stuck it back in, truck fired up, and I drove away. Got to the ex's house to pick up the girls and the truck didn't start. Voltmeter showed about 9v with key on, no glow indicator, and fluttering sounds from under the hood. Finally traced it to one of the ignition circuits (the 40 Amp). It's not blowing a fuse but it sure is pulling down the battery volts. Something is fried in there, and I need some help fast to figure it out. I'm supposed to be taking my girls to Grandpa's house in Washington Saturday... Ideas or suggestions besides letting it cook till it's done?
Thanks,
Rapid

[Turbine Doc]

Sounds to me like the starter solenoid never kicked out keeping starter clutch/gear latched in in start mode, continuous run pulling down battery and overheating starter motor. if this is the case need to pull starter and have it tested some where, check flywheel gear for damage as well. before pulling starter check to see if power to solenoid is off when ignition key is off if no power with key off problem (that is normal should be no power key off) most probably mechanical binding in the solenoid keeping it latched in, sending power to the starter motor winding constantly

[rapidoxidationman]

Thanks for the reply.
I just added more than a half gallon of distilled water to the batteries and am letting them cook on the charger for tonight. Hopefully by tomorrow morning a miracle will have occured and things'll be good again. I'm holding my breath that it is just dead batteries and that I don't have a burned out glow plug controller - or a fried alternator... Sam's Club will replace the two-year-old batteries under warrantee if I need them to.
Rapid

[tom.mcinerney]

A few things to keep in mind.-most frequent cause of dead starter is weak battery. -most frequent cause weak battery is weak alternator. -if the solenoid was energized for more than a minute it might have cooked(usually the coils aren't designed for continuous duty, though yours might be!). The TDP R&R guide suggests checking clearance between starter gear and flywheel gear when swapping starter. A wiring diagram could help; might be able to get copy of "charging" and "cranking" sections from dealer. Determine if there's a current flow when you hook up the batteries[any spark? tiny is ok, enough to light a test lamp not good] If there seems to be too much drain(a 'short', with all circuits "off") you can isolate the circuit by removing fuses at the fuseboxes, and seeing which spark{or leave ammeter inserted between cable/battery, note changes}. If run this check pull-and-replace all fuses in order, in case more than one circuit at fault. The Helm manual describes steps to diagnose many circuits; it has power, fusing and ground diagrams....Good Luck.