My starter has a flat connector for the smaller wire(18GA) and the pos cable(1 or 0 AUG). Check to make sure that the pos cable is not touching anything else. It might be grounding on something. I beleive there are 2 poles on the solonoid. I think one is grounded to the case and the other is the possitive connection. I think thats how it works, I havent taken one apart in years.