o.k. here we go,73 455 ,starter was slipping once every five times for about a week,then it started one day and stuck engaged(the bendix) with the car running.shut it down,pulled & replaced(starter) with rebuilt-reman.sunday night.ran it around,turned it on & off five times with no problems. 15-20min. later i here this noise in my driveway that sounded like a wood chipper.MY CAR HAD STARTED BY ITSELF!the ignition was off,car in park,the horrible sound was the bendix stuck in the start position i'm assuming again.only thing i can think of is that somehow power jumped accross the selenoid&fired it.oh yeah i had to pull the coil wire to shut it off. after inspection of wiring,it's all intact ,nothing touching each other or frayed/burnt.please help,freaked out in seattle.

I would look at the ing.switch ( It's on the steering column inside the car)
and inspect the connector . HTH Guyopel

thanks guy! i'll check it out

hey i checked the connections of the ignition switch and everything is intact& no signs of arcs.by the way,i've owned this car for 12 years& it has'nt been altered in any way. any other ideas,anybody?

Guy is probably on the right track.

Perhaps your original starter was even good. Both problems probably indicate power getting onto the relay S wire causing you starter relay to engage your starter.

A break in your wiring coming into contact with a hot wire is unlikely unless, somewhere in the harness there has been an overheated wire which has melted the insulation through to the start wire. This senario would most likely cause a constant problem, not an intermitant one.

I think the Ingnition Switch itself would be a good item to replace, which is what I think Guy was implying. It probably has a loose contactor inside it.

Good luck

Yep, That is a good place to start . Internal short in the ing. switch .
HTH Guyopel :bana:

thanks to both you guys! I really apppreciate the help & i'll replace the switch & go from there,cheers.

perhaps a really big long skinny bug made of metal jumped the solenoid? seriously, an insect couldve hit the power cable and solenoid

yeah rat,possibly,but i have to go the mechanical route first.anyway i replaced the ignition switch & it will not fire.i'm sure the starter is fried from "the incident".gonna have it tested & replaced if needed (hope that's all) i'll update later

Make sure your ing. switch is adjusted correctly before you check the starter . HTH Guyopel

SUCCESS!!! my car only starts when i want it to.my local auto parts store suggested that the selonoid could have stuck,but i had to prove it.so i did,i had the starter tested at a electrical shop & it was stuck engaged.replaced the starter & ignition switch,all is well,thanks to all that helped me.

Hey, after reading my own reply I felt my story had a few "holes" in it.I said my starter selonoid was "stuck" in the engaged mode.Well I am sure the ignition switch short caused this,manly because this happened with my original starter too. Thanks again to everybody's help