Starter problems

[Destroyer]

Smoking is never a good sign. It means you have high resistance someplace, usually in the windings of the motor. It "could" be in a bad connection from the battery to the starter, but truthfully I'm dubious. Try like Spareparts and Oteps said. Take a set of jumper wires and test the starter. The case of the starter is ground, so just put the negative jumper clamp pretty much anyplace that you have a good bare metal connection to the starter. Tap the hot wire of the jumper cables to the post where you normally would have the hot wire connected to. The starter gear should jump out and engage the flywheel. If it doesn't, or if it runs out slowly, you have a weak starter motor and it needs to be replaced. Check out eBay before you buy from Wests or wherever. Chances are you'll find the starter you need at a greatly reduced price.