Smoke coming out from under hood?

[touchup]

My mechanic is having trouble diagnosing my electrical issues. This is what I have encountered so far.

I have a 2005 Mazda 3 2.0L Automatic

-Car wouldn't start. Tapped on started with a hammer and car started. Turned car off, wouldn't start again, had to tap on starter to get it going again. Figured it was the starter so he replaced it.

-Two weeks later driver side power window stopped working for three days? Started working again, so I did nothing.

-One more week passed and the car wouldn't start again. Got out of car after trying it many times. Got back in and tried one last time and it started. Did some research on here so that I could try and diagnose it in the future.

-Few days later, wouldn't start again. Found that my Parking gate sensor wasn't lit up on the dash. Had to start in Neutral. Figured that was okay, so what if I had to start it in neutral.

-Had to start in Neutral more and more often. Was noticing that when I was putting the car in park I had to move the shifter hard into park in order for it to light up on the dash.

-Maybe a little over a month after installing the new rebuilt starter something very different happened. I went to start the car in neutral again (parking light wasn't lit on the dash) and nothing happened (I could here the relay clicking, but no motor turning over) So i watched to see if it was the immobilizer. No codes came up on the dash with the security light. So I tried starting it and I held it there hoping that maybe it would start delayed or something. After about three seconds every gage on my dash went from one extreme to the other three times in a row and then everything turned off. I turned the key off and I noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. I looked under and nothing was on fire, it just smelt like something got fried. I got back in and tried turning the car on again. This time I could here the relay and the starter solenoid making a click when I tried starting it. Had to tow it to my mechanic. He replaced the starter (under warranty). But he now says that the starter stays on when trying to start the car and it won't turn the car over. He metered it and he is getting 12 volts. At this point he figures that it is an issue with the starter wire, I guess the one that goes to the altenator. He said that I am looking at having to buy the whole wiring harness for $600 to fix it? At this point the car hasn't been turned over. So I don't even know if that is all the electrical that is fried??

Does anyone have any insight into this or had any similar experiences? My mechanic has had the car for a week now and there seems to be no end in sight?

Thanks in adavance,

Adam

[Noisy Crow]

I'd be looking at a failed starter solenoid..............

[quantumphreak]

I hate to say it...
TRADE IT IN....

[touchup]

[quote author=quantumphreak link=topic=180866.msg3828183#msg3828183 date=1287084606]
I hate to say it...
TRADE IT IN....
[/quote]

If my mechanic can get it to start again that is an option I am considering. It sucks that I just replaced the front (about 4 months ago)and rear brakes with the starter replacement!

[cali_axela]

The dash needles bouncing like that, is the car's way of saying the battery is too low to start the car. I would take a closer look at your battery if it hasn't been replaced in a few years, that could be the culprit. Even just a loose ground somewhere.

[touchup]

I will get the battery replaced. That is a lot cheaper than the wiring harness. And yes, my battery is still the original, so it is past due.

[cali_axela]

Yeah, not too many 05's rolling around with their stock battery anymore, it's definitely due.