Starter connection problem
 

Hi, I see this is an older post but perhaps worth asking the question anyway. I Own an 89 928 S4 while doing my routine start every few months over the winter at one point the starter just stopped working, few months ago I tested all the breakers, including the big square ones by swapping them to the Horn and checking if horn works - all good. I did connect the engine bay pin #14 to the past and the starter clicked for the first few tries and then nothing. I took out the old starter hooked it up to battery direct nothing so I ordered the new one, not OEM but recommended by many here (two connectors) now here’s where things get interesting, my original starter didn’t have anything attached to the post in the middle ( two thick wires to the main terminal and I think yellow wire to the 3rd terminal. I plugged in the new starter, two big wires as they were to big post and the other to the smaller connector. When I connected the battery the ground cable that I was holding in my hand started heating up and there was a sound as if something was cooking by the starter area so I disconnected the ground from battery. I went under the car and I disconnected both cables from the starter connected the battery and everything back to normal minus the starter working - not connected at this point. Like to add that I tested the new starter before putting it in and it worked, I cleared the battery terminals so in. One thing I skipped to mention as I don’t think it was of value is that when I plugged in the battery for the first time and the #14 pin harness was not plugged in so I plugged it in and tried connecting battery again but same outcome. So as is right now the starter is installed but not connected when battery hooked up instrument cluster turns on and when key turned over the fuses click as they did before. What should I be looking for or checking voltage on. My engine is a bit dirty and wet form oil leaking by the oil pan, I have nearly enough space to be under the car and work in it or to check things but am I to believe that the 3rd wire got unplugged and is somewhere there creating issues? I’m lost, please help me get this fixed

Was the new starter a "High Torque" starter?

I put one in my '78 928 last year and although it works, I'm not happy with the wiring. Re-reading instructions there was something about the third wire going somewhere under the blue cap. Anyway, it's on my list of repairs I need to re-visit soon.