Yes, I would DEFINITELY check the corroded wire issue as I was dealing with this for over a year. It cooked several starters, likely just the solenoid, as well. I went through checking all the stuff like the ignition switch, clutch safety switch, and all that just as you did and kept coming back empty handed.
Apparently the corroded wire issue is extremely common on certain vintages of Mazda and Ford cars and wish I had known about this sooner. If the solenoid wire is connected using a blade connector, no retrofit has been done.
I could definitely hear the firewall mounted solenoid/relay hitting during my troubles as well. If you arenāt hearing that there may be another issue.
I was about to the point I was going to run a wire from the battery to a push button start connected to the solenoid directly.
Not sure exactly on 95 B2300 but they are typically something like::
One is input from the PCM
One is ignition switch input
One is output to cruise control
One is input from brake switch
One is start signal output
One is power
Updated report: I have not had a single problem with the starting system since I reported the problem here. Cartalk ghosts must have decided to fix it.
I bet it will come back. Did you look at the solenoid signal wire yet? I would go months without a problem after changing a starter and then it would come back. The truck became such a pain to drive towards the time I fixed it because I had to find a place with an incline so I could pop start it. By the time I got it home the last time it wouldnāt even attempt to start on its own. The good news about that was the problem was no longer intermittent and would be found. It was only the solenoid wire and a super simple fix. It just wasnāt simple to find.
Unreliable cranking is one of my pet car-peeves. Very frustrating and unpleasant situation. At times I have wished I owned a car with a hand-crank motor ā¦ lol ā¦