Chris - I remembered today while in class that when the starter stays engaged and I pull that top wire off the solenoid, it quits. This means I don't need to mess with the test light, right? This would mean that the test light probably would have stayed lit, and my problem is not the solenoid.
Also, I should mention that when it happened yesterday and I let the clutch back out, the starter still was engaged. Shouldn't the clutch switch had killed it when I let the pedal out? Although this wouldn't explain why it stays engaged sometimes....perhaps I have ruined that clutch switch in this whole ordeal.
Also, the car ran itself dead trying to start up yesterday. After it did that, I rolled it into the garage, pulled that wire off the solenoid, and charged the battery. I would think it may be possible to now just re-attach that wire and the car may try to start, since it is basically in the same state it was in when it ran itself dead. But, it doesn't and the only thing that I did was to push in the clutch a few times to put it in neutral to push it inside, then put it back in gear.
Also, why would the lock and tumbler possibly cause this...isn't it basically just a mechanical device (as opposed to being an electric switch)? Maybe I should replace that ignition switch in the steering column again, but it would seem wierd that the new one I put in is bad
.
Sorry for the long post...just trying to give you all relevant info I can think of.
At least it cooled off today and riding my motorcycle wasn't too bad
! But, it sucked knowing my stang was broken at home
.