I have a 1990 sidekick JLX 2 door, auto, power steering locks mirrors ect... any way. I drove to the store yesterday evening, shopped for 5 minutes came back out and it will not start, I figured either the solenoid wire had popped off at the starter, or the auto had a safety switch error and tryed a few things with out luck. Checked all my conections at the battery, block, fuses, the battery is in good shape holding a good charge. Tryed to jump start it and smoke began pouring out of the starter area and now the whole truck is completely dead, no power any where. Im wondering if any one has had a similar problem and how to fix it/where to look. Thanks Trev.

any idea's? I gotta know if it could be something simple to save a towing bill... I have a complete parts tracker to steal parts off sitting here

Checked fuses, after the smoke?
Relays?  Isn't there a main power relay somewhere?
Try swapping in another starter?

changed starter, changed the main fuse ( which did blow ), still dead .

check your grounds - bad grounds will cause all kinds of weird electrical gremlins. the jumper cables didn't get hooked up backwards did they?

derek