Found the problem. It was the starter - solenoid contacts welded together and starter windings shorted to ground. Took out the battery too when it happened. Thanks to all for the help finding the problem.
Thanks for the reply. Will trace the hot wire first thing in the morning. Will let you know what I find. What you said makes good sense because it was starting to smoke the wire from my charger.
Just joined the forum to help my next door neighbor. She tried to start the 4 runner, 99 year model, this morning and battery was dead. This evening tried to charge the battery and pulled over 30 amps from charger and charger cables started smoking. Checked across battery with cables connected...
