I was having problems starting my car. With the process of elimination, I determined my problem to be with the starter. After installing the new starter, I went to test it out, but it wouldn't turn over. I checked the battery and it was dead. I went to jump the car with my roommates car, and upon hooking up the jumper cables to my battery, the starter made a whizzing noise (the keys to my car were in my pocket at the time). What's going on? It's not supposed to do this... especially with the engine disengaged. I talked to a couple mechanic friends and they said they thought I had hooked up the cables backwards, but there's no way to reverse them. Anyone have any ideas?

if battery is low, replace it. make sure you are recieving voltage to the starter. make sure all connections are tight.

if all else looks good. manually jump the starter. if the starter manually jumps, the problem is before the starter.