Hard start and smoke after replacing starter - 1998 Toyota Corolla

Defective starter or engine is locked up.

Yes, it could be the starter. It also could be the battery. I've replaced the battery three times in my 20 year old car, but the original starter is still fine. I'd have the battery checked before I replace the starter.
In another car, I had symptoms like bad starter, but in that car, the starter was really expensive, and on a hunch, I had the charging system tested. The "new" battery was defective, saving me hundreds when I didn't need to replace the starter.

If the smoke is white ,it's water (head or gasket)
Timing belt will shut it off completely.
Can't see any way the starter could have anything to do with it.
However if it has a head gasket problem,hydrostatic lock can
make a good starter look bad(,water will not compress like air)
so if there is water in a cylinder the engine won't turn over.
If a head gasket is bad there will be white smoke out the
tailpipe and bubbles coming out of the radiator (cap off while
cold)

You need to open your hood,look at your battery and see if the positive battery cable is not burned up or needs replaced.The other end of it is connected to the starter.Here's a link to where your starter is.Find the starter and see if the wiring is not burnt or touching anything or loose.If everything looks normal,then remove starter and take to Autozone,they can test it and it's free and only takes a few minutes. Repair Guides Starting System Starter AutoZone com

Hello , sounds like your starter has giver out. The smoking is from the battery cables that feed the starter. They smoke due to a larger than acceptable amp draw from the starter. You will need to replace the cables as well.

Quinn

white smoke is usually oil burning or grease

Sounds like he may have pinched a wire or hooked it up backwards or has the power wire touching the starter housing.

replace the starter it is obviously faulty then start finding the rest of the faults

not starter motor, if car starts but is slowly smoking like that you are probably burning oil... 

Imagine the white smoke is unburnt diesel. Anybody standing in the middle of it will be able to tell you soon enough.

Most likely culprit is that one or two of the glow plugs aren't getting hot enough. Usually just that the plugs need replacing, but worth checking first that the busbar which runs between them all is getting +12V at the appropriate stage of the process.

A.