Starter just clicks. what could it be?

Question

I've been doing engine work to my car for a while now and disconnected the positive on battery for about 5 minutes at one point. And the only involvement with the starter was checking to see if connections were tight (just tried moving)

Now when I try to start the car the starter just clicks, gauge lights flicker on and off in sync with the starter clicking. It does this while trying to jump start, and also when I swapped my battery out with my other car's battery.
Also, randomly throughout jumping, new battery, and with my battery, every once in a while the car would NOT click, it would actually try to start but VERY slowly, all lights dimmed and it was the slowest turning over I've ever seen. Then next try it's just clicking. -.-

I tried bridging the solenoid terminals and got nothing. No sparks, no motor spinning.

Any ideas here? Just curious if it is a bad starter solenoid or a bad ground somewhere...
I also have a meter to check voltage etc. so if told what wires to check for correct voltage I can do that as well. (I just don't really know how the power/ grounding works with a starter)

This is on a 93 Cadillac Fleetwood 5.7L RWD.

Answer 1

If you bought a new battery and didn't bother cleaning the battery terminals on your cables, you won't be able to apply the full power of the new battery to the starting of your engine.



Using a battery brush (available at any auto parts store) thoroughly brush your battery cable terminals inside and out until all surfaces are bright and shiny.



Reattach the cables to the battery snugging them down until they can't be moved by hand.



Start your car.

Answer 2

To check voltage of a battery, put the black test lead to the minus post, and red to plus post. Should read between 12 and 12.6 DC. My guess is that you've got a wiring issue -- either a cable to the battery is dirty, the battery posts are oxidized, or there's corrosion inside the battery cable plastic sheath, where the cable connects to the lug. We don't know why you were doing engine work or what you were doing -- might be the engine's dead. If it ran OK before you disconnected the battery, you almost certainly have a wire issue. If you completely rebuilt the top end or something, God only knows what it needs. When you say you bridged the solenoid, I trust you mean the little fat round cylinder attached to the Starter. Good idea also to try jumping the starter relay - the fat red wire from battery goes to relay, and another fat wire goes from relay to starter. The little wires attached to the relay carry the signal to tell it to connect the fat wires, sending power to starter.

Answer 3

What you hear is the solenoid engaging. There is a failed connection from there to the starter motor itself. You may have to remove the thing and have it tested.