Car wont start, any guesses?

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Ok so i went out to do some routine tightening of my mufflers and such, but i park on a hill so i planned on driving the car down the road some to a flat spot. I started the car, let it run for about 10 seconds, then decided to just do it where it sat and not jack it up since i can pretty much reach the bolts. So i go on about tightening everything, then i get back in and turn the key, and i get nothing. It sort of clicks like the sound you get when you're not getting a good battery connection, so i fiddled with that for a while with no luck, so i decided maybe the battery was dead so i'd jump start it. Tried that and still got the click. So i'm guessing it's either the silonoid (sp?), distributor or starter, or combination of the 3 since they're all stock parts. Any ideas?


BTW i double checked the starter ground wire, which is still hooked up, and since they're long tube headers i didnt have to go near the starter to tighten anything up anyways.

 

[gaslight]

clean your battery connections. That would be the first step. Check both battery wires to see if they are too old and spent. Check where the + connects to the coil and where the - connects to the engine.

 

[NKau]

First of all, be sure your battery is charged; do you have a voltmeter/battery charger to check it? Either that, or replace with a different battery from another car just to eliminate it as a suspect. Once you confirm your battery has power, what happens when you turn the key to "ON"? Do you still have power to your dash/radio, or do they cut out after you crank the key to
"START"? If the latter, then you probably have a bad ground cable or +battery cable. Even if it's not them, it's one of those things that it really doesn't hurt to replace anyway as they go bad with time. Usually if it's the cables, you can wiggle them and get power to come back to your dash at least, but it still may not get the solenoid to engage the starter.
Once you have confirmed the cables are good (or just replaced the cables), you can check the solenoid itself by bypassing it. Simply bridges the positive terminals with a screwdriver (be sure the car is in neutral before you do this). If you can get the starter to crank this way, then obviously your solenoid is bad.
Good luck.