Engine clicking noise

[duckz]

All the solenoid is meant for is providing a means for the starter to engage the flywheel and completing the starter circuit. When the start switch is moved to crank the engine, the solenoid is energized with 12 volts and then lifts the starter pinion and provides power to the starter motor. With this being said, if you want to rule this problem out, crank the engine up and ensure no power is going to the solenoid after starting the engine and ensure the pinion is completely retracted and away from the flywheel. The big positive wire from the battery should always be hot and the smaller wire from the ignition switch is only hot when the key switch is in the starting position. When the engine is off make sure there is no excessive play in the pinion in which vibrations or bouncing would cause it to rise. I doubt this is your issue. I’ve been wrong before.

Just cranked the motor; grounded black and put red on both of the two small wires off the solenoid. I was getting consistent .4-.8 readings. So it is getting power.

Does that mean the solenoid is bad or is there something else I need to check to figure out why the power is going to it ?

[cam1195]

Just cranked the motor; grounded black and put red on both of the two small wires off the solenoid. I was getting consistent .4-.8 readings. So it is getting power.

Does that mean the solenoid is bad or is there something else I need to check to figure out why the power is going to it ?

.4-.8 volts is minimal (possibly a real zero in your multimeter) and shouldn’t cause the solenoid to engage. It should need close to 12 volts to function. As a side note, depending on your meter, when you are using a multimeter and it is set to “auto detect” .4-.8 is usually millivolts. The multimeter will usually read the voltage in volts when it detects a real voltage and detects millivolts when it is looking for voltage but doesn’t find any (layman’s terms).