Okay I have searched all the posts on this but I think everyone is different so heres my story! I was replacing the valve cover and oil pan gasket and after finishing that up went to start the car and my main relay is buzzing and nothing happens when you try to crank. Check the grounds for the thermostat and the valve cover and even used another car trying to jump start just in case of a dead battery and still nothing. The weird thing is even when connecting the battery directly to the positive side of the starter all it does is click. Without the battery nothing happens. Bought a new main relay and no change. All the lights on the dash come on except the three to the left where the CEL light is dimer than the rest and goes off while cranking. Any suggestions?

 

Starter frozen? Are you going directly to the starter or the starter solenoid?
Sounds like a ground problem really.

 

tested the starter and its good

 

checked all the fuses?

 

All fuses physically pulled and inspected!

 

Does the main relay have a ground somewhere? Or a ground wire to somewhere?

 

sounds like either bad ground on engine or bad battery.