So I purchased the truck about two years ago, and aside from some minor issues(blown power steering hose, cracked oil pan, etc) it's been running great up until now. Last week I went out and tried to start it, and was hit with a no crank. I was hoping to rule out some stuff before I bring it in, and ideally figure out if it is the starter so I can buy one myself and save some money when I have some work done on it.

When I try to start the truck, the lights come on and I hear a single click from around the starter. I first thought it was a dead battery, so I called CAA and they tried to give me a boost. Even with the boost the engine wouldn't crank, so I suspect the battery is fine. Next I opened up the fuse box. All of the smaller fuses looked fine, and I'm not really sure how to check the big black ones, but I guess you'd know if one of those blew?

I then went out and bought a multimeter, hoping to see if there's enough juice getting to the starter or if possibly corrosion is to blame. I've never used one of these before, but from the guides I've seen online it seems straightforward enough. The only real issue is the starter on the dakota is in a really tough to access spot. I got underneath the truck, and took this picture of the solenoid.



So am I correct in assuming that the red cable is the positive wire coming from the battery, and the black wire is the start signal coming from the ignition switch and connecting to the S terminal? If so, then would the procedure be to
1) with multimeter in volts DC mode, check if 12 volts is present between negative battery terminal and S terminal(Can i just touch that metal box the wire go's into in the picture?)
2) with multimeter in volts DC mode,check if voltage drop occurs between positive battery post and positive post on solenoid

It also looks like the positive connection on the solenoid is really corroded. Is it possible that cleaning that up could fix the issue? If anyone could verify that my above plan is the correct approach I would really appreciate it. Also any tips or anything would also be great. I've heard that some dakota's can have a wiring issue(splice 115?), but that seems a little beyond my expertise for the time being.

 

Usually when you hear the click, that's the solenoid engaging and it's the starter motor that is the issue. If it's a manual transmission you can roll start it. The best solution if automatic is tapping the starter with a wrench if you need to get it started, otherwise change it. You can try cleaning the rust off of the contacts as that's never a bad thing to do, but I think you'll need a new starter motor.

 

While I cannot see the photo, from countless similar prior instances here, I'd first ensure that all the grounds are tight, and if that doesn't do it, I'd still lean toward next replacing the battery (which is probably the single-most electrical-gremlin causing point on these trucks)...The battery may be just barely strong enough to run the lights, but so worn out that it cannot carry a sufficient starting circuit through it (let alone a sufficient starting charge) anymore. These trucks are very battery-picky, and you may have been due for a new one soon anyway.

 

Check the grounds aa that can cause the same thing. But that looks pretty crusty. Starter is probably toast