[mrbob52]

I am having trouble starting my 454 gm engine ..solenoid just clicks..and the starter works when i put power to it before I installed it

[vicrod]

Make sure the battery cables are making good contact. It is possible that there enough power to make solenoid click but a poor connection won't be enough for the starter load.
Even a battery cable that looks good can have hidden corrosion at the terminals.
Make sure the engine ground cable is making a good connection.
A quick test is to, using a jumper cable, connect the large bolt on the starter solenoid to the battery + terminal then try to start the engine.

vicrod

[75gmck25]

The large starter cable is probably a little loose at the battery or at the starter. Its hard to reach on the starter end, and sometimes hard to tell if its tight enough. The other possibility is that the battery needs to be charged.

There isn't much more to the circuit. If you are getting a click, then the ignition is activating the solenoid, but it does not have enough power to kick out the drive gear and turn the engine.

Bruce

[pepi]

A bad solenoid will do it fyi

"not having enough power to kick out the drive gear" not exactly the way it works.
The click is the solenoid operating, it is linked to the starter drive gear and if you here a click the gear in moving.

The problem is the contact, a round copper disk is not able to pass current to the starter and energize the starter motor. There are two lugs one has the + cable attached and the other is for the starter motor, more then likely there is pitting.

You could take the solenoid apart and clean up the area and it will work. But a replacement is the preferred method.

Of course this would be the case only if you know the cables are tight and the battery is good.