[fairyjuju]

Lights go on, battery is only 9mo old, is charged. There is no click from the starter or anything, just lights and beeps when I turn key to "on" position. Check engine light doesn't stay on after turning key to on. I had the engine rebuilt 6 weeks ago. They changed the distributor cap, but not the coil or ICM. The mechanics won't give me any kind of straight answer :( is it my starter? Distributor? ICM? Where do I start short of getting it towed?

[TxGreaseMonkey]

I would start by thoroughly testing the battery--don't assume it is good, just because it's 9 months old. Charge the battery, until the ammeter cuts back to between 1 amp. And 2 amps. With a multimeter, check for 12.6 volts across the battery terminals. Using a hydrometer, check each cell's specific gravity. This will help identify if one or more cells are bad--if so, the battery needs to be replaced. My experience has been that brand new batteries draw a whopping 5 amps and need to be charged for 3 hours on a 6 amp battery charger, before installation. Most people don't do this, these days.

Next, clean the battery terminals and cable connections, including those going to the starter motor. Ensure all connections are tight. Let me know if the starter motor now cranks the engine with authority. If it doesn't, focus on the starter motor. It's likely, then, that the problem is with the starter solenoid, which is easy to replace or rebuild (Denso).