WEIRD CLICK WHEN I TRY TO START THE VAN THEN NO POWER

First time I've ever had a problem with my van. I went to start it and I could hear something in the doghouse click like it was a tripped breaker. No power at all, lights done come on, nothing. Then fiddled with the key for a few minutes and I got power back. I could tell because my fan came on. Went to crank it again and again the pop or click. Happened one more time. and it still wont crank. tried jumping the solenoid when it was in "no power mode" and I got nothing.

Haven't been able to test for the solenid, the switch to the starter yet. But any preliminary suggestions?

What could possibly sound like a tripped breaker when you go to start?

You got a voltmeter to see what the voltage of the battery does when you turn the key to start?,,,,that starter needs at least 10 volts to crank,,,,,if voltage is above 10 and still no crank, jump the 2 big cables on the starter relay,,,,,,theres a lot of amps there, so use a jumper cable or undo the starter cable there and touch it to the battery cable on the relay,,,,,,see what you get,,,,,get us some clues ........

I tried that and there is no attempt for it to start when you jump the terminals. battery is fine. If I were to relate it to house wiring, its almost lie a breaker is blowing and sometimes it will reset itself but then you go to crank and it blows. I'm thinking ignition switch, but I hear something tripping in the dog house or battery area.

You keep jumping too far ahead,,,,,take jumper cables,,,hook them to the battery,,,,,,clip the positive clamp onto the starter cable terminal on the relay,,,,then touch the negative clamp to the engine block,,,,this will test ,,,,the battery, both cables and the starter AND if the engine is locked up,,,,,let us know if the engine cranks over when you do this test,,,,,then we can go from there,,,

Ok, I tried the test multiple ways:
1. I have a remote starter tried it from the battery to the solenoid to starter wire- nothing
2. I tried it from battery direct to starter- nothing.
3. I put the jumper cables on the pos and neg of the battery, positive to starter, and negative was just hanging near the dog house and I got it to turn over for a second then it stopped, it is possible the neg cable touched the dog house.
4. I tried connecting positive to starter, positive to another good battery pulled from my 58 Desoto, negative batt to a bolt-on the exhaust manifold, all I get are sparks when trying to connect to the battery positive or negative.

I keep getting sparks at the battery when I try to connect things.

I have no power at all to the van. headlights won't come on, fans, nothing.

The only thing consistent is that for three maybe 4 times now I can get something electrical to work when fiddling with the ignition, but when I go to start- nothing then I loose all power.

I even disconnected the starter lead from the solenoid just in case there was a short in the starter, still no lights key on or off doesn't matter.

If it weren't for the weird lights and no power issue, I would sear it was just a dead starter.

The motor is not locked up because it cranked normally the few seconds it turned over tonight.

I've been restoring cars for over 30 years now and this is a total head-scratcher to me. I've never seen anything with this odd combo of issues.

Starter is 1 problem,,,,,then there should be 2 smaller wires connected to the same bolt that the positive battery cable goes on,,,those are the feed wires,,,,,maybe a yellow one goes to the alternato r output, horn relay and ignition switch,,,then maybe a black one to the voltage regulator ,,,,and that headlight switch is a work of art,,,,,with the 4 fuses on the back of it ,,,,,and,,,,,a circuit breaker built inside it,,,,,I guess you can check for power at the alternator output, horn relay, voltage regulator, headlight switch and ignition switch,,,,,,,test to see if the ignition switch is actually working,,,,the juice has to get from that positive battery cable to the equipment through wires and connectors,,,,I surely put fusible links on my vans wires and someone might of put some on yours,,,,you just dont know what,,,,,,,modifications,,,,,have been done over the years,,,,you just dont know what you will find,,,,,so maybe pull down the ignition switch,,,,see if you got power in the connector,,,,then use a test light to see if the switch actually switches power to the dash to everything,,,,,,you just got to keep checking and tracing the power flow from the battery,,,see that you have a ground wire to the body and not just to the engine,,,

I don't know if you have checked this yet. On battery cables that the ends have been replaced with the universal terminals, if the bolts holding the copper battery cable to the terminals are loose, you will hear a click and then loose power to everything. If you have that type battery cable, take the clamps completely off and clean the cable wire or cut it back to new copper cable and reattach new terminals. Clean the battery post with the post cleaner and hook everything back up making sure the terminals are tight on the posts. Try starting it and see if that has corrected your issue. Check all your connections at the solenoid also for tightness. Also at the starter. Loose connections cause resistance and arching. Not good under a poorly ventilated engine box.