Went out to start the challenger today. It has been sitting since July. Turned the key and nothing--no click no sound at all. Put the 5 1/2 year old battery on a battery tender and after a couple of hours the tender shows its charged. Hit the key and still nothing. Where should I start checking. Thanks

I cleaned the battery post and cable ends. Still no sounds.

Wiggle/check the 2 big plastic plugs under the steering wheel/coluum while having someone turning the key, if this is a old challenger?

try starting in neutral

"Put the 5 1/2 year old battery on a battery"

How long do you think batteries last?
Dome light come on? If yes, try it in neutral

(1) pull the female connector/wire off of the "grn" terminal on the starter relay & with a jumper wire with alligator clips on each end ground the male lug on the starter relay to ground & see if it will crank/start with the key. (2) If it cranks, pull the 3 wire connector off of the side of the trans case & ground the center female pin in the connector you removed, to the trans case & see if it will crank/start. If it does then put the trans in park & ohm the center pin in the trans piece to the trans case & see if you have continuity. (4) if it wont crank (but did in (1) trace that wire back to the firewall bulkhead & seperate the bulkhead & check/clean those 2 brass terminals on either half. sometimes just seperating the halves then replacing em is enough to restore continuity. If it would not crank in (1) originally; with your meter or test light see if you have fire at the yellow wire female connector itself at the starter relay "ign" terminal while someone holds the key to start. If no fire check that pair of brass terminals in the bulkhead halves for the "start" circuit. www.mymopar.com has the colors for you. Short version: starter relay needs fire to the "ign" terminal for it to crank/starter relay "grn" terminal needs to be grounded in park/neutral. Holler back when you can

Make sure the trans is safely in park if an auto or in neutral if a standard before jumping the starter relay.

Step 1, does the dome light work? maybe it's not functional??? Turn on the headlights, Do they turn on and are bright???

IF not, check the battery and cables

IF they are, turn the key and see if they go out,
Report back

First I want to thank you all for the tips. The car is a 1970 Challenger with a 440 engine and 727 transmission. It started just fine back in July. The dome light and head lights work. I will be checking some of the wiring today or tomorrow. Thanks again.

Carefully, try by-passing the started-relay switch on the driver's fender apron and see if the starter engages... Also, even though you may have lights, you may not have enough juice to engage any part of the starter circuit.

If it turns over that way, then I would start checking from there. Maybe it is the starter relay..

I tightened the nuts on the starter cables, tried the lights and they did not come on so I cranked on the battery ground cable nut and the lights came on. Turned the key and heard a sound behind the dash. Some sort of electrical sound. Put the battery tender to charge the battery and it is charging now. Yesterday it showed the battery fully charged. So maybe the battery is not holding its charge. May have to get a new battery. Back out to the garage.

Check the battery voltage with a good volt meter, it should have a minumum of 12.25 volts after sitting from charging several hours If not replace it and then start your trouble shooting

Ok, I took the starter relay shield off a used a large screw driver to short across the two silver post. The engine did not crank. So what is next?

Not even a click at the starter? Bad solenoid maybe.

Start with the easy stuff. Take the battery out and to the local parts store for a load test. If it tests good, then start looking into the starter and or relay.

Did you check both ends of the ground cable?

No, I checked the end that bolts to the radiator support. I did not pull the intake manifold bolt end. I did replace the start relay and shorted the two posts. All I got was some sparking. No engine cranking. Guess I should have the battery tested or maybe I will go buy a new one. I will report my results. Thanks for all the help.