I recently went to start my van at the store and the battery was dead. It gave me the good old solenoid click, but when I pulled out the key, it continued clicking and all of my guages rose to peak, fell rose again and fell. I got it jumped, drove it home and charged the battery. When my wife went out to start it, the headlights were flashing and the clicking went on for like 5 minutes. No keys in ignition, all lights off. Any ideas?

I recently went to start my van at the store and the battery was dead. It gave me the good old solenoid click, but when I pulled out the key, it continued clicking and all of my guages rose to peak, fell rose again and fell. I got it jumped, drove it home and charged the battery. When my wife went out to start it, the headlights were flashing and the clicking went on for like 5 minutes. No keys in ignition, all lights off. Any ideas?

The clicking sound and the gauges flashing is typical symptoms of an discharged battery on most american car.

Hom much time did you charge the battery? How much current? Check the alternator operation and also check if there's no electric leak in the car's circuitry.

Or maybe the starter is locked up?

The clicking sound comes from the relay that activate the motor fan. Open the hood, and you'll find one motor fan spinning at low speed. It happens when the voltage on the batt goes down and raise up. Check batt voltage.

You did not say what year model you are working on. On some models this problem could be the result of a relay sticking "closed".