If my car will click when turning the key how come it won’t crank with the check engine light on?
Do you mean the charging system light(battery light) is on? If this light is on,you need to recharge the battery for the car to start.
A click from the starter means either a bad starter or more likely what @COROLLAGUY1 says, your battery needs re charged, It does not have enough juice to turn the starter.
There may be other problems based on what codes are turning the check engine light on, if you can get a jump start take the car to a local parts store (Advance, Auto Zone etc) to see if they will read the codes for free. Call first to make sure they will do that. Once you do get the codes post them here, they will look like Pxxxx, x being numbers that you can look up.
do you look at the dash normally when starting the car? most people dont turn the key to “on” and than stop to look at dash and than turn the key to crank.
At least two clicks might be heard. One is a relay, probably in the dashboard, that turns on the instrument panel. Another is the solenoid, probably located on the side of the starter motor, alongside the engine. If you hear a click from the starter solenoid but the starter motor does not run, it’s a either poor battery charge and/or connections, or the solenoid itself is worn out. There are copper contacts in there that eventually get burned and eroded. Once that happens it’s intermittent or no starter motor activation. Easily fixed once the starter motor is removed.
your “check engine” light should always be on until your vehicle starts.
What you are seeing could be completely normal, other than a possible dead battery.