This morning, I recieved a very short crank and no start. After a few tries the crank went away and only clicking occured. Came back from lunch, same result: short crank to no crank, just clicking. I ruled out the battery. What could it be?

sounds an awful lot like a battery, you check the voltage of the battery with a meter while you crank? should go down but stay around 9-11v

if thats good its probably corrosion on the terminals, or loose

it did stay around 9-11v. the head lights came on were tested without dimming. but I'll check for corrosion

if the terminals are not corroded i would check the starter voltage, should be the same voltage on the big wore and little wire should have voltage while the key is turned.

so it turns out that it was fuse that was causing the issue. found this out after replacing the battery, the cables, and the starter itself.... and ultimately ended in a tow to the dealship to dianose that it was a non related fuse. smh
sometimes things just dont make sense
but i do appreciate your responses

thanks for posting your fix

Which fuse?