most likely, the hard drive was damaged in the drop (the clicking is the drive trying to spin up or seek). The excessive attempts by the drive to work will run down the battery quickly, and its inability to seek will cause the other symptoms.

The way the battery is set and connected in the device makes it highly unlikely its cable (or any other) could work loose or tear.

Time for a new drive...

This is true David. But maybe he might able to open the iPod and check to see if the harddrive cable is connect to the logic board and the harddrive still. But it does sound like you do need a new harddrive. What you want to do if you battery says that it is low is put it on the charger (wall charger, not pc) and let it sit for about a day. After that do as i instructed above and see if that helps. If it doesn't, you definitely will need a new hardddrive.