96 neon woulnt start

Hey guys, ive had this 96 neon I drove in high school sitting in the drive way, its been there for like 2 years and hasnt been drivin.

I tried to jump the battery yesterday and when i went to start the neon it just cranked really slowly and wouldnt turn over. Do you think its just the battery is so old? or could it be the alternator.

any helpd be great im pretty new to workin on cars im in my first semester of school

thanks
-aaron

Check all the battery connections and clean the posts. Check for battery acid/corrosion.

You could possibly have a bad cell or two in the old battery. You never stated how long you had the jumper cables hooked up so it may have been just not enough of a charge to really get it cranking. Although, your car should have used the power from the other battery to crank ..... I would also suggest doing what Das has already posted. Corrosion is a b**ch when it comes to electrical. Your alternator has nothing to do with starting the car so you can rule that out. The battery's only job in the car is to start it, after that the alternator provides all the electricity to make everything work AND charge the battery. I personally would clean the cable ends as Das said AND install a new battery. One thing to remember too is that everytime you crank the car, your injectors are spraying fuel in the intake. This presents a possibility of "flooding" the engine if it doesn't fire up after a couple minutes of actual cranking time. Good luck!