98 lumina won't crank

Hello all,

I'm trying to help my friend who know's little to nothing about cars, and does not have the money to pay a 'real' mechanic. Soo this is where I come in.

It's a 98 lumina, and it will not crank. Obviously our first thing to try was to jump the car, however when we tried that the car still would not turn over. There was no audible 'click' of the starter trying to turn the car over, not even the headlights or hazard lights would come on. The only electrical things in the car to work were the door chimes, and the electric seats.

Okay, so it has to be a fuse, right? We checked every fuse in the car, not a single one was fried. I really have no way of checking if any of the relays are bad, like the ignition relay, etc.

My only possible thought is that:

1) The ECU is bad
2) There is a loose or corroded ground wire somewhere
3) Isn't there a chip in his key or something? If that went bad, would that cause all this trouble?

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

Did you check for power at the fuses. I think the first one I would check is the ignition switch 1 maxi fuse.

No, I didn't have a meter with me at the time. I'll try to check that out though next time I go over to help him. Any other ideas?

Confirm 12v at the solenoid when attempting to crank. Does the security lite stay on?

to add to max's comment

can try another key or wiggle while trying to start... perhaps the contacts which connect to the resistor built into the key are not making contact.

check grounds, and there are TWO fuseboxes in the engine compartment, one inside the passenger area on side of dash.... id look more into the two in the engine compartment.

2 fuseable links near the starter

regardless of a security issue, you should still have +12V at the starter (big wire) where you can use a screwdriver to jump the starter solenoid (short small bolt to the large bolt)


make sure the A/C is OFF... otherwise you'll have the electric fans coming on if it starts.

Kev, no fusible links at the starter on this newer Lumina, good added info though.

Kev, no fusible links at the starter on this newer Lumina, good added info though.

saw them when i was doing the top end, my lumina is a 98
diagram from alldata

irrelevant tho, checking where they go..... one goes to the alternator the other the rest of the power dist boxes, so everything would be dead if the 2nd one were burned out.

Interesting. Pretty much everything IS dead in the car. Looking at the wire that goes to the power dist boxes, where is the fuse? Is it an in-line fuse, or would it be in a fusebox?

I appreciate everyone's responses, you've been very helpful. I'm going up saturday to give it a shot.

2 fuse boxes in the engine compartment, on each side, under or near the diagonal frame braces. driver side near washer fluid reservoir, passenger side underneath the diagonal frame brake. you can pop that cover off without removing the brace

check each one for 12v with multimeter or test light

what else works? cigarette lighter, dome lights, brake lights, parking lights, horn, etc... does turning the key to on position give you any dash lights or anything else come on?

absolutely nothing else comes on. Door chimes, and then when I push a switch on the power seats, they go off.

Horn doesn't work, dash lights, dome light, etc etc.

Checked power to fuse box near battery and passenger side, both only getting about 1v, same with the power wire to the starter.:banghead:

Checked the battery, appears to be charged.

I'm here now trying to fix it so any quick replies are very much appreciated. :)

Still sounds like a bad ground or battery connection bad. Have you checked for full 12v in the large fuses in the under hood box?

IGN SW 1 fuse gets 6v

Checked a fuse on the passenger side, it was 60A, and only got .5v there.

Ughhhh.

Took a jumper cable, hooked one end to the + battery post, touched the other to the starter. I hear an audible click coming from both fuse boxes, I can hear something else turning on, can't tell what.

There definitely has to be something wrong with the grounds in the car me thinks...

Took a jumper cable, hooked one end to the + battery post, touched the other to the starter. I hear an audible click coming from both fuse boxes, I can hear something else turning on, can't tell what.

There definitely has to be something wrong with the grounds in the car me thinks...

Ok, tried something that may not have been smart.

I attached the jumper wire from the + batt post, then clamped the other end on to the starter + post.

When I did this, flashers came on, everything else in the car came on.

Then I tried to start the car. Heard clicking, rattling, car didn't start. Tried it again, same thing. Once more, and then I got nothing. Maybe I just made the problem worse....

You definitely have a short in the system, probably inside a wire loom.

security only controls fuel pump and starter, so should not affect lights.

back to checking grounds. Also unbolt and clean thick cable going to starter, and both battery posts.

i think i remember an engine grounding strap, front of vehicle near rad.....

Yeah, it's definitely a short.

Kevin, can you give me a picture of this wire to kinda show me where to look?

The stock ground attachment from the - batt terminal to the engine does not appear to be broken. the connection into the engine is dirty and greasy as hell but I wouldn't think it would cause this much of a disturbance.

that guy after this lumina was sitting all winter.. since in the fall I could not get it to start and winter set in far too fast to worry about it.. I replaced the battery.. thinking it may be more complicated than that

but I could not get mine to jump start or take a charge..

80.00 later and the agg of removing the old one and putting a new one in and she fired up just fine..

I hate to see anyone dig into a short if at all possible.. but sometimes it appears the simplier things are the easiet..

I had to buy a battery since we had no side post batteries laying around to swap out.. maybe it is wishful thinking.. but still a short is not something I have the patience to find.. I do know this car is not the easiest to get a jump start

possibly the idea of putting the battery in such a ridiculous place under a bar and shoved in where the washer fluid reservoir resides may have something to do with it.. have you had the cells checked on the battery? possibly a bad battery.. and mine would not take a jump like i said.. but once i replaced the battery she started up fine...i hope it isnt a shorted wire really..