2000 LeSabre will not turn over

I parked a 2000 LeSabre about 5 months ago because I had bought a different car and now that warm weather is back I went out today to get it started so I can sell it. The battery is completely dead so I put a battery charger on it for a couple of hours. Now when I try to start it I can hear a clicking noise and things like the fan work but the engine will not turn over. Lights on the radio flash but the radio will not work, figure this is the anti theft device, but any thoughts on what else could be the problem.
I read thru the forums for something similar but did not see anything like this, so any help is apprecited.

My charger would take more than a "couple" of hours to charge a completely dead battery.
Perhaps you might have a faster charger. Anyway, if that is the case, maybe you have a dead cell(s) in the battery. Although the battery is under the seat, check for cable corrosion. Definitely sounds like a battery issue. IT seems to have some power, but not enough to turn the engine over. Try jump starting to prove/disprove my theory.

I parked a 2000 LeSabre about 5 months ago because I had bought a different car and now that warm weather is back I went out today to get it started so I can sell it. The battery is completely dead so I put a battery charger on it for a couple of hours. Now when I try to start it I can hear a clicking noise and things like the fan work but the engine will not turn over. Lights on the radio flash but the radio will not work, figure this is the anti theft device, but any thoughts on what else could be the problem.
I read thru the forums for something similar but did not see anything like this, so any help is apprecited.


Take the battery out and to a store like Advance Auto where I believe they charge it free and test it free for you. Here it's a service because it sells many batteries once you're in the store and yours checks out dead or defective or not rechargeable on the machine.

It does sound like you're not fully charged and it takes days to recharge with a smaller charger.

Thx for the input. I have a large charger that even has a 225amp boost for starting and a 50 amp continious charge. The battery was new less than a year ago but that does not say it is not bad.

The odd part is the vent fan runs on high and does not sound like it is low on volts.

i will charge again this weekend and see what happens. thanks

Hello ted, FIRST and most important thing i always do when working on a no star is check the potential difference or battery voltage. You can buy a multimeter from an auto parts store for maybe 15 bucks, you want it to read VDC(voltage direct current).

When you say your vehicle clicks, that is a sign of poor connection to the starter. If you can check the VDC or voltage at the battery and it reads somewhere around 12.6V then you have a fully charged battery.

You could then hold one of the leads on the cable were it meet the starter and ground the other lead, you should get battery voltage. If not, then remove cable from battery and clean the connection. If you do get Battery voltage at wire to starter then i would clean the connection there at the starter. My brother found a new cable on a car at the serve yourself junkyard and bought it for about $2, we slapped it on and it solved his "click" "click" "click" "START" problem

In my experience this is a simple fix it happens on lots of cars, mainly these. Bad connection to starter = NO START!

yeah i have a 97 lesabre with the same problem. i let it sit for a few days and now the darn thing wont start unless i pull the starter cable and have someone else start the car. its very annoying. when i get the chance im going to clean and check the connections to the starter, but yea the battery should be fine no doubt

Been traveling and just got back to working on this car. thx for all the input. I pulled the battery and checked it out. It if fine but I charged it anyway. I put back in the car and some things work fine. The blower fan runs fine, parking brakes work good. Radio does not work but i thought that might be the anti theft device. Inside lights do not come one and the button to automatically unlock the doors and trunk do not work.

When i try to start I hear a click back by the battery but that is all.

I decided to go ahead and have the battery checked even though all my info was a good battery. It was found to not hold a charge and was under warranty so I bought a new battery. Same problem as before. I can check for voltage and get 12.4 volts.

I did some more investigation and see if this makes any sense. Here a list of things that do not work.

Trunk release
Door buzzer
Interior lights
Remote for unlocking the doors
Remote for locking the doors

Key things that do work:

Head lights work fine
Gauge lights work fine
Vent blower work fine
CD will eject fine
Power seats work fine.

SO only a portion of the car is not working. It all worked great when it was parked but now it will not start, in addition to the issues listed above.