I have a 1998 Cavalier Z24 and the exact same thing happened to me today. It was idling terribly tough for the past couple of weeks and this morning when I tried to start it it made a weird grinding noise, tried to turn over, then nothing. When I put the key in it dings, but when I try to turn it over, nothing. Any ideas?
I am wondering if it has to do with my water pump. I had it replaced last year and the guy who did it told me I was probably going to have to have the timing belt replaced in the next year because the tensioner was outta wack. Possible?