pontiac 2000 grand am not starting! Help!

[sleepybutawake]

My 2000 grand am is sitting dead in the parking lot. For the last few weeks it has been giving me the constant blinker clicks I have heard other folks mention (multifunction switch?), and now the electrical system seems completely FUBRed.

See if this rings a bell: When turning my ignition off earlier, I pulled the key out without turning completely it over in its slot. It was only a little but maybe someone out there has had this happen...

Regardless, lights, locks, radio, basically all the electrical system except for a very dull "service engine" light: none of this stuff is working. My friend jumped my car this afternoon and it got me home alright, but now it is dead again. My battery is a year old, and I haven't had any trouble with it at all until now.

Was it a coincedence that I pulled out the key half a click early and now my electrical system is bunk? What can I do to get this fixed? Any price estimates? Could this be as simple as a bad fuse, or are we talking about getting into the dash and replacing wires?

PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP!!!!

[Hoags]

Have someone check the Alternator, You may no be throwing back a charge to the battery. I had a similar problem with the dash lights and chimes I was about 40miles from home when she started acting up, I made it home and she would not start. The next morning I jumped it and she started right up but I only made it about 3/4 mile and she died, had to jump it again. After the 4th jump, I gave in and called the tow truck. Turned out to be the Alt. Had it replaced...no problems after that.

I hope this helps.

[shyguy5885]

First, check the alternator like hoags said. you should also check the ground connections under the hood and make sure they're clean and tight. you may also just have a bad battery. i had some funky problems about a year ago with my 2000 3.4 GT. it wouldn't start all of a sudden one night...had a hell of a time getting the trickle charger hooked up cuz the neg. screw terminal on the side was loose. my car was fine for a few weeks, and then it died again. i ended up just taking a chance and replacing my "AC DELCO" battery with is 5 year warranty with one from pepboys for like 50 bucks. this solved my sporradic starting problems. also, i was quite amused to find out the pepboys battery had more output than my delco did...

[gmack221]

Sounds like either a bad battery or alternator to me, have them both checked first, I don't think it has anything to do with your ignition, if your ignition works it works, and it worked when you got a jump from your buddy, so it sounds like your not getting power from the battery, either a bad battery or alternator. most auto parts places will check both of them for free.

[racer77]

[quote=sleepybutawake]My 2000 grand am is sitting dead in the parking lot. For the last few weeks it has been giving me the constant blinker clicks I have heard other folks mention (multifunction switch?), and now the electrical system seems completely FUBRed.

ya i ha problems like that. its the battery , or the alternator have auto zone check them both . the dont charge any money

[sleepybutawake]

thanks very much to everyone.

[gmack221]

so im guessing this means you got it fixed, what was the problem so others that look at this thread know and it helps them with their problem thats about the same.

[sleepybutawake]

Well, I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I guess my back is against the wall: my connections were loose. There, I said it. My connections were loose. Crap.

I only hope this thread will protect other people from looking as dumb as me.

But for real, thanks to everyone for the help. You guys allayed alot of concern/paranoia about my car. This forum will be be bookmarked and I will recomend it to anyone I know having car troubles.

[gmack221]

Hey man, no back against the wall here, do you think for one second that any of us gained the knowlege we now posses without a few mistakes along the way? We've all missed some minor detail along the way, but we all learned from it, and thats whats important, not that you missed a loose connection, or that I rewired a trailer only to find out it was a bad ground! Whats important is that we now know what gave us troubles and will not make the same mistake again.

How much did it cost you to figure out you had loose connections? My guess is nothing, you figured it out yourself or a buddy seen it, so what if you admit to a bunch of strangers on an automotive forum you missed something, you saved alot of money by not giving up and taking it to a shop, thats what this forum is all about, helping others fix their car cheaper, using our past experiences (good or bad).

thanks for posting the problem and solution, anytime I can help let me know.

[Firebreak]

Your symtoms sound nearly identical to mine. My car died this morning. I let my brother take it to work and he neglected to tell me he's had some starting issues. I experienced it for the first time this morning and had to take a cab to work.

Everything you said, right down to the constant blinker click noises is exactly what I am seeing. I hope it's just a loose connection for me too, and if it fixes that blasted blinker clicking I'll be a happy camper in the end, lol.

Fire

P.S. Too bad nothing's open in Nova Scotia today, I will have to find some other way to work tomorrow as well.

[Firebreak]

Well I got home and checked her over pretty well, checked each plug and they're tight as can be. Didn't see anything obviously wrong like broken wires or anything. I'm guessing either my alt or battery are shot. I just realized that tomorrow's a holiday, so fat chance of me getting any service then either. This is going to be a week of hell I think.