'03 Grand Am won't turn over

Yesterday I went to work in the morning and 4 hours later when I was ready to, leave my car wouldn't turn over. I plan on taking it in to the shop to have it fixed but was wondering what could be some of the possible problems might be so that hopefully I won't be shocked when I hear how much the bill will be. Any thoughts?

 

Did you leave the headlights on? What are the symptoms? For example, the starter wont turn or it just clicks, or the starter turns just fine but no start or when I hit the key nothing happens. Try turning on your headlights and hit the key at the same time. There are 4 things that can happen. The lights will stay bright and no starter engaging meaning that there is most likely a loose connection at the starter terminal or relay or the starter soleniod is bad if it has one, or the starter ground, meaning the starter bolts are loose or an open circuit in the starter. Option 2 is the headlights will dim and the starter will turn over slow meaning the battery is low on charge. Option 3 is the headlights will dim heavy and the starter will probably just click meaning the too much amperage drain from the starter and the starter may or may not engage when the key is turned meaning too much drag on the battery coming from the starter meaning the starter is consuming too many amps and it is probably bad brushes, bearings or bushings or a bad field or armature inside the starter.. Option 4 is the lights go out completely meaning the battery terminals are probably loose or broken. Now if the lights dont come on at all even before you turn the key of course check connections and the state of charge of the battery. It dont take long for 30 amps to drain a battery. They have ratings but I would say a few hours and the battery will die if lights are left on.

 

The lights fade like they should but my service engine lights stays on. It sounds like the starter is trying to turn over ( there isn't a gringing noise) but nothing happens. Maybe plugs, wires, or fuel related?

 

Check the battery first!!!

Have you tried jumping it off? or putting it on a charger? You need to verify that the battery is supplying enough juice before you can go on to other things.

 

Is the starter turning over fast enough? Meaning does the battery have enough voltgage for the starter and plugs and etc. Remember if an engine dont start within 10 seconds dont keep engaging the starter, let it cool down for a few seconds in between attempts or you might overheat it and ruin it. If your battery and starter are ok and the engine turns over fast enough than I would look at other things such as gas fouled plugs, but most likely it aint gonna be all the wires suddenly went bad. Can you exactly desribe what happens when you turn the key? How long you hold the key, say 10-20 seconds and how fast the starter turns the engine? If there are at least any spots where the engine almost fires up but what exactly it sounds like.

 

you said your starter is trying to turn over...is it slow to turn? does it turn fast and the engine wont start? in order for an engine to fire it needs enough speed and spark

 

does your gas gauge read that it has gas? do you have a voltmeter or a meter for battery voltgage? you need at least 9 volts to crank an engine.

 

if you have a manual tranny you could try a running jump

 

Of course, please check the basic stuff first ie battery and starter........but let me clue you in to the way your car works, starter wise..........You turn the key sending 12 volts to the ECM.........NOT the starter.....The ECM now consults the BCM to be sure that 1) the car is in neutral/park and 2)that the correct code is in the key to satisfy the anti theft systerm.........Once the BCM is happy, it tells the ECM to drop ground to the starter relay and voila, we have a cranking engine...........Gawd it was a lot simpler in 66......
Seen many an ign switch failure (anti theft wise) and a few BCM failures that caused no crank problems.......