Car won't start

[cimber]

First off, I drive a 01 grand am gt. Security light has been on since the summer. No big problems with that. It still started every time i went to go somewhere. Then this morning when I got to leave for work. My light wont even come on inside my car. So I thought it was the battery. I tryed to jump it off my brothers truck and still nothing. I figured the lights would come on when I tryed to jump it. I have a 1/2 full tank of gas. It ran perfect yesterday. I noticed when I got out of it, I went to lock it with my remote on my key chain and it did nothing. It wouldnt even pop the trunk open. I think the ignition cyclinder finally went. If so, could a regular mechanic fix it, or would a dealer need to fix it?

Thank you for your time

-cimber

[4kQuad]

Sounds like a dead battery or dirty connections. The fact no lights come on point to a dead battery.
Batteries can be like tires. There fine when you shut it off and walk away, but it's flat when you return.

[rixGAphx]

The GA's battery cables suck.

The ends are covered in molded rubber. But it's not ABSOLUTELY watertight.
Water can (and believe me, DOES) seep into the cable.
It invisibly corrodes the copper strands into worthless dust, leaving you stranded.

The ONLY solution is to disconnect both cables and cut-off the rubber boots.
Clean/repair/replace/tighten as required.
Then protect against short-circuiting by installing an aftermarket removable rubber boot that you can inspect regularly.

Your battery might have already been severly damaged by the bad cable, but inspecting/fixing the cable is Step 1.

Good luck.
-Rick

PS: When working with battery cables:
* Disconnect the NEG (ground, Black) first, then do the POS (Red).
* Reconnect is OPPOSITE: POS (Red) first, then NEG (ground, Black).

Reason: If the Neg is connected and the wrench on the Pos slips and touches the body or engine (ground), the result is sparks, explosion, fire, call to 9-1-1, etc. :eek:
The procedure I described prevents this drama.

[adamD]

dome light should come on without the key in the ignition