Problem with the GA

[Veryn]

96 auto, 3.6 v6.

one morning i went to start my car and it would not. the battery works fine and all the accesorys work fine as well, but when i turn the key everything turns off and the car does nothing, does not crank or turn over. what could this be?

Now my tranny was grinding for a while too, dont downshift, last time i checked i had fluid which was good, is that something i need to worry about? i had the tranny flushed and the mechs said there was nothing else wrong with the tranny and it fixed the slipping.

And as well my car kinda "drags" when i drive up hill, i had to change 2 tires which stoped the shaking of the car when i went over a certain speed but it still felt like it was dragging along. Someone told me that if you clean the battery connections it might help, how do i clean tho?? thanks in advance.

[babygurl2000]

voltage regulator?
alternator ok?
starter ?
idk

as far as the trans issue idk about that either :roll2:

[Veryn]

alternator was just replaced with a used one.

[rixGAphx]

It probably IS your battery cables.

To service, you'll need:
* Box wrench, about 5/16 or 3/8, for the side-post bolts.
* Baking soda ('Arm and Hammer', like you use to absorb odors in the fridge).
* Metal-toothed small brush (size of a toothbrush; about $1 for a cheap pack of three at the dollar store).
* Two new aftermarket molded rubber boots for the battery ends of the cables.
* *Mebbe* two new clamp-on cable ends for side-post terminals, see below.
* *Mebbe* two new battery bolts, see below.
* Old pocket knife.

Procedure:

A. Preparation
1. Allow engine to cool. Lower driver window (to prevent lock-out). Remove key from ignition.
2. Use wrench to disconnect the NEGATIVE (black, ground) cable from the battery. Be careful not to let wrench touch POS (Red) terminal of battery, lest sparks, explosion, fire, call to 9-1-1 ensue :roll2:
3. Use wrench to disconnect POS cable from battery.

B. Procedure
1. Cut molded rubber boots off the battery ends of the cables (tho they LOOK watertight, they actuall allow water to get inside where it invisibly corrodes the copper wire strands into worthless powder).
2. Inspect battery ends of cables; if dirty or lightly corroded, then clean them as follows:
* Brush off loose corrosion.
* If adhered corrosion still remains (usually powdery white), brush-on a solution of baking soda and water (about 3 tablespoonsful in 1 cup of water), and allow to remain for several minutes until it stops foaming.
Rinse with clean water.
* Wire-brush the lead terminals so they are shiny. Wire brush the bolts so they are shiny, and remove crud from threads (they will be black when clean).
* Wire brush the boltplates on the side of the battery so they are shiny.
3. If cables ends are heavily corroded or nearly eaten-thru:
* It is best to replace the old cable with an IDENTICAL new one (about $15-20 for each GA cable from NAPA/Checker/AutoZone; $75 EACH from GM!!!!).
* If money is a major issue, cut-off the corroded end of the cable, strip an inch of insulation and install a new clamp-on cable terminal.
4. Install new molded-rubber slip-on aftermaket boots to prevent accidental short-circuiting. Do not reconnect yet.
5. Follow the NEG (black) cable to the ground point (on the engine).
* If there's oil in the area, unbolt the connection, clean all oil from the engine and the bolt and the cable end. Reconnect, and tighten.
6. Follow the POS (red) cable to the starter solenoid. Inspect for oil and clean as required. Connect and tighten.

C. Button-up
1. Replace bolt(s) if damaged or heavily corroded.
2. Reconnect the POS (red) cable to the battery, and tighten.
3. Reconnect the NEG (black) cable to the battery, and tighten.

This concludes the Battery CAble Servicing.
Power will now flow much better from the Alternator to the Battery, Ignition, lights, starter motor, tranny, etc.
* * *

Loose/dirty/corroded cables will kill a battery, and/or the alternator.
They will also prevent adequate power from getting to the tranny. First and third gear are electrically-operated, and insufficient electrical power will cause the 'slipping' sensation.

Hope this helps.
-Rick

[Sweet98GA]

i dunno if its just a type-o, or if it even has anything to do with the problems your having, but how is it even remotely possible that you have a 3.6 v6? such a motor was never put in a ga, and im pretty sure it doesn't even exist

[Veryn]

it used to slip now it "grinds" and i think the cables may not be giving the car enough pawer, is that the reason the power "cuts off" when i turn the key?

[Veryn]

oooooook so something weird happened. i dident do anything to the car at all, i actaully got it to start today! after 4 months of nothing, it started!

now questions, it was kinda rough when i did get it started the few times i tried, can i expect that to get better?

There was a lot of smoke comming out of my tail pipe, the check engine light is on, the abs light is on and the air bag light is on too.

the smoke, will that get better as it gets back into the groove of being used?

and lastly, my window seemed to have been cracked and water seeped in the car and soaked the seat. how should i clean that up? do i need to worry about water mold in my car?

[4kQuad]

The reason every thing goes off when you try to strat the car is most likely dirty cabels. The starter draws more power than anthing else in or on the car. Well you could have a sound system, but that is not the point.

When the starter tries to start it pulls all the power from the battery to it. So all the other lights go off.

With good clean cables, there is more power going through the system, so the lights stay on. A good way to test if a battery is dying is to leave the door open so the dome light is on, try to start the car and see if the light dims. If it dims much the charging system has problems.

You have Big problems at the light goes out not just dims.

Even if the cabels look good at the battery, the red lead that goes into the thing that hook to the battery and get dirty and cause you problems.

[Veryn]

its a side post screw in battery post

[4kQuad]

Don't matter...

the side post thing that hooks to the battery has a red (pos) and a black (neg) wire that goed into the thing that hooks to the side of the battery. I'm betting that is Dirty in there. Pull one off and kind of push the wire side to side to see if you can see anything green in there.

I could be wrong, but it's a free check....and everything you have said points to it.

If you have a friend have him hold the key is start position as you stand and wiggle the red and black wires. I bet it kicks over as you wiggle them. If it does, it has to be dirty ends.

[Veryn]

it starts with no problem now. i dunno what happened, after 4 months of just random starting, poof, started.


ok so there like a puddle on my passenger seat thats been sitting there for 4 months, how do i freakin clean that? is there any dangers from that like mildew? i cleaned up around the area, but did not wear gloves, to expose all the water.

[4kQuad]

That depends on how clean the car in general is, if you through burger wrapers and fri's on the floor, it could be a problem.

Towl will get a lot up, maybe more than one. Then you need to find the leak that let it get there in the first place.

I think if you search you should find info cause a lot of GA's seem to leak.

[Veryn]

not a leak perse but my car passanger window was cracked a little and all the water and snow got in thats where it came from, all that was on the floor was a couple notebooks and a book or two.

[Veryn]

ok it wont start again, everything in the car will stay on when i try and start it, but the radio and the head lights dim when i do.

[ram1985custom]

This was my problem when something similar was happening to my 92. It probably has nothing to do with your situation, but who knows. Mine stopped starting, and would rarely rarely start. When it did it also had weird lights on. I realized my ignition switch was messed up, and everytime it wouldn't start, the key switch wouldn't stay in the Run position. If I started the car, and held it in the Run position it was fine, and all the ABS, service engine soon lights, and everything else went off.

Like I said, its probably not your problem, but it couldn't hurt to check...

[parkerconundrum]

To Me it sounds like you have a bad groung connection to the body of the car. On my 1995 GA there's a groung wire connected to the body just under the radiator. There might be others, maybe not.

To check for a bad ground, just take a piece of wire, 3 or 4 feet long, strip a couple inches insulation off each end, wrap one end tightly around negative battery post (make sure you have the negative side, the one with the black cable and a minus sign on the battery) you prob'ly know that already, this is just in case you don't.
Then wrap the other end tightly around a bare metal area or bolt underneath the car. Then try things out and see how it works. Or you could clean the area around the factory ground wire if you can find it. take the connection off and clean well underneath it then reconnect. Good Luck