1998 Chevy Lumina Won't turn over!

JANDCHEADY

MEMBER
1998 CHEVROLET LUMINA
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
160,000 MILES

I just replaced the thermostat in my 1998 Lumina and everything ran great when I put it back together. Until I pulled in my driveway this last time. I pulled in for a minute, turned it off, and then came out a minute later to restart it and it won't turn over. It clicked a couple times when I tried it the first time, but then it stopped clicking and now nothing. Help?

3 Replies

MASTERTECHTIM

MECHANIC
4,750 POSTS

If your battery is charged my guess would be a bad starter motor.

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Monday, February 25th, 2008 AT 4:57 PM

JANDCHEADY

MEMBER
4 POSTS

After the earlier incident, I jumped the battery thinking that the alternator hadn't had a chance to charge because the car had been sitting for a while. When I jumped it, it started right up so I decided to drive around for a little bit to charge it up. I drove for about twenty miles when the car just quit at 65 mph. The volt light and the oil light illuminated and when I got to the side of the road, none of my electrical systems worked at all. Since this happened while running, I'm assuming that my battery has a short in it or I have a bad connection. Could I have shorted it out when I changed my thermostat? I neglected to remove the negative cable off the battery when I repaired it. Could any of the connections that I removed during repair be the problem? I know it's one of those two, but the connections were to the air duct and the throttle assembly, so I didn't think they would interrupt the firing circuit, or did they?