we were driving and the car lost all power now when i turn my key i hear a single click and it wont turn over. is there anything i can do to fix this problem? 1996 chevy lumina
4 Answers
enginecreator answered 7 years ago
since you lost all power, Sounds like a alternator or loose connections or your battery terminals or terminal wire are bad/corroded/frayed/loose. Now your battery is drained and may or may not recharge, depending on its condition. Check to make sure your engine & battery grounds to frame are good. Check your main fuse box under hood for circuit breakers good also, and go ahead and check those under the dash.
and how do i check the grounds and the fuses
enginecreator answered 7 years ago
The one from the negative side of battery goes to frame, & there are a number of bare wire uninsulated grounds around the car and engine going to frame/body. If it locked up you can try to turn the motor over at crankshaft (front of motor lower pulley)with a big wrench. If it something broken inside and it still moves you may hear or it may be too easy to turn over or has no compression same deal too easy to turn over. I think the single click is low weak battery power (not enough to spin motor over). An alternator going out or connections bad as mentioned above will cause the car to run off the battery and when there is not enough to do so the car dies and will not cranks back up unless jumped off because the battery power is too low. Try adding a jump box for a test to see if it will spin over. Or remove battery & alternator from car and take to a parts store that will test them both for you. Its old enough to need new battery cables. Cables could be the problem too. They can corrode inside the insulation unseen but usually you will see it also on battery terminal. Make sure your connection at starter is good also.
