Pontiac Not starting

[Romulux07]

I apologize ahead of time If I have posted in the wrong section, But Im hoping That I can get an answer with My girlfriends Pontiac. Yesterday after work she had drove her car to the store and when she got back inside her 99 Pontiac grand prix would not start. We got her a new battery and put it in and it started up and we drove home. somehow over night something went wrong once again and this morning when she started her car it simply would not start. She says the dome lights came on and everything was working until she turned the key and everything shut off. with the key in the on position Nothing will come on. I disconnected the positive on the battery for 15 minutes and then reconnected it, and put the key in the on position and the dome lights came on and everything was working just fine until I go to start her car and everything shuts off and again nothing will work with the key in the off position. Im hoping someone might have an idea as to whats going on as Im not much for pontiac nor have alot of knowledge.

[REDCRAPGP]

Time to pull out the voltmeter and check the voltage of the battery. Did you just replace it thinking it was a issue or did you have it tested at advance or autozone etc? Sounds to me that it could be the alternator causing the batter not to get its 14 volts...how handy are you..you could take that to advance and have it tested as well but I would definitely grab the voltmeter first.

[Cocor]

Does it just click once or does it like a drumroll clicking?

[Romulux07]

I have checked the battery with a volt meter and the battery is good. When you turn the key to any position, either on or to start the car, there is no power anywhere. I cant even turn on the headlights or overhead lights. not even the fuel pump turns before starting it. Ive been told that it could be the ECM is fried. I am handy and willing to work on the car I just have more knowledge of chevy and toyota cause thats all ive ever owned. Ive also checked all the grounds to the battery and they are all nice and tight and corrosion free. I appreciate your guys help. thank you

[Scottydoggs]

the good news is, your still working on a Chevy lol GM got smart and only uses Chevy engine these days, no such thing as a buick or pontiac engine, they are all Chevy's now.

check the grounds on the bell housing yet?

if they check out ok, tight, clean, and not broken, it could be an ignition switch gone bad.

the grounds are above the starter on the bell housing bolt. the neg ground cable from the battery bolts there as well with 2 smaller grounds.

[BillBoost37]

Going to reiterate this and hopefully you confirm that I read it right.

You unplug battery and reconnect.
When the key is turned to on, you have lights and things seem fine.
When the key is turned to start, you have no lights and hear no fuel pump, then when you let the key fall back to the on position there are no lights and no power to car.
Unhooking the battery resets things and you go back through the cycle.

That's right? If so, please check that when you are hooking up the battery the connections are good and snug. The cable connection to the battery isn't corroded etc.

Has any work been done to the car in the last ... 3 months?

[Romulux07]

Billboost you are correct, everything you have mentioned works just like that. as for any work being done, it gets complicating. My girlfriend only trusts her brother since he is "Certified" mechanic, yet I have had to redo the brakes and brake lines he messed up, but now she is tired of him messing up so she finally asked me seeming how everything i've done for my trucks have been working and standing strong. the battery connections and terminals are corrosion free. most connections that I have followed are nice and tight but I know I haven't checked all of them And I will check the grounds on the bell housing and let you all know later on. Thanks

[Romulux07]

You guys are awesome. It was a loose ground above the starter. Car started right up and came back to life. took it for test drive and turned everything on and drove it home then shut it off and it started right back up minutes later. Thank you all for your help

[BillBoost37]

It's funny.. typically if you get that one shot and dead like you mentioned. It's that ground.