3800 GT won't start

[DaytonaPrixMI]

My friend has a 99 GT and it died the other day and we can't figure out what it wrong. She initially had a place look at it and they replaced both the battery and starter. This cleared the code it threw so I can't tell you what it was. Now if you go to start it the starter clicks and then all the lights dim out and nothing happens.

WHat brought this about was her driving home on the expressway. The RPMs dropped and the car was shaking so she gave it gas and they came back up, but she had to give it quite a bit for it to act normal. Then she came to a stop at a light and it started shaking again and the RPMs dropped again and this time it won't start as stated above. Any help would be appreciated, they say its the motor, but I am not sold on that.

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[syP]

alternator.

 

[SaturdaysGS]

Wouldn't be the alternator, you don't need that to start the car.

Can you spin the engine over by hand? (socket on the crank)

 

[syP]

yes, but the alternator charges the battery... it might be finicky and charge when there is ALOT of load on it....

mine did that... i had to get a used one from Ed Morad.

 

[DaytonaPrixMI]

Ok a little more update I got. Apparently the car will crank by hand till about 3/4 and then stops

 

[quickgrandprix1]

maybe its the o2 sensor its running lean

 

[Fish]

A bad alternator would either drain the battery completly and not start at all, which would eventually drain the battery (Ive had to jump multiple cars multiple times to get it home to swap the alternator) or let the car run with no accesories on for about 5-10 minutes depending on how much juice the battery has.

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

Ok a little more update I got. Apparently the car will crank by hand till about 3/4 and then stops
[/b]

stops dead (will not turn farther)? or starts to build compression and you have resistance?

the former is bad news

oil level? can you turn it counter clockwise? try to turn it 2 revolutions each dirrection, if you cant at all your looking at possibly a thrown rod

do not try to crank it over with the starter again, till you know the engine is free

Regards, James

 

[imported_Ron Vogel]

pull the plugs...bet it's hydrolocked. Could be the FPR, that's why it ran better when it was given gas. Otherwise, could just be the UIM problem that's common to the L36's.