Mine was giving me all sorts of problems and several members told me about the battery to frame ground. Replaced that and problems solved.

 

hook one leg of a jumper cable from the negative terminal to a good ground on the chassis and see what happens

 

Yea the battery was tested at autozone before I left the store.
It is a Manual Tran. Where would I even begin to hunt for this grounding issue?
I'm still not fully understanding how it could be a grounding issue, it's my understanding that if it wasn't grounded properly wouldn't everything else running off the battery not work?

 

Try the advice from 7t9l82, it's a simple test. Hook up only the negative lead from a set of jumper cables from the negative post on the battery to a good ground on the chassis. See what happens.

 

it has to do with the load required. insted of arguing why not humor us and check the ground like i said before.

 

I'll definitly give it a shot, can't hurt. I'm just asking

 

Good suggestion using jumper cables to verify the ground. Make sure it is a good set, not some small gauge set

 

Gotta wait and see what this hurricane wants to do. Unfortunatly it broke down at my fiance's and she's not covered as well as I'd like. Not sure if playing with electricity in the rain would be the smartest idea, although it's only 12v.

 

*****UPDATE*****
So I caught a break in the storm and tried running the ground to the chassis and still the same result. I keep hearing it could be a starter issue... but what would explain the car dying on me?

 

With the tranny in neutral, reach down to the starter with a shorter screwdriver and short out the big battery terminal and the "s" terminal (purple wire). That will test the starter, if you want to start it, turn the key to "on" first.

 

What do you mean by a clunk? The starter will click. Where is the clunk coming from?

 

I think what we need to do here is to narrow things down, and also, get a complete, accurate description of exactly what it's doing when you put the key into the ignition and try to start it.

The alternator is new, and the battery works, correct? What you want to do first is take the negative cable off, remove the battery conecter on it, and clean the exposed wire thoroughly. Corrosion there can cause problems starting a car. Then, under the car, remove the other end of the negative cable, and clean the area it bolts into really well. Spray it with WD-40. What you want to do is remove the possibility or poor ground. Even without the starting/running problem, this is something you would want to do as a classic vette owner now, anyway, so no wasted time. Put everything back, and try to start the car.

By clunk, what do you mean? When you put the key in and turn it to on, the lights work, and such, correct? Then, when you go to start the motor, it clunks? Usually, what you'll get is either a starter turning very slow, and then not at all, or just a click, and no starter turning. Can you describe it in more detail? Starters are electric motors, so they tend to not just fail, they wear out. If they don't turn at all, it's because they are not getting power. If they wear out, it will be obvious, as it turns slower, because it no longer produces enough torque to turn the motor over. We need more details to figure out which one it is.

Start with the simple stuff, and work your way into the harder stuff. Generally, the simplest answer to a problem is the correct one...so check out that ground cable first and foremost. Then give us a better description of what it does when you try to turn it over. Good luck!

 

Wild guess that this is a automatic car. When it initially stopped running, the motor seized. Your generator light came on then since the alternator was no longer spinning, your steering was hard due to no power steering. The "clunk" is your starter motor engaging, but can't spin the engine. Hope I am wrong

 

This is what I was hinting at. He mentioned it's a manual trans though.

 

Huh! Never quoted myself before, feels kinda weird...........


Scott

 

*****UPDATE*****

Managed to get the starter out and have it tested at autozone as well, it tested.

@Kevin:
To recap, what I'm discribing I cannot think of better wording.. It does exactly this, I turn the key you get 1 solid clunking sound and no attempt to turn over after that noise. All accessories work, and when I turn the key they all dim.

Battery is new and tested good, alternator is new, I have an Ignition Module I'll attempt to put it, I was told if it didn't work they'd let me return it, so why not? At this point it seems like she's dead so I'm willing to try anything.

I don't know enough about cars to want to tinker with a motor, I know my limits.
Is there a good solid way to skip all this tippy toeing around and find out if the motor itself has infact siezed?

 

Your ignition module is not keeping the motor from starting.. The earlier suggestion about removing the plugs and trying to turn the engine by hand will tell you if it is seized.. Another way would put the car in gear and have someone try to push while you watch the balancer.. If you don't see movement, that points to a seized engine..

You could also try push starting the car.. have the ignition on, someone pushes the car and pop the clutch.. if the car stops dead in its tracks here, that would also tell you it is seized.

Based on your statement on knowledge about cars, you may want to consider shop time at this stage before digging your hole deeper.

Can you tell us more about the oil change? What weight oil did you put in?. Did you drain all the old oil? Was your oil pressure ok after change? How much oil did you put in?

 

everyone on here has detailed the things to do, and it doesn't sound like you are comfortable doing any of these things. so i would recommend taking it to a mechanic. i beleive it will likely be a couple small issues. you are diagnosing a runny nose not cancer.

 

What exactly haven't I done?
I've tried everything people have asked me to do, with the exception of taking the plugs out.

 

I'll give it a shot and let you know how I make out.