1996 Pontiac Grand am starting problems

[tbloomfield88]

Hi my 1996 Pontiac Grand am won't start we just put a new starter in it and we have checked
The battery had it tested it was good had the alternator checked it was good we had the
Car in neutral still won't start checked fuses their fine we are out of options please anyone can u help us figure out more options we need this to start I have no vehicle right now
When we turn the key the dash lights come on and front head lights but no crank nothing

[Tech II]

Ok, this is where simple diagnosis saves you money.....

First is the battery ok? May be enough to turn lights on, but not enough to crank vehicle....was the output of the battery checked? Simple voltmeter across the battery with key in crank position, should be above 10 volts....

The car will not crank over.....

There is a purple wire, that goes to the starter solenoid......when the key is in the crank position, that wire should have BAT voltage, if it doesn't, you replaced the starter for nothing.......

do you know what a remote starter is? Basically a wire to battery pos on one end, and the other end to the purple wire terminal on the starter solenoid, with a switch in the middle of the wire.....when you press the switch, bat voltage is applied to the terminal with the purple wire.....this causes the starter to crank, and if the key is in the "on" position, the car should start....

So if there is no power at the purple wire terminal, the possibilities are a bad P/N switch, ignition switch, or ig sw fuse....

[tbloomfield88]

Thank u I'll have someone look at that and
Also a friend can over they jumped the starter and it started like that
But battery died and it's weird cause the owner before said he put a new battery on
When he had the car all of this didn't happen until we let it sit for 2 months before we got the starter because of our expedition just went out on us too so that's why we figured to fix the Pontiac instead of paying for a fuel pump for the expedition
Thank u for responding also

[Tech II]

That's why I said check the battery first.....fact car was sitting for 2 months, if there is a little draw in the system, it will drain the battery enough, so there is power for lights, but not enough to crank the vehicle....

Since it started with a jump, the battery should be recharged with a charger......then when fully charged, the system should be checked for a parasitic draw......basically, with everything off, the negative bat terminal is disconnected, and then an amp meter is installed between the neg battery terminal and the negative bat cable......then a jumper wiore should be installed in parallel with the meter......this allows current to quickly flow to the modules and puts them to sleep....after a few minutes, the jumper is removed and you can read the meter.....current flow should be around 25 ma(milliamps), or 0.025 Amps......If it is much higher, there is a draw which is causing your battery to die....

If there is no parasitic draw, then the alternator should be checked that it is charging correctly....