'99 Buick won't start due to unknown issues, can someone please help me?

[Alexxryzhkov]

Well this week my family had some awful luck. My car is in the shop because the steering wheel is shaking itself to death, my dad's car is in the shop because the radiator decided to explode, and just now, my sister's car is completely dead. So what happened...


Well my sister was probably high when this happened, so she doesn't remember much, but her car started to have with starting. Here's what happens:
Turn the key, lights come on, gas gauge goes to normal. Turn the key to start the car, and the gas gauge drops and the car will either do nothing at all, or the lights will turn off and nothing happens. Also the lights that show what gear the shifter is in don't come on at all.


Well with messing around with the car many many times, my sister eventually got it to start, and she drove it about 80 miles to a Firestone, and then the car wouldn't start again. She fiddled with it for a while, nothing worked. Next day she fiddled with it and it actually started, so we went to go get it inspected. Well, now when you stick the key in, literally nothing happens. Key won't turn at all, the keyless locks don't work either, and Firestone was actually completely stumped. We ended up calling some other mechanic to come, and they said it would cost $400 just to get a new key + ignition column installed, and they still don't know if that will fix the issue.


We are just exhausted and don't know what to do. The car is a 1999 Buick Century Custom. It has 125k miles on it, and the body is in "okay" shape, but the interior and paint are COMPLETE trash. But the motor and tranny are perfectly fine right now, but we did have to put in a new fuel pump 2 months ago. Here's the thing, is it worth paying $400 when we potentially have more issues to fix? Or can we maybe just sell the car for parts and buy a new car? I know the buick isn't worth a lot, but maybe at least $400-500 since it has a good tranny and engine and it only has 125k miles. But we also don't have a lot of money, so we'd probably just buy a $1500 Honda or something.


I have 2 options:
1. Sell it for parts as-is, keep the money and buy another car
2. Spend $400, and if it works, keep it. But then I risk having the car still be broken, and then we basically wasted $400.


The thing is, I'm worried that the ignition column is trashed because of how much my sister fiddled with the car to start it, and if we fix it, the original problem will still be here. Can someone please give me some advice?

 

[ryenie]

Well, now when you stick the key in, literally nothing happens. Key won't turn at all

I would start by having the ignition switch lock cylinder removed and then check it to see if it is binding up, if not then i would suspect the mechanical side for faults. With the cylinder removed the key should turn freely, the stopping points are inside the mechanical part of the switch. If they key cylinder is good you don't need a new key, you just need the mechanical side of the switch which doesn't require any reprogramming. With the way the lights were acting I would suspect the mechanical side to be the faulty side, but you'll have to remove the key cylinder and inspect it first, the key could just be severely worn and unable to operate the lock. The door locks however i would think are non-related to the no start.

 

[MelsRegal]

It sounds to me like a bad battery connection or dead battery or charging system problem combined with the steering wheel needing to be turned to release the ignition lock. Based on your initial comment about your sister are you confident that the situation has been clearly explained to you? How confident are you concerning the mechanic who claims you need to replace the ignition cylinder, I assume you did not mean the column which would make no sense at all.

 

[ryenie]

Mels right about the battery and connections, and the steering wheel lock, I assumed since you took it to Firestone and had someone else come out and check it, the battery and battery connections had been gone over, but they couldn't tell you what it was so there's really no telling what if anything they actually did. They could've just stuck the key in turned and said yep he's right won't start, didn't even pop the hood, but you still get a diagnostics bill. I've seen this type of stuff done. If you buy a used car for 1500 you're not guaranteed to not have to put money into it, regardless of what brand\type you get.

 

[ryenie]

Could be a bad starter, neutral safety switch? Really need to know what's actually been done.

 

[ryenie]

Well, we need to know more about what's been done, and tested to help further, no start, no crank conditions can have multiple solutions, without knowing what's been done, there's no knowing how to narrow it down for you. Have you done as Mel said and checked the voltage of the battery yourself? Have you removed the terminals and cleaned them to remove any corrosion, corrosion is common in d.c. voltage systems, turned the wheel to make sure the steering wheel lock isn't whats binding the key? After driving 80 miles the alternator should've charged a nearly dead battery enough to pass a one time test. A bad\failing starter can kill a good battery, and burn up an alternator. Really need more info to help.