So here it is.. I have a 1997 3.8L V-6 camaro with about 143,000 miles. I was driving it home the other week and all of a sudden the gauges started rocketing up and down. When I came to a complete stop the car would either cut-off or come close to cutting off. I was lucky enough to get the car home, but when I went to turn it back on later in the day it wouldn't start. The first step I took was removing the alternator, which ended up testing bad. After replacing the alternator I still couldn't get the car started so I took the battery out to get it tested. This also tested bad. I bought a new battery and even after installing this the car still won't start. When I turn the key the car doesn't even turn over. The only thing that happens is the interior/exterior lights work and the radio works. I thought there might have been an issue with the ground wire so I connected jumper cables to the negative terminal on the battery and the other side to the frame of the car to try and bypass it. Still no luck. I have also checked the fuses and double checked everything to make sure there's no loose wires. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions feel free to post. Thank you, Ryan

 

u sure ur battery is good? if ur alternator was bad that means u drained ur battery right before it started acting up. it doesnt take much juice to turn on ur interior lights, but it takes quite a bit more to crank the motor. do the lights dim when u try to start it? this isnt necessarily going to happen but can help diagnose.

well just start at the battery. sit it on a charger or go get a new one and see what happens. might work to swap a battery out of ur parents/siblings/girlfriends/buddys car just to see if it works.

 

oh crap..... i didnt see the part about the new battery...... maybe there is the chance that the new one was crap from the factory. typically if the interior lights come on i figure connections are good for the most part. then if it wont crank i assume the battery is low on voltage.

 

A bad alternator and battery at the same time is weird...
What was found when the alternator was tested? Low output, or a short, or what?
I'm wondering if maybe the alternator had an internal short, then spiked the battery and toasted something else in the wiring as well?
Check the other red wire (not the cable) coming from the battery + post and trace it to the junction block. See if a wire, or fusible link maybe got fried. Do you have a test meter to check for power at those points?