TheSpookyCat

Hey guys, I need some help.

I am a 10-year VW mechanic. I have always worked on imports, mostly European.

Anyway, a buddy of mine has a 2006 Impala with a 3.9L V6 and an automatic transmission. It has been leaking oil, so he took it to a dealer. The dealer told him it was leaking from the head gaskets, and quoted $2600 for the repairs.

I looked at it. Sure enough, leaking oil from the head gaskets. I looked up the procedure on Alldata, and priced the parts. The procedure looked ok, pretty standard heavy line work. The parts were reasonably priced. I figured I could knock it out in a day, two tops.

I started on the car yesterday. The work went without issue, except for one broken stud on the exhaust pipe (crossover pipe?) above the transmission. I finished up the work today (I wanted to take my time). I ended up replacing the head gaskets (they came in a service kit with valve seals, and intake gaskets), the spark plugs, the ECT, and I performed an oil change. I turned the engine over by hand without issue.

So, my problem: the car won't start now, and the key is stuck in the ignition.

The last thing I did after turning the engine over by hand was reconnect the battery, which I had disconnected (yesterday) before removing the alternator.

I got into the car, inserted the key, and rotated it to the "Start" position, but the engine did not turn. I do not hear the starter solenoid, and the dash lights do not dim. (The dash lights do come on). When I rotate the key back to the "Off" position I cannot remove the key. I also cannot move the shifter. Also, I do not think the brake lights are coming on.

Any help you can give would really be appreciated, this thing is now stuck on my hoist, and my next step is to tow it to the local Chevy Dealer.

Thanks in advance!

tech2

all i can think of...this won't help your starting problem but the key and shifter problem sound like a shift lock actuator problem. its probably not getting power

dead or shorted battery will cause the solenoid not to disengage. I have also seen broken wires on the models with a floor shifter .
I realize its would be strange for this to act up all of a sudden so it may be a red herring.

There is a 40amp starter fuse in the underhood fuse panel that is wired after the starter relay and feed power by after the relay closes. Does the starter relay click?