Hi everyone. New to the Chevy forums. I have a '98 lumina ltz 3.8L and on Wednesday night of last week it ran out of gas. I tried starting it to get off to the side of my street. It cranked over several times then didn't crank a few times then cranked again. Thursday morning I got gas in it and it wouldn't crank at all. I replaced the starter (previous starter was a junkyard starter) cause I figured that was the problem. After reconnecting the battery the low speed fan instantly turned on with no key in the ignition. I tried cranking it over and nothing. The security light kept flashing and the fuel gauge went all the way full and I know the tank has at best a gallon and a half in it. I need help. I'm 500+mi away from all my mechanic friends and resources and family and need this car for work and to get back to Illinois. Any ideas are hugely appreciated.

 

unhook the ground cable for a half hour. Does the security light stay on? If so with ground cable hooked back up, do not start the car, but put key switch to on for 10 minutes or so, then without turning the key off, try to start it. Do this after you put more than a gallon of gas in the tank.

 

Ok I'll try that Kevin. Is that like a reset procedure for the anti-theft?

 

It is a relearn, I have a 96 may be some difference, but that is all I can help you with for now.

 

Alright thank you sir. Greatly appreciated. I'll try that in a few min. Gotta warm up. It's 10 degrees here in Omaha for the high temp!!!!

 

So I disconnected the negative terminal on the battery. While doing so I looked and realized that in my hast to replace the starter before work I didn't connect one of the three terminals to the starter. I connected it put the low speed fan relay back in and reconnected the battery. The fan didn't automatically turn on but I tried cranking it and still nothing and still the security light is flashing. So I disconnected the negative and I'm gonna enjoy an episode of always sunny in Philadelphia then try connecting it and see if it has relearned.

 

So i tried the rest with the 10min waiting period three times and nothing. How can I find out if my resistor key is bad or if the ignition switch is toast?

 

I am going on assumptions here. The key has a resistor in it, if you have an ohmeter you can check it. Locksmith or hardware shop can check it. That will give them a number, that number will correlate to a resistor, I think there are 15 or so different ones. I'd suggest also under the dash where the steering column is, look for two small white wires and a connector, that is from the switch to the pcm, or ecm that when the matched resistance key is in gives a permissive to start.