1999 Pontiac Sunfire, no power to ignition (won't start)

Have you had the battery tested?Made sure the battery cables are clean and tight?Also do you have a multimeter or test light to do some testing?Also have you checked all the fuses?

brand new battery & cables, all fuses checked good, have both multimeter & test light. acts like an ignition switch gone bad, but just replaced it, kinda stumped

Alright at the ignition switch there will be a big red wire going to it see if it has battery voltage going to it?Let me know what you find.

battery holding 12.87 volts. tested both red wires going to ignition switch. grounding to body, I got .01 volts to both wires

Yeah both wires should have battery voltage the wires are feed by the IGN 50 amp fuse in the under hood fuse left front of the engine compartment.See if you have power to both sides of that fuse it should have power at all times.Let me know what you find.

ok, with ignition switch in off position, no power at fuse. in on position 12.87 volts

Are you sure its the right fuse?That fuse is feed straight from the battery to fuse then thru the fuse and feeds the B and C terminals at you ignition switch.

positive. fuse box under hood, right side if facing engine. IGN fuse red, 50 amp in a fuse box that looks like a tetris piece right?

I dont know about a tetris piece lol but it will be the larger maxi fuse.Unplug the ignition switch and see if both sides of that fuse has power?

yes, both wires going to switch have 12+ volts

So now both red wires to the ignition switch has power?With the ignition switch plugged in or not plughed in?

with switch unpluged, using multi meter on 20v setting, both red wires that plug into switch have 12+volts. Thinking We may have gotten a bad new switch, just went and got another 1. No luck, same thing, no power to dash or ignition ( turn switch, nadda comes on )

Alright with everything plugged in see if the yellow wire at the ignition switch has battery voltage in the start position?

sorry for delay in answer.. anyway, with switch plugged in, turning it to start position, multimeter set on 20v, red lead on big yellow wire black lead grounded to car chassis, it shows .28 volts

Thats crazy with the key off and the switch plugged in what is the voltage reading to the red wires?

voltage on red wired with switch on & plugged in is .1, I dont understand it either. Also, the IGN fuse in the fuse box under the hood, you measure across the top of the fuse, voltage is only .4 something ( multimeter set at 20V) pull fuse out, stick multi meter probe in each socket, measures 12.87, but the fuse ohms out as good. Im completely lost as to what the heck is causing that

I was asking for the voltage with the switch plugged in and the switch in the off position.Because nothing should be connected thru the switch in that position.

ahh, ok, let me try that then

Alright let me know.

ok, with switch in off position, the big yellow wire has zero volts. Both of the red wires have 1.78 volts each

Thats crazy the red wires should have battery voltage with the switch off.Nothing passes thru the switch with it off.Are you sure your getting a good ground for the meter?Also with the switch off and it plugged in what are the readings of the other wires besides the ones you already checked?

switch off, other wires show zero voltage. grounding meter to steering column mounting bolts. I took the fuse panel box that is under the hood loose to check for possible wire fell off or bad wire, ect. while jiggling the wires around, car came alive for a brief moment. heard a click or snap sound, like a fuse popped. checked fuses, all ok, but no power to instrument cluster again. thinking inline fuse? but cant find the rascal if it's in there. considering replacing fuse box. not sure what else it could be

ok just rechecked the wires going to the switch & ran a wire to the ground on the battery to assure I had good ground.
With ignition switch OFF & all plugs connected to switch, the 2 beg red wires show 12+volts, the little green wire shows 10.44 volts, all other wires are zero volts

with ignition switch on, the big red wires ( ignition hot) both drop to zero volts

Heres my thoughts on this one looks like you have a bad connection wire to the under hood fuse box where the red wires go into the fuse or a bad under hood fuse box.What i have i seen happen a lot on cars is a bad connection where the wire terminal meets the terminal to the underside of the fuse boxe.Unplug the connector going to the fuse box that has the red wires that feed the ignition switch.Then look at the terminal openings see if the red wires terminal is spread open compare it to the other terminals.If its open it will be clearly noticable.Let me know what you find also make sure the wire doesnt have too much movement in and out of the connector.Were getting really close.

Going to go do that now. will tell you what I find

Alright keep me posted.

Ok, red wire going from battery to fuse panel under hood corroded, cleaned it up, checked voltage from battery to fuse box on every wire in the box. all of them show 12+ volts EXCEPT the small wires ( orange, purple, green, green/white stripe) they have zero voltage. Also tested every relay in box. my multi meter doesn't have a continuity tester, so hooked battery to pins 86&85 on relay, & ohm'd pins 30 & 87 to see if circuit opens. all relays clicked & ohm'd out. Son took my truck to work.. so cant go after a new cable for fuse box & contact cleaner. so will have to wait till morning. But with running a heavy guage jump wire from battery to post on fuse box, still have power to switch, but when turn switch on, voltage drops to zero. Dash lights & instruments still dont come on

Also.. when checking the voltage on the wires in the fuse box.. They read 12+ volts ( cept the ones I mentioned) BUT they didnt instantly show 12 volts, it climbed up slowly

We need to take care of that corroded wire.So is the postive battery cable itself corroded?If so i would replace it not clean it sounds like the acid has gotten into the cable itself.Keep me posted.

Yeah, gonna replace em both. but will be tomorrow. Also going to remove the copper plates in fuse box, sand them down , make them shiny & drown em in die electric grease when re-assembled. Will let you know tomorrow how it goes & thanks much for the help so far!!

Your welcome keep me posted.

replaced both battery cables, replaced wire going to fuse box, removed & cleaned contacts in fuse box. same problem, power to switch when off, turn switch on, no power

What happened to you moved the wires at the fuse box and everything came to life?I would concentrat on that area.

thinking there may be a short in one of the ign wires going to fuse box under dash, going to run a jumper wire from fuse box under hood to ignition switch & see if it powers up, if it does, replacing some wiring, if it dont.. breaking out the .45 acp & putting that car out of my misery...

I would think if the wires being connected when The switch was turned on were shorting to ground you would see and smell smoke at the very least or the fuse would blow.Let me know what you find.

found it.. ignition wire between hood fuse box & ign switch has a short, running new wire now.. again MUCHO THANKS!! if there is a rating thing on here, you get an A+!

Your welcome thats what were here for glad to hear you found the problem.I figured thats where the problem was.