DESPERATE help needed, car won't start
 

ok, here are the symptoms:

it's like my battery is not giving full power for some reason. I can turn the lights on, but the second I try to start the car, everything shuts off. and now it's in a phase where after i lock the car, the locks make this ticking sound. I've had this problem before, and I thought it was attributed to my grounding kti and a conenction being loose, but I removed the whole grounding kit, and I tightened both battery terminals as tight as god would let me. ANY suggestions would be of help. Thanks.

check the altinator or starter i had a similar problem with my 93 sentra

How are the + - terminals looking? Corrosion ?

a little corrosion on the positive, but i imagine this built up over time, and would not cause it to just fainally quit starting.

Can you jump-start it?

Measure the battery with a multimeter and tell us what you find.

the only jumper cables we own are in a parking lot at the airport. I could gain access to em later today, I'm thinking that's the easiest possibility to fix. Let's hope the battery or alternator doesn't need to be totally replaced.

how is the fluid level in the battery? If its low, add distilled water and jump it. You should use some salt water to clean off that positive terminal just to make sure it isn't corrosion.

Also, does your starter start to turn at all? Or does everything go dead and your car is quiet? If everything goes dead, could be the clutch interupt relay (yes I know you are automatic, but they have them too). Try starting your car in neutral. If it still does nothing, could be one of the three (at least my 95 has 3) clutch interupt relays. They are designed to keep your car from starting while in gear.

turned out to be a loose wire, but i swear I tightened that thing several times. Oh well, I cleaned the + terminal, so maybe that helped. Thanks for the help guys.

it was because you cleaned the terminal, enough corrosion will definately throw off the system.