# 2002 Impala won't start

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2002-impala-wont-start/83232>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** chevrolet, impala\
**Created:** [January 19, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2002-impala-wont-start/83232 "2014-01-19T05:17:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ArchaicHerald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@ArchaicHerald](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ArchaicHerald)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2002-impala-wont-start/83232/1 "2014-01-19T05:17:41Z")

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Hello everyone,  
I have a 2002 impala that has occasionally not started. The problem started a couple months ago, once it started getting cold here in the midwest. Every few weeks when I turned the key, nothing would happen. It only happened occasionally, and after waiting a bit it would start normally. I did some reading and suspected it was the anti theft locking the car down. Today I tried jumping the car just to be sure it wasnt the battery, and all of the electronics were very dim. I heard a rapid clicking noise from the dash that continued even after I removed the key. The headlights were rapidly flashing, although also very dim. This continued for about a minute before stopping. I tried letting the battery charge from the jump for about 10 minutes, no change. Of course its saturday so every dealership is closed, so I am reaching out to you all for some advice. Where do I go from here?

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**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2002-impala-wont-start/83232/2 "2014-01-19T06:37:13Z")

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Sounds like a diminished battery or bad connections on the battery for dimming lights and the clicking sound. Jumping a battery doesn’t really do much a lot of the time. It would be best to put a charger on it and/or check the voltage wtih a volt meter. When batteries get low, or connections get corroded, strange electrical things can happen.