Car won't start. Makes "click click click" sound. Out of oil. Engine dead? 2001 Saturn SL 1

Maintenance/Repairs
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21

Change oil soon light has nothing to do with the oil level. If you were reading those words on the dash, then it just means to get the oil change sometime in the next 500 to 1000 miles, or this weekend whichever comes first.

Three quarts to fill means you only had a half quart or so in the pan, not good. Won’t crank with jumpers is not a good sign either, but a battery with an internal short will suck all the current a consumer grade pair of jumper cables can deliver and still not allow the car to crank over.

Take the battery out and take it to a parts house like AutoZone. They can load test it, if it passes the load test, then oops, more bad news. If it doesn’t pass, then get a new battery and hope the engine survives.

22

If you do try turning the engine by hand, chock a wheel before leaving the car in neutral and don’t trust the perking brake. If the starter strains after it clicks or clunks, your engine may be frozen.

23

Just try rolling it off a cliff and see if that helps.