ok i just bought a 92 non turbo stealth and its a bit of a project car meaning that the guy before me had it and he was changing the spark plugs and when he took off the manifold to get to the plugs it touched the battery and it fried something electrical in the engine and now it wont run. the only way u can get it to turn over is to jump the starter. has this happened to anyone or does anyone know what it could be? or even the name of a good place in flint, michigan to take it to to get it diagnosed?

Wow man, where to start. He could have cooked the starter solenoid, that would be the first thing to check.
Does it start and run (when jumping the starter)? If so you need a solenoid or an ingition switch.

If not: Check to make sure it is getting gas and spark. If it is, but won't run, it could be out of time.
If it is getting gas but no spark it could be several items. CAS (crank angle sensor), ECU (brain box), PTU, coil packs, plug wires plugs.

I don't know. Check these few items out....???? Good luck, electrical gremlins are the worst.

thanks. i just replaced the new battery because eon us3s.com a guy had done the same thing but with a wrench and it just killed his battery. i just didnt happen to be so lucky.

oh i forgot. also the guy had said that the sensor at tthe base of the steering wheel was bad. the sensor is an anti theft type thing and when it was going bad, u had to hit the key at a certain spot to get it to crank do u think that could be part of the problem?

Is your car an auto or manual tranny?? If it is a manual it could be the clutch limit switch. If it is an auto, it could be the brake limit switch. Those have to be closed (switched) for the car to turn over.

Just a thought.

its a manual and also the car will turn over when u jump the starter. so if its not a solenoid or the ignition switch, im thinking it could be a melted/shorted wire somewhere between the battery and the starter. but thats just a guess.

I take you have never been able to start the car. Do you have the key turned to the "on' position when you jump the starter???

There is a starter relay under the hood on the left side of the bay (passenger side) under the little "boot" shaped cover. Pull it and check it. Do you have an voltage/continuity tester? You need one.
There is also a IGN fuse (fusible link) under there as well, check it. It could also be the MTX clutch contact. Have someone depress the clutch while you check the relay. It should have power on both sides of the relay (with ign in the "ON" position). If you are getting power to both sides of the relay, you should have power at the magnetic switch (it is the cylinder shaped thing on the starter).
It could also be the "theft alarm starter relay". It is under the dash and from the diagram appears to be behind the radio area.
If he said he had to have the key in the "proper position" for it to start, the ignition switch could have been going bad and finally gone bad...??? just a guess.
This is what the manual says for troubleshooting tips for a starter that won't crank
*Check the starter. (you know it will crank so that is OK)
*Check for poor contact at battery terminals and starter (again you know it will crank so...)
*Check the clutch pedal switch
*Check the starter relay (under the hood on passenger side)
*Check theft starter relay (under the dash)
*Check key reminder switch (appears to be the switch at base of steering wheel)

note: I added the comments at ().

The last thing it "could" be is the ECU. I am including links to the stealth316 site. A guy named Jeff put the site together and it is awesome.
ECU code diagnostic
ECU removal
Console removal for theft relay
Stealth316 home

Check out this site. It has tons of information on it and diagrams, pics etc. It should help.
Let me know what you come up with. Good luck

thanks for all the info. unfortunately i wont be able to do any work on it till thursday but ill keep this updated. thanks again.

well it wasnt the starter solenoid so my dad and i are just going to take it into mott community college in january and have the students trace it down for us.

Well damn, sorry I couldn't be of more assistance. I am all out of ideas. Hope you get your problem resolved.