Problems starting/running 99 Lumina

Sounds like multiple problems. Whatever you boosted it with had bad connections or you didn't give the car's battery enough time to charge up.

Second, once the engine was running, the generator was not working to recharge the battery and supply current for the car's electrical systems. The place to start is by charging the battery with a battery charger set to the slowest rate, for an hour or two. Remove the charger, turn on the head lights for five or ten seconds, turn them off, then measure the battery voltage. It should be near 12.6 volts. Next, start the engine and measure the battery voltage again. It must be between 13.75 and 14.75 volts. Holler back with those readings.

Elaborate on that "tic tic". Do you mean one click each time you turn the ignition switch to "crank" or a rapid constant series of clicks like a machine gun? If it's a single click, is it a rather loud clunk or a light, barely audible click of a relay?

Dandy.

You haven't told me what the battery voltage is yet.

Next, measure the voltage at the large cable on the starter. This could be a little tricky to get to. If it's easier, you can use a small jumper wire to connect that stud to the voltmeter probe so you don't have to hold onto it. You will find full battery voltage there. What is important is the reading you find while a helper tries to crank the engine. If that voltage barely changes at all, measure the voltage on the smaller wire on the starter. It will be 0.0 volts when NOT cranking the engine. See what it is when cranking.

That small wire where you found no voltage is supposed to have no voltage, ... Until a helper tries to crank the engine. By touching a wire to it from the battery and it cranks proves you found the inoperative circuit, but now we have to figure out why.

Every specialist needs the specific tools to do the job, and so do you. Poking and touching wires isn't going to cut it. You can find a perfectly fine digital voltmeter at a Harbor Freight Tools store if you have one nearby. They cost around $7.99 and often go on sale for $2.99. You can also use a test light, but they work best when testing for no voltage or some voltage. Sometimes we need to know not just if there's some, but exactly how much. On your car a test light can work fine for an experienced mechanic but most of us aren't used to seeing the slight differences in brightness. We'll start with a test light if that's all you have.

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I just skidded in from the nation's second largest old car show swap meet. Left here Wednesday evening. This shouldn't happen again until this time next year.