Why won't my Lumina start after a jump start?

Hmmm...It might just be that your contact cables are dirty or need replacing. Tightening the cables will only be a temporary fix, if they're dirty. Try buying a $4 battery cleaning (wire) brush from your local auto parts place, detaching, cleaning, then re-attaching. If that doesn't work... Does it bog, like it's losing fuel intake? Could be fuel filter or something. Does it surge, like it's losing spark? Good luck

A voltage reading across the battery while running would be very helpful

Sounds like u possibly got a bad alternator. A good alternator would keep the car running after a jump.

Thanks! Just replaced the battery, the alternator, & the gas filter. The guy @ Auto Zone said the battery is not getting a charge from the positive so I'm not sure what 2 do from here.

sounds like the ecu is playing up the alternator is regulated by the ecu you can by pass it by putting in a rectifyer running from the alternator up to the battery a good auto electrician can do this quite cheeply

Oh & I forgot to mention when I replaced the battery I found out Walmart gave me the wrong kind of battery.

Any 12V automotive battery will start your car in the summer. If there is no charge going to the battery then either the alternator isn't getting the 12V reference it needs with the key on to tell it to produce voltage or the used alternator is bad. Remove the alternator and bench test it at an auto part store.

Replace the contact cables, the main cables that you connecting to the battery. They're like $5-$10, and it sounds like that might be the problem - especially if they're damaged or corroded.

"connect", not "connecting"...:(

If the battery cables were bad the vehicle would continue to run after a jump. You can remove the battery cables after the vehicle is started and it will still run on an alternator that's functioning properly. Its not recommended on newer vehicles because voltage spikes normally received by the battery are no big deal but with no battery connected it will send those spikes straight to any one of the control modules.

Exactly and if the battery didn't have the juice to start the car a jump start will put enough juice in the battery to start it and leave a reserve of about 5 mins and up to 20 if you're lucky. A car with a working alternator is like a pull start lawnmower. Get it started and it will keep going.

What engine do you have in the car? On my 3.1 the Fusible Links, are located near/at the Starter. Check them good. If one looks melted, it's bad. Also know that, a so-so bad Fusible Link could work when cold, and not work when warm. Also, check all your connections to and around your starter.... they can get loose there too... and often are quite messy, dry cracked, gooey, with exposed wiring. I'm not sure on your car, but you should have a Rust Colored Fusible Link for the Alternator. Also, check your fuse box under the dash or wherever on your car... I had an older Pontiac with a 3.1, the "Turn On Input" (the signal from the ECM that tells the Alternator to turn ON) runs through the HVAC Fuse Under your dash board. I found that out the hard way replacing 2 alternators on my Pontiac... and then pulling out the schematics (sheesh)...