This is just a short update to say that the 944 has started every single time since the new BOSCH was installed. The starter turns remarkably fast, even when sub 30 temperatures are happening. The car starts right up and seems to be recharging the battery properly. The dash reads 13.9V and the battery reading 14.1 with the voltmeter across the terminals. Let's hope that now that I replaced the engine-->chassis ground cable, as well as the battery, the corrosion will refrain from forming.

It just doesn't stop with this car. The winter has always been this car's arch enemy. It's routinely failed to turn over, charge the battery, idle properly; it hates the cold. Well, these last two weeks have had me in a tizzy. Yes, a tizzy...over yet another no-start condition. Turn the key and nothing. Here's part of the problem.

This was the beginning of the Great Battery Catastrophe of 2010! Keep reading if you would like to be as depressed as I am.

After the new ISV was installed, I'm chasing a hunting idle. The car surges to 1800rpm, then falls to 1200rpm, then surges to 1800rpm, back to 1200rpm. It's barely cracking 30 degrees out so progress will be slow. Clamping off the ISV resolves the issue. However, I can't be driving around with a vice grips inside the engine bay.

Took the ISV apart this week to find out that it wasn't just my imagination that it wasn't operating properly. There was sign of wear from condensation on the commutator and the contact brushes. But my worries about the unit itself being bad, leading to the transistor/DME damage came true. More inside.

I've been attempting to figure out why the idle stabilizer valve on my car doesn't seem to be working. What it does is stabilizes the idle at cold temperatures. Without it, the car wants to stall, idling around 400rpm when the engine is first turned on in the cold. The Valve either allows more air in or cuts the air supply to adjust the idle speed higher until the engine is warm. My car idles far too low in the winter time, which is in direct opposition to the other 944 in the driveway which idles stable at 1000 even after not being started for two months. I'm exploring the possibilities why.

I haven't really driven the car since I put the headlights back in due to my beginning of college. I bike to class and back every day since it's only 2-3 miles and parking on campus is atrocious. Anyway, I drove at night for the first time since working on the headlights and noticed that I had a hard time actually seeing the road. I need to elevate them a little bit apparently to give myself another 10-15 feet of sight. I still have to work on the clearance issues though. More to come as it happens.

I managed to track down the culprit, or at least one culprit, of the non-start issues to my battery terminals. They're corroding much faster than I've ever seen before. The slightest bit of moisture in the air and I have lumps of corrosion forming. After a few days of this, there's enough corrosion buildup on the terminals and posts to halt the flow of steady current back to the battery. I had Advance Auto clean the posts and I did the best job I could on the terminals. The dash reads 13V again and the car has started ever since. Let's hope it's just that.

Just when you think everything is going great, another kick in the shin. The car's been running great for weeks and weeks. I think it's a record actually. I started to gain some confidence in its ability to be a daily driver. In fact, I hit the milestone of 134,000 as I pulled into WalMart.

But as I got into the car today to go to the bank, I turned the key and got nothing. I thought maybe it was my negative battery terminal coming loose again. I cleaned up all the corrosion around the terminals, but nothing fixed it. Then I realized I had power with the key turned, something that doesn't happen in the terminal comes loose. No, this time, my battery read 9.1V. It's currently charging via the house. However, either I have another parasitic drain, the battery isn't holding its charge, or the alternator isn't working, something I don't want to get into (although changing the alternator isn't a bad job on this car).