[Christien]

Ok, here's a bit of an update. Even more puzzling...

I wanted to do the screwdriver test on the alternator, but I could't keep the car running long enough to test it. Even after charging the battery all night, it would only run for maybe 2 or 3 seconds, then die. So I thought maybe the battery's shot. So I took the battery out of the 911 (which I know is fine) and swapped it into the 944 - same thing. Plenty of juice to start the car, but it only ran for a few seconds. Both batteries are reading ~12V on the voltmeter (11.45 for the 944 battery, 12.something for the 911 battery).

Now I'm thinking, what are the chances it's just out of gas, or maybe a fuel pump problem? The fuel guage reads just under half, and jumps up there when the electricals are turned on (ie needle's not stuck) but it could be broken. But that still wouldn't explain why when I was driving home Monday night the headlights got really dim and the heater fan grew weak.

The battery should be able to produce enough juice to at least power the spark plugs for at least a couple of minutes, no? all the other electrical stuff (lights, fans, stereo) were of course off, except the tiny interior light.

Any ideas what's going on here?

Thanks,
Chris