Takes about 15 minutes with a digital volt meter and a test light to ferret out 90% of no start problems. Add in another ten minutes and a fuel pressure gauge to get to 95%.

Make sure that you get the timing and balance belts replaced.

Britwrench is my kind of guy. He called two minutes ago, and when I said "Hello, this is Jay" all he said was "Jay, listen to this:" and all i could hear was the beautiful sound of a 944 purring away. I might just have to keep the car simply because it will afford me an opportunity to interact with the rarest of beings--a mechanic who not only is an expert in a fairly rare breed of cars, but one with a great sense of humor as well.

Long story short, they ended up replacing the ignition wiring, the distributor cap (due to corrosion), and one of the refernce sensors was also not functioning properly. Mark said as soon as they finished installing the new bits, they barely turned the ignition and she fired right up.

Hugh, now that the car is running, Mark is going to provide a complete and thorough mechanical inspection, and make his recomendations. Already on that list is the belts.

Sarah and I are planning a little get away for the weekend, so maybe it will be our inaugural tour in the 'new' car. :) I think that would be a great way to spend some quality time.

Let me see if I can make this clear to you:

I WOULD NOT DRIVE THE CAR UNLESS THE TIMING BELT IS REPLACED!!!!!

Are you kidding me?! That's WHY its at Gerber! With the help of everybody on this board (and no small part to you and your previous posts in particular) I would have gladly tackled the non-starting issue myself.

I just figured "hey, why am I messing with this if it's got to go to Gerber anyways?! might as well have them spend a half hour to figure this out while they're doing the belts, water pump, thermostat, clutch, etc, etc."

It's all going to get done. Everything. This isn't my first forray into european cars. My old V8Q also received star treatment with its $120 mobil 1 oil changes (10.6 quarts of oil per change, and a $36 filter that only fit that car), and $2200 timing belts. You can't afford to defer maintenance on these cars if you plan on driving them. C'mon Hugh!

Just because I don't know how to diagnose issues with a 944 doesn't mean I'm a complete tool when it comes to cars. I've helped my dad rebuild the top end of his Volvo 960 (which I believe is all Porsche, or at least Porsche Designed), build up a bad-ass '86 bronco with a tweaked 351 Cleveland, used to wrench my first 86 RX-7, etc, etc. etc. These days it doesn't make much sense economically for me to do the work myself, but you've got to give me a little bit of credit man! :)

But thanks for looking out for my car. I appreciate it. Too bad you won't be cruising with the Seattle gang so I could buy you a beer in thanks.

SoCal Driver, I just realized your last post was in response to my comment about taking a road trip.

Sorry, I missed that at first. Point taken. It was my hope to have the work completed before then, but it is not to be. No road trip either. Bummer.

I was getting the impression you would put off the timing belt until after the RT. I also have the impression that the timing belt is living on borrowed time not being changed since the car was new. Wonder if Britwrench new that?