89 944 (2.7L) alarm bypass issues
 

So, today I tried bypassing the alarm as per the Clark's Garage but then there was smoke...

I put the jumpers on terminal 1 and 4 and 7 and 8 as the instructions say. When I turned the ignition on the battery voltage dropped and there was a buzzing sound and white smoke coming from the 1 and 4 jumper. Tried one more time in case the jumpers weren't connecting properly. Same thing happened.

Is the 89 alarm different than the other alarms? What could cause this curious issue?

To give some back story... the car has/had intermittent start and run issue. Sometimes starts, sometimes not, and sometimes dies when running. I discovered that the negative battery cable was warm to the touch. So something was amiss. Discovered that what I thought was an aftermarket alarm from the stereo (blinking locking pin and no key on the fender) was actually a genuine hella alarm, I assume from the factory.

I have disconnected the power plug to the alarm and now the car fires up every time and keeps on running. At least in the 45 minutes I tested it.

Don't use that Clark's procedure on any 944 later than '86.

I have not seen a good bypass procedure for the later cars, sorry.

That's interesting. I think Clark should put a note about that...

The bypass works on my '87 alarm.

Anywho, looks like pulling the power plug for the alarm did the trick.

I wonder... PO replaced the door handle and key on the driver side door. He didn't say when these issues started but perhaps they're related to the new door handle and key?

Thanks.

Yes, the alarm module changed in either '88 or '89.

As kdjones noted, that could be a third change - it could have also changed earlier.