[Zarbuck]

So I just bought a 944, a black 1987 with tan interior, wanted one for years. I knew when I bought the car that it needed a new alternator but the car was running very good albeit just off the battery. So as soon as I got the car it went straight to the mechanic with a new alternator. They installed the new alternator and took the car for a test drive and it died about 3 blocks away from the shop. They pushed it back and found that the ignition switch had been fried. There was no power going to anything at this point and the car would not start. So I got a new ignition switch and had it installed. Now the car was starting and seemed to be running good again but if you turned on the head lights or the a/c the car would die.

The mechanic came back and told me that he checked a solution database the shop had and came up with 10 instances of the same situation that was fixed by replacement of the dme/fuel pump relay and the dme temp sensor. So I got the parts and had them installed and tried to start the car, nothing. The engine turns over but dose not start. Apparently there is no spark coming from the coil and no fuel pressure coming from the fuel pump. I have been told this is a bad anti-theft control unit part number 911 637 104 02. I have tried the bypass from pin 1 to 4 and 7 to 8 but the car will still not start.

So I'm left to assume that the anti-theft control unit is not the problem since the bypass didn't work. I really don't care to replace something that doesn’t seem to be broke and that doesn’t hold much promise of actually fixing the car. But I am still left at the same place with a coil that's not giving off any spark and a fuel pump that has no pressure. At this point the only thing the car will do is when the key is turned in the ignition the starter will turn the engine over. Nothing electrical works head light, tail lights, indicators, windows, door locks. The only sign of any electricity even being in the car at all is the red warning light on the dash lights up.

There seems to be something very wrong here as every time I replace one electrical component another burns out. I was very suspect of the new alternator or the voltage regulator but it seems that the little the car was running it was producing the proper voltage. I'm not a mechanic and don't have any idea what would be causing all of this. My mechanic is getting frustrated with the car and can only think of very time consuming things to check from here. He has suggested that it might be a bad ground connection and he has check a few but can't get to all of them with out a lot of time. His only other idea is that there might possible be some wires behind the dash that are shorting out but it would take a ton of work to remove the entire dash, check every wire, and replace it all.

I'm afraid if I can't figure out whats wrong with this car soon then I'm going to have to end up selling it as a parts car and take a pretty bad loss. I also don't live in a large city so taking it to a dealership to have someone that actually knows what they are doing to look at it really isn't an option. Even if I wanted to have it hauled to a dealership the closest one is 250 miles away. This forum seems to be my last stop before my dream dies.

Please, has anyone ever seen a problem like this before or have any idea what it could be?