[oboxster]

Thanks to this thread (and a few others I'm sure) I was able to eventually trace and fix a parasitic drain on our 986's battery. Here's the blow-by-blow in hopes it might help someone else out:

1998 986 - 96k
Problem: The car sits for two days and battery is drained. Responds to charging, seems to be fine when driven daily, though the starter can seem a bit sluggish (might be my imagination). Battery is Sears Diehard about 6 months old.

Steps taken:
* took it to Sears, battery and alternator check out fine.

* replaced ignition switch (in this case, the whole unit including the steering wheel lock, also replaced the turn signal assembly on the steering column because the turn signals were not canceling, but that's another story...)

* checked all the fused circuits with ammeter, noting that the static draw was ~3A (!!!). None of the pulled fuses made a difference, though B-1 (inst cluster) was a little weird in that putting it back in caused a momentary jump in the current, which then went back down. (I also noticed a clock-like ticking under the dash that started off periodic, then intermittent, then gone - no idea what that was.) At any rate, this is starting to make big sense to me because the 750mA trickle charger couldn't keep up with this, and only my 6A big charger would get the battery back up.

* rolled up sleeves and went after the starter cable at Terminal 50 (on the starter motor). The static current draw went immediately down to 13mA (!!!). Trickle charger was now making a difference.

* ordered refurb starter on eBay and installed after car sat for a few days on the trickle charger.

* static discharge on the battery still way down at 13mA, so the problem with the parasitic drain appears to be resolved, though I'll be watching it closely.

If anyone can comment on whether a 13mA static drain is normal, I'd appreciate it!

On another note, while accessing the starter motor I loosened the throttle body and rotated it up per instructions (e.g., 101 Boxster projects). I think something got tweaked, though, because on first startup after putting everything back together, the engine idled roughly and would die if the throttle was opened. Vacuum leak? Checked everything 5 more times -- tube to oil separator, oil fill tube, tiny vac tube connecting to back of throttle body, all seem OK. There wasn't that much to undo and redo.

Next day, car starts up and I can drive it around, but idle is still rough and the engine sometimes dies when pulling to a stop. CEL was on the night before, then off the next day. Trying to get my new Durametric to work with Mac/VMWare/Win 7, but no joy -- "cable not connected" problem. This will be for another thread once I can get more info from the Durametric.

Thanks for the great info on this forum!