Hey... Just got back and the car is still... in the shop... they thought they would have it done yesterday...

Got a few posts while I was gone, I'll try to touch on them all here...

The Battery is also brand new... got a diehard from Sears about two months ago... same time I had the ECU replaced. I replaced the ECU because the repair shop at home said it was bad... (not sure how they diagnosed this as being bad though) there was a code for a problem with the fuel pump relay which, as I understand it is an indication of the ECU problems... (it also has a new fuel pump replaced sabout nine months ago from this ECU code...) As I started to research the ECU, I found out about the ECU capacitor problem, so I bought a remanufactured unit and made sure they had replaced the capacitors...

The car has 175,000 miles on it, but is still in good shape in general. It does need a new turbo unit, and because of this it has not been getting enough boost, so it has been running rich... so not a lot of power, but still able to be driven... (I also had the exhaust replaced as it was still the original exhaust... thinking maybe instead of the turbo being bad, it was a plugged convertor... so that is also new too...)

When I left for my trip there was a pileup on the interstate and I was stuck in traffic... the car ended up stalling and I had to have it towed for 250 dollars (an hour away from where I live) Before it stalled it really started to run rough (I think the plugs were getting fouled from the stop and go driving, and the lack of boost, but maybe at the lower RPM there was less spark too??) Once it did stall there wasn't enough power to turn it over... so there is still something wrong electrically with it... Even without it being able to start and maintain ignition in the cylinders with severly fouled plugs it should still turn over, and the electrical system couldn't do it... (but maybe this could be a bad starter...)

It seems to me that the alternator is putting out power, but once the rpms drop to idle this power drops and the car must rely on the battery, which does not have the power to do it... like it's slowly discharging over time and not getting any power from the alternator for a charge... which is why when the car is running (and the alt is running) all of the electrical items (door locks, int lights, etc.) work... and when I shut off the engine, and its just on the battery power, these things do not work at all... As for the clicking behind the dash, I think a relay was tripped in the ECU by the screwed up mixture (bad turbo, fouled plugs...), as it has not done this since...

The day I had it towed was also the day the new turbo came in for it, so I took that down to the dealer that day and am still waiting to get it back as of today... I'm thinking they're still messing with the electrical system on the car, bacause the turbo replacement is not a three day job... So if amyone has any insights... leave a post... I really appreciate it! and when I get it back from the dealer, I'll leave a post on what happened and what they said was wrong... Thanks again!