I followed with interest the recent thread about DI failure, having had to
spend around $600 to have one replaced yesterday on my 97 9000 Aero. I'm
trying to understand if I did something to cause it to fail.

About a week ago, my battery died, after the headlights were on for about 30
minutes without the engine running. Foolish of me. But I jump started it and
then used my trickle charger overnight and all seemed fine the next day.
About a week later, after the car started and ran normally, I went to start
it again after a couple hours. Good cranking but no start. I kept trying but
eventually the battery ran down. I popped the hood and got a strong smell of
burning plastic. Had it towed to the shop where they said my battery,
although it took a charge, would still not pass a load test. So new battery.
They also said the DI had fried and that was what I smelled. I'd replaced
the plugs (yes, the NGK's) in early September but he said two of them were
fouled. Could that be a sign that the DI was failing, not delivering enough
spark to the plugs? Did I cause the failure by continuing to try to start
it?

Any wisdom appreciated.

Michael