well, looks like my back gets saved for a couple days - the neighbor who was going to help talked to his cousin who has a friend with a scanner

sometime in the next few days he will come by and hook it up to see what'* going on

will let you guys know what we find

hope you figure it out

well, that was a bust : (

he came by & only had the cheapo code reader that did nothing more than I did by blinking the dash light for codes

he checked fuel pressure & only got 30lb, but had a huge leaky hose attached to the end on the fuel rail - I offered to pump it up with a jumper to the primer plug, but he didn't want to - I got a gauge from autozone today and I read 40lb (a bit low, but doesn't seem bad enough to keep it from starting)

he tested TPS and said it was bad with no reading and declined borrowing my thin. alligator clips to grab the pins - I tested it today and got smooth progression as I opened throttle

anyone think it is critical that I replace fuel filter before continuing tests?

don't see an edit function here, but I also tested TPS plug for 5v and it was good

most times if you are getting 40 lbs while cranking it will start and if the filter is bad it will run poorly or stall, the pressure will creep down when running or revving the engine.

thanx, I'll certainly replace the filter when I get it running. but with the front end up in the air, I don't want to lift the back too to get to it

crap, just realized I made the mistake I often make in that the page flipped over in the shop manual - back on the right chart for vin3 I should only have 34 - 40 lbs of fuel pressure : (

guess that ain't the problem

looks like I've gone as far as I can

retested everything & wiggled wires - still cranks & stumbles

once while looking at spark on front three plugs, it actually started up on the back three and ran roughly for a bit till we got a flame at the plugs we were testing - put it out, and tried with all plugs in again and just stumbles like it wants to start

I've no more ideas what to try.

well, I was wrong about the timing

been working on some 2-strokes in the back yard that turn CCW, so when I looked at my homemade timing mark, I thought it was advanced

not the case, as it is probably close to or just after TDC

vin 3 motors with 3 vane harmonics time very retarded until a certain speed is reached, then they go to a more normal timing

I'm wondering if mine is just not making that transition when it stumbles without really catching.

Anyone here familiar with which signal it reads to make the transition and which module actually controls the change? I have good crank & cam signals going the the coil pack, but they may not be getting out of there thru a bad wire to other places they need to go.

EDIT: the above was supposed to read "to the coil pack"

(wish there were an edit funct here)