Called the mechanic who worked on the car before me to see about borrowing his fuel pressure gauge. He assured me it is not the fuel side of things, He confirmed that the injectors are all new and he tested that part of the system. Even told me that unbeknown to me he had changed the knock sensor. He is convinced at this point that it is a wiring issue and that I should check the wires around the icn. I just pulled a connector off there and the wires seem extremely stiff though I don't see any cuts or breaks in the insulation. Since I am convinced it is heat related and something is going high in impedance this should be the area to look first as it gets pretty hot around that module.

i would agree. the car will run on 4 or 5 cyl so you dont have to worry about anything starting at the coils. no fuel injectors or any of that either that only affects a cylinder or two. that was what i meant when i posted the list of sensors, it could be the circuits going to those as well, think i mentioned that before

JW,
We are in agreement. I will look thoroughly around the icm wiring and check resistances both hot and cold and see how much change there is. I'll also check the new cpk and see if perhaps that is going high resistance when it gets hot. I need to see exactly were the wire from the cpk is running, it may be to close somewhere to the rear exhaust manifold but I haven't chased those wires yet.

Seven

I have been checking around the icm today and here are some things I'm finding. I found a site that says to test the cps by using an ohm meter and checking the impedance on the circuit from the connector to the sensor. Says you should have 600-900 ohms resistance to the connector. I am seeing an open circuit at this point, no impedance which should me a short or a dead crank sensor. This would be the 7x sensor if I am correct going to the icm. Now how would the car run without this sensor if it is in fact seeing no pulse? Could it run on the 24X sensor without the primary sensor or am I misinterpreting this?

The second thing I just found out and this really is bothering me, is I asked the mechanic about having to do the relearn process on a crank sensor if I did have to change it and the mechanic told me he did not do this! Tried to tell me you don't have to do that. I am beginning to wonder if this is really the whole problem that I am seeing and perhaps nothing else is wrong except for the fact he didn't follow procedure and when it goes into the second mode this is why it is dying? Not knowing where the actual crank position is and matching with the cam sensor when it changes over modes?

Simply checking for spark when the engine is turning over will tell you if the CPS is working. Air, fuel and spark ... all the necessary ingredients for your engine to run. You are trying to diagnose this without determining which one is the problem first.

Getting air fuel and spark, it does run. Now that that is out of the way what happens when the crank sensor has been changed and the learn process was not done, that is the question. Could that be the entire mystery of why it runs until it changes modes?
The cam and crank sensor are not synchronized? I'm done thinking it is a crank sensor or any other sensor they all check out. If I disconnect the maf the engine will run but rough as expected.

The engine will fire every time I start it from cold. Only after it is hot and goes into the second mode is there a problem. I don't have a two way communication tool so I can't do the relearn process from what I am reading.

I am basing my diagnosis off your description. When it won't start have you confirmed spark? Needing a CPS relearn will not cause a no start.

I'll have to get it good and hot and pull a plug wire and see if I am still getting spark. I'll let you know.

Still running after over an hour. Hasn't died and until then I can't see if the plugs stop firing, just waiting.

Still running at idle! Put in gear and still not dying. I will have to put it up on stands and run it in gear to make it die it looks like. Afraid to put in on the street as then I can't get it back up the driveway once it dies unless I can let it sit for more than an hour and let it cool off. Would it stay in the first mode this long? It smells very rich out the tail pipe.

If the cps was changed and no relearn was done would this explain the fact that it is running rich, I would think that engine timing would be off. If it had a mark on the damper like an older car I could see how the real timing matches what the computer thinks the timing is.