Do a fuel pressure test, should be 31psi with vacuum hose connected and 39psi with no vacuum at the regulator.
Will do it again, I didn't personally do it as I didn't bring a gauge with me, but when it died on him he checked it, said it was bad/no pressure. replaced the pump and it was good (few weeks ago) I told him to recheck it.
What exactly does "hard wired to the battery with key on" mean?
Have you put a fuel pressure gauge on it and watch to verify fuel pressure?
Have you tested the CPS to verify it is giving a steady >0.50 AC volts while cranking?
Renix is notorious for a weak CPS signal, there is a fix where we mount it closer to the flex plate, and boost the signal, explained in old threads here. Also many have report defective CPSs right out of the box lately, me included. Mine worked sometimes, then finally went open circuit when I was looking and then back to working, LOL!!! Took me weeks to catch it in the act!!!! It had a loose internal wiring contact.
The factory fuel pump wiring has been bypassed, the power/ground is ran to the battery with a switch on the ground side IIRC and wired to a ignition source to only run when the key is in "run" "start" or "Acc" Positions. I can't remember the explanation but it was done a year or so ago and was working fine.
The pump turns on and is pumping, as far as pressure not 100% on as I didn't have the gauge to see it myself. was told it was good, but told the owner to recheck it (its an hr drive from me, or I would my self)
I have not verified the CPS signal. interesting on a bunch of bad new ones... I'll check that after he checks fuel pressure and pulse signal with noide lights.
QUOTE=8Mud;245756747]At first guess, check your MAP sensor vacuum line and make sure it is plugged into the right hole. One is a blind hole, the other vacuum. When the key hits run you get a baseline vacuum reading from the MAP before the motor is started. When/if it starts the MAP may be telling the computer you are getting no vacuum, which tends to scramble the brains.
Set the distributor back to stock, find TDC "1", drop the distributor back in there so the rotor is near the "1" pole on the cap- The cap often has a one mark on it. If it isn't marked for one, find a picture showing where one should be. In my experience any timing done to the distributor either doesn't help a lick and can actually cause grief. The ECU compensates for timing over a pretty broad range, it will often run with the distributor indexed one full cylinder off, fine adjustments are basically most often a waste of time.
Do a fuel pressure check and/or a flow test. I'd put everything back to as near a stock configuration as possible. You may be building more problems in than you are solving.
Now back to the MAP being plugged into the wrong hole, it may cause spark and timing issues. The usual results are clouds of smoke (unburned fuel) out the exhaust. The motor may run (barely), but refuses to build RPM's.
CPS, the CPS itself is only part of the problem, the CPS wires can get fried on the exhaust, the wiring and/or connectors between the CPS and the ECU may have resistance in them. The signal form the CPS to the ECU is tiny, any problems in the harness are going to cause grief-[/QUOTE]
the vacuum line is in the correct hole from what I am told (lower one of the two) I though it was odd how there was 2 and only one being used, but I guess one is a plugged port? I'll look it up to verify its the right one.
I did reset the distributor to stock, its at cyl 1 on the cap while at TDC (compression stroke) all the wires are ran correctly as well.
the fuel pressure test and flow test is what I am wanting to do next, hopefully today or tomorrow. as well as pulse test. I wanted to put things back to stock but that part of the harness is not reusable at the moment. may have to though.
No smoke or noise when it does run other then it dies LOL does not miss-fire when I spray carb cleaner in the intake. or stumble, it runs really well.
I ran my hand across the CPS harness and looked at it for any cuts/noticeable problems. I didn't see any, but will ohm them out next time I can make it down there.
Thanks for all the ideas and help guys. I will report back once things have been checked further or fixed!