hmm, bad wording. i meant the i uplugged the vacuum line from the fuel pressure regulator.
i've been digging through the site, and one thing i noticed was in this post:
http://www.gnttype.org/forums/showpo...4&postcount=10
it mentions "regardless of how you scan the computer, you do not want the 10k mode of the scanner working. Or with other scanners, you want the car in "test drive" mode when scanning"
which isn't mentioned here:
http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/faq/IACresetscan.html
winaldl only supports the 10k mode, so i'm going to try again with the paperclip method tomorrow.
i'm still going to pull the turbo and give it a quick once over, and bench test the O2 as planned, just to eliminate possible points of failure.
also, as far as the junkyard parts, it was either spend an hour at the junkyard collecting the correct IAC motors, paying $4 for 6 of them, and having them today to replace my known bad one, or paying $70-$80 for one, having to order it, and not be able to continue diagnosis until next week whenever it showed up. I am still waiting on bumper fillers and an air filter that i ordered the day i got the car...
as far as the points that you addressed....
1) I honestly have no reliable way of verifying further than i already have, short of buying a scan tool... winaldl gives you access to raw data as well as converted, i.e. tps at .45V and 0%, which i can verify data like that by running my meter across the wires (which i have done) I can also do the same for other sensors as well, but for instance, the IAC counts cannot be verified without comparing to another scan tool. however, like i said, all the data seems to make sense, i.e., it may not be in range, but when i move the throttle, the tps voltage changes. when i mess with the air screw the iac counts changes in the expected direction etc. also, i have used winaldl extensively for troubleshooting other gm vehicles with great success. i completely understand the need for accurate data for accurate diagnosis, but i am somewhere in between i trust what it's telling me, and i have no choice but to trust what it's telling me... FWIW, i also installed turbo meter and the data it displays coincides with what winaldl displays.
2) I concur, my gauge has always frustrated me for this exact reason. i'm thinking i might be able to find the fittings at a hardware store to make an extension for it, and then just get a length of high pressure fuel line to attach them to.
3) the fuel pressure is the only one i'm not sure is not appropriate. i assume the map sensor line was a good place to T into for my boost gauge, both because i am ostensibly seeing the same pressures as the ecm, and its close enough i can hang my gauge through the passenger window while driving. according to my gauge i never hit positive pressure... as soon as it comes up to 0 it bogs, which is why i'm going to check the turbo condition... i'm going to bench test the O2 tomorrow, and i may just bite the bullet and buy a new O2 sensor, but i have about as much faith in a new autozone sensor working as i do the 25 year old original one. I kind of hope that the O2 just fails the bench test, but i don't think that the problem is isolated to just the O2 either. (due to lack of boost)
4) back to what i said about how i tried setting it in the wrong mode. not sure how much it will help setting it with just the paperclip, since i already have the air screw backed all the way out, but i'm also not sure what having the 10k mode enable is doing to the IAC either. i suppose it's also possible that a bad O2 sensor is hosing everthing i'm trying to do with the idle.
finally, i really appreciate the help. when i first picked up the GN i signed up at all 3 forums for turbo buicks, and your site by far has the most amount of information available, not to mention your willingness to help. I really do appreciate it.