Volvo: 1993 Volvo 850, crankshaft pulley, hook ups

Question
Hello Jimmy,

I have a '93 850 GLT and I recently had the head rebuilt because the timing belt snapped on the prvious owner.  I bought it to repair and sell.  I have had the head rebuilt by a local machine shop and put it back together.  All is reassembled to the specs from the Chilton's brand manual for the car.  After everything was reassembled I started it up and it wouldn't idle.  I soon figured out that I had left the idle sensor unplugged from the throttle body.  Upon plugging that up it started and idled fine.  I finished putting the final touches back on (spark plug cover, etc.) and put the passenger wheel back on where I had removed it to get at the crankshaft pulley and took it off the jack stands.  I got in to pull it out of the garage and it wouldn't start.  I didn't do anything since it did run except put the spark plug cover, throttle pulley cover, splash guard, and wheel back on.  At first it seem to almost start but it would never fire up fully.  As time went on and I kept testing different things and trying it, it seemed to get worst and fire less.  Now it sounds as though only one cylinder will fire about every other time that its supposed to.  I have checked:  fuel pressure (there's pressure in the fuel rail but I'm not sure how to check the injectors without it running b/c you can't remove them because there's no way to hold them in the fuel rail), spark to the plugs (I removed the plugs and connected the wires and watched them fire), the order of the plug wires (I knew this was right anyway b/c it ran to begin with but I double checked anyway), I've cleaned the rotor and points on the cap, I've cleaned the battery posts, checked vacuum lines, and other sensors and hook ups.  

Based on the fact that it ran fine before I took it down from the jack stands, I don't see how it could be the timing.  The tension on the belt seems to be within specs so I don't think it could have slipped a notch and thrown it off.  It isn't back firing or anything.  It seems as though it isn't getting gas although I really think it is.  I added 5 gallons of gas to make sure that it wasn't a faulty fuel gauge and I was simply out.  Also, a small amount of black fluid came out of the exaust pipe at the rear of the vehicle.  It smelled of gasoline but didn't smell quite as strong as pure gas.  I think that its getting gas and it just isn't burning, but as I said, I checked the spark.

I don't know what it could be other than something to do with the computer.  Please tell me anything that you can think of to check.  I haven't read the engine codes yet.  I just learned that it has a self diagnosis system today on another web-site.  I will do that this evening after work.

Somewhat of a side note:  Does disconnecting the battery not reset codes b/c I did that to clean the posts so I thought that if it would have been some code that got tripped by the idle sensor not being connected that it would have been reset?  I will check them and reset them with the self-diagnostic system this afternoon.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,
Colt

Answer
Hello Colt! There must be something you are overlooking. There could be a loose connection somewhere. Maybe the cam position sensor or the crank sensor. It is possible that the timing could be off too. I would re-trace all your steps again. By the way, have you checked compression?

Jimmy