Today I had the opportunity to do further testing on my non-starting 855. Here they are in sequence;
1. Charged battery
2. Checked trouble codes on A2 and A6, no problems
3. Connected fuel pressure gauge, 45 psi when switch is placed in position II
4. Put my inductive timing light on, picked a different spark plug cable, there is fire there (light flashes when cranking)
5. Cranked the engine for about 30 seconds, oil light goes off. Cranked for another 30 seconds. Engine appears to spin a little faster, but still no start.
6. checked trouble codes again, nothing
7. Pulled spark plug from cylinder #1 (?, closest to the "front" of the engine) plug is a Volvo brand 3 electrode, and it looked sooty, smells like old gas. According to the records I got, plugs are about 4 years old, 12K miles on them)
8. I was sure that the injectors are just not opening, but I disconnected the #1 injector and rigged a tiny buzzer i got at Radio Shack with a length of wires (so i could bring it inside the car and close the door). There is a definite "tic-tic-tic-tic-tic when cranking, so the injectors are actually getting some signal to open.

So, I have fuel pressure, the injectors are firing, and the timing light says there is spark. Still the car will not start. The timing belt is 3 months old and the car has been running perfect since, so this is not high in the list of possibilities.

Here is my next step, and i will appreciate any other help and ideas; the next suspect is spark plugs, wires and distributor cap. Although the timing light flashes, I suppose there is still the possibility that there is too much resistance in the cable, or that the plug just does not fire. This still seems wacky to me, given that the car was running and starting perfectly before I parked it to clean the EGR valve. Strange that all the wires or plugs went bad at the same time. Ohhhh wait a minute, i did remove the coil wire to open the air cleaner, and to do that I had to yank it from the little guides; that would definitely be the first suspect, and if i damaged it that would explain why none of the plugs fire.

QUESTION
Anyone know what the resistance should be in the 850 coil cable and plug cables?
What would be a better way to check if the plugs are really firing?

And a big THANK YOU Lee, i actually removed the fan and the starter again just to verify there was no loose cables anywhere and I could see those ground connectors under the manifold, fortunately everything checked OK there.

Thank you again to all of you for your suggestions, I am getting closer!

Charlie
'94 855
'88 244