I remember when I had my popping problems. It wasnt easy narrowing it down but I was able to finally make it go away.
I remember swapping the coil because the resistance between at least one tower was low (should be 11-13 ohms). I may have also swapped the module with an extra at one point (I didnt have a way to test it then).
The the most trying problem I had took some time to trace. My brother had realized that my fuel pressure would increase with boost, like it should.....UNTIL IT REACHED A CERTAIN POINT AND THEN WENT DOWN WHILE BOOST WAS GOING UP!
I traced this problem back to the fuel tank. The Postons HP pump that only had a couple thousand miles on it just wasnt cutting it. The worst problem is why. RUST IN THE TANK!!! I think the pump was killing it self dealing with all the crap in there. There was debris on the sock, the pump, and a pile in the bottom of the tank. I would have rather just had a collapsed fuel sock (which would be something to check too).
I wound up getting another tank and went ahead and put in a 340. The problem went away for a week or two.........(oops) if you go through something like this, dont forget to change the fuel filter too (yes it had crap in it too).
I think The alky kit I had put together really saved this engine, through all that popping and fuel problem I had some pretty bad KR. I can imagine what it would have been like without it!
Oh yea, I just remembered another problem I had for awhile with the ECM malfunctioning. I wouldnt get a code that would point directly to it, just 42 every now and then. Coil/module were good. I would swap out the ECM and the problem would go away! I also remember the Scanmaster scaring the heck out of me when I saw 20,then15,then35,then18 degrees of KR going on and on, and I wasnt really even boosting it! I swapped the ECM and it stopped. I noticed some moisture on the connection at the ECM one time, I dont know where it came from, but that may have had something to do with it, because after letting that ECM dry I think it worked fine. (I also had the same thing happen with the false knock recently, a bad MAF was the problem this time?!).
I dont know if any of this will help you (or just confuse you even worse) but I figure you mise well know what I went through with this tempermental little V6 (and its not over yet). I had a lot of problems hit at once, but somewhere in the midst of dealing with them the popping stopped (I had popping from the intake and the tail pipe at one point!). The car is running strong for quite some time now, without it having to blow up first (thankyou alky insurance!).
Sorry, so long, but I figure if I shared some of the crap I went through you could know more of the possibilities and may be able to use them to narrow down your INDIVIDUAL problems (these cars definately act like individuals at times).
