So I took some time at work today to look at my Dad's engine. Checked for anything that would cause the engine to bind. I did not find anything. When turning the flywheel by hand, all the side rods and visible drive train parts move smoothly. I know it doesn't seem so in the video because I took the gear box cover off to show that the worm gear and thrust bearing move fine. The brake shoes are not touching the drivers. I even loosened up the side screws a little so they weren't so tight. Also the tach sensor seems to be spaced properly to me (see photo of tach sensor). Yes there is a tach tape over the existing tach stripes on the flywheel. That was done a few years ago when this issue came up. Obviously the tach tape didn't solve the issue 100% but it make the engine stutter less violently. So with all that being said, I am about 90% ready to rule out a mechanical issue and say that it is an electronic issue. But I will continue to look just to be safe.
The second video shows the engine running conventionally. While running conventionally, the engine runs smooth which makes no sense. So with it running smoothly in conventional, I am thinking that it is a board issue. When I brought the engine to work to get looked at, the tech checked the boards and said "That one of the boards is bad and that's why the engine is doing what it's doing." After that I brought it home from work, I just let it sit because I didn't have a layout (still don't have one) so decided to not upgrade it at the time. Fast forward to 6 or 8 months ago, I decided to figure out what the issue was so I could get it fixed with either a PS3 upgrade or whatever is causing the stutter. After seeing a 3rd one do the same thing, I am definitely thinking that the 5-volt board is bad. But I wanted to get your inputs first before I go in for a PS3 upgrade(s).
