Lost my internet for the month - that not even as half as shameful as what the problem was.
While the symptoms continued, the car spluttered its way to work with large collums of black smoke billowing behind. Pulling into work it died completely, it required towing home.
Once there an ecu was hired from santa to troubleshoot. Still no go...
All sensors were replaced. Still no go.
Back to basics.
Got spark? Yes. Altho it was weak so a new set of plugs were thrown in. Got fuel? Yes. Disconnected the fuel line from the rail, left key on and pushed the flap open on the AFM. Fuel gushed from the line.
Got compression? Yes. Hand over the sparkplug tubes and had it cranked over. While not a mechanical guage, the feeling of suck/blow was there.
Something so stupidly simple, I must of missed something. Checked it all again, including checking cam and ignition timing. All is good.
3 weeks later so I go back to thinking of the symptoms.
Black smoke... stumbling... If the fuel pump is failing, fuel pressure will be low then the fuel will be poorly atomised leading to black smoke!
To check fuel is going into the engine, a spare maniflold is setup up-side-down, injectors connected and fuel line hooked up. Cranked it over and nothing. NO FUEL. Ya hoo! Go to the fuel pump and tear it out, look inside and.... there was about a cupful of gas in the tank
Go and buy some gas and pour it in, prime the system and its running again.
Go for a quiet drive around the block and all is well.
However, in all serious I double checked the ecu... It was the cause of the original problem