Excuse my ignorance, but what is clear flood mode? So no need to pull relay or fuse to build pressure?

 

floor the throttle (make sure you get 100% or near it throttle opening first) and it will just crank cause it cuts fuel.

This did not work for me as my car was only getting 60% throttle...which i figured out after the fact.

 

Interesting, thank you. Guess I could check throttle % with a scantool before giving it a crank.

 

Finally got the valve covers on today...It's amazing how a job that used to take a few hours now takes 3 weeks in 30 minute intervals with a 2 year old running around

Pulled the fuel pump relays, cranked the car for 10 seconds to build pressure then replaced ther relays and fired her up. No noises, runs perfectly smooth. Even better than before I think (new plugs, MAF cleaned, TB cleaned, and new air filter). Took it for a 20 minute drive and it was perfect. Thank you all for your help, this is a great forum. In the future if anyone comes across this thread it is OK to have a bit of slack on the RH secondary chain before starting the engine. I have to assume my repair went well and the slack is no issue until the tensioners get oil pressure. Didn't make a peep on startup or any other time when driving.

Another note - I inspected the valve covers closely after cleaning them and noticed that there were a few cracks around some of the bolt holes. Pretty sure they were never off the car previously in its life, so guess they cracked due to heat. I repaired the cracks with JB Weld for plastic then painted over the epoxy with black touch up paint and installed the covers. So far so good as far as leaks, really hope it stays that way. To be honest I was fully expecting them to leak after seeing the cracks. Made sure not to overtighten the bolts and torqued to just under the lowest spec given (9 Nm).

Thanks again guys, glad the car is on the road again. Pulled it out of the garage and just stared at it for a few minutes before taking it for a drive, looking at an x308 is almost as nice as driving one