I think I really scewed up during initial start up...

I'm a little confused as I'm sure myasylum is as well . It's been a while since I worked on mopars so I'm wondering why the mention of the 2/4 pin balast resister while also mentioning the 5 pin ECU? . Can someone (wild and crazy since you seem to be knowledgeable on this stuff ) tell me why the # of pins on the BR has anything to do with the # of wires on the ECU? Myasylum, you didn't screw the engine up by shutting the engine off. The reason you run the engine at 2500 rpm on startup is to lubricate the cam (oil splashing on it from crankshaft spinning fast) till the lifters and cam lobes wear in their individual mating wear patterns. Thats why you always keep track of the lifters position if you disassemble an engine and reuse the same cam and lifters. To help you understand the role of the ballast resistor for troubleshooting purposes, when cranking the engine over for starting the battery voltage drops because of the starters current draw. That would make it difficult for the engine to start since thats the time it needs the highest voltage. Your battery when fully charged should sit at about 13.2 volts and when running, the charging system can be around 14 v or more so to keep things more consistent to the coil, the power is run through the ballast resistor when the engine is running to keep the volts lower and not overheat the coil and the ignition power bypasses the resistor when cranking to keep the voltage as high as possible. If you have a worn starter (draws too much current) and a marginal battery(too low volts when cranking) and a new engine (unseated rings, a little stiff, timing not ideal) these are all the things working against you. Hope this helps out a little. Kev