[fikren]

I'd check your connections Phil, it kinda does sound like a loose wire somewhere. You might also, when you get some time, either put on a premade grounding kit or one of the do it/make it yourself ones. Its probley something fairly simply annoying as a loose wire that made better contact when you were pulling on things and made the idle decent and finally settled back out in a less than desirable connection from the motor vibration.