Sometimes, it takes writting things down to realize whats wrong. The battery problem when starting is gone- it Was a loose connection. However, that dosent explain the problem with the voltage regulator or the no start. I replaced the sparkplugs- the guy at the shop gapped them but it looks smaller than i think it should be- could this prevent start? its not tooo much smaller. And i tried the start again. Im not sure how to diagnose a "no spark" problem but i will look around on here some more. I tried again with the new plugs and still nothing. i can hear a sucking sound coming from around the fuel pump- is there a problem or is this how its supposed to sound? it is slight and i dont know if i would hear it if i werent listening. Thanks for your patience. Dave