Thanks for the hints --

My wife took it to a garage while I was at work; they say it is the
fuel pump. The fuel pump makes sense and explains the problems and
isn't nearly as exciting or exotic as some k-jet specific problem.

Thanks for the tips.

Thinking back on it, and after looking at some K-jet sites, I *may*
have been pushing the plate in the wrong direction, against the
direction of airflow. In which case, it isn't a big deal that it
moved roughly.
chris