Originally Posted by MotoZuki

Fantastic suggestions, MB deiselists! Thanks a ton. The problem is certainly not solved, but at least I have a bit more info and some similar situations.

1) Filters, fuel supply, etc have all been ruled out a while ago. I should have mentioned.
2) The EDC pump intruigues me. I'm not familiar with this component. Any more info?
3) Greasy Beast's post sounds the most right on. Indeed, this has been a grease car for the past year. While the symptoms began slightly before the conversion, things really got ugly when I got a bad batch of grease (water). Didn't want to mention it because of the thought that the problem may be pidgeon-holed toward that incident.
4) Blackestate's idea about cooling the IP and waiting for improvement sounds like gold.... but will it hurt the IP to cool it so fast?
5) I do have a donor IP that can be rebuilt and put in... this will probably be the fix!

Any more suggestions gladly welcomed. Thank you all. I'll keep you updated.