I think I may have discovered the problem. From the replies here, it seems that people can start the 3250 by flipping it backwards. I was unable to do this cause I had very little compression on the backwards flip (it seemed to get bogged down and it'd just feel like mush). I took to head, front, back off and pulled the piston. The ring seemed to be stuck in the groove in one place, and not able to spring out. I removed the ring, cooked up some glycol in a small crock pot, cooked the top of the piston to remove some baked on goodness in the ring groove,, and reassembled. It seems to have more forward compression than it did, and it really bounces back now on the backwards flip. I'll try it tomorrow an let you know.

fingers crossed,

Peter