For awhile now, my car has had a noticable misfire down low. It has also had extreme difficulty starting. It takes 3 - 4 cranks to get it to start on It's own, it gets it on the first try if you hold down the gas pedal, but even then it still struggles a bit. Tonight, for the hell of it I decided to pull codes to see if anything was up besides the good ol 24 and 44. The ECM spit out code 42. Where do I start with this?

Sounds like you have your fair share of problems. For the car to run right All these codes really should be corrected but i think thoe one that is giving you the most trouble right now is the code 42. This means that your ESC modual is telling the ECM to retard the timing to the max all the time. To test this the first thing i would do is measure the output of the ESC module to the ECM. It should be like 8-10 volts if im not mistaken to let the ECM know there is no knock present if there's 0V we need to figure out why. If its 8-10 then there is a broken wire between the ESC module and the ECM. I would also ohm out your injectors the lean exhaust code is probably also causing you all kinds of grief as far as drive ability is concerned.

Wait my mistake wrong code the 42 is the electronic spark timing not electronic spark control. First thing ide check is to make sure your timing bypass connector is still connected (the connector you disconnect to set your timing).

Yes I replaced the ESC today. No change. I'm going to return it, get my $90 back and put the old one back in.

I did manage to check all the injectors except cylinders 5 and 7 and they all tested in at 17.5 +/- 0.3. Tomorrow I will check the remaining two and report back.

The lean code seems to be coming on more and more frequently now. It only does this while idling. My engine normally idles around 650 RPM. Out of nowhere the CES light will go off and the idle will dropp to 500RPM and engine sounds like It's struggling to stay afloat. If you let it idle like this long enough it will eventually stall.

Whats probably happening is the ECM is detecting a problem with some sensor and as soon as the check engine light comes on the idle drops because the ECM reverts to using a default value rather than sensor data. I dont think it has anything to do with the ESC system because the code 42 is the electronic spark timing not the electronic spark control. I would first check the connection you disconnect to set your timing and then check out the ignition module.

Code 42 has only popped up one time. Although I think there may be a problem with the EST since the car always has trouble starting. I believe it may have had this problem in the past since the PO gave me two spare ignition modules with the car.

Code 44 comes on consistently and this what causes funky idle. I've tried replacing the o2, cts and ecm with no change.

Have you checked your fuel pressure?