It cranks and does one fire
Does this mean it will fire up and stall?
Did you try keeping your foot on the gas?
So my question is, On a 96, does the tach show something when you are cranking the engine over,
No, Tach moved when starting was with the can buss dash which was in 97 or 98.
The key on, off, on thing doesn't work well after about the 92- 93 model year.
Actually the "key dance" started back in the 80's and continued till past 2000. There are different procedures but
this will work on a 96. Even if you don't have any codes you will see a 55 code.