98 MAXIMA GLE - Please help me diagnose this no start electrical issue

[nostart]

I have a 98 Maxima GXE with 229k miles. I am the second owner and have been driving it for 3-4 years now. The problem is as follows.

Leading up to the no start, the car would occasionally take up to 30 seconds of key turning to turn over. Some days it would start on a dime, some days it would start after some coaxing with the gas pedal. Some days it would start and the RPM would climb to 2-3k before falling back down and stopping. This was all seemingly unrelated to temperature or humidity, or even if the car had just been used. Once the car alarm went off for no reason during this time.

Now the car does not start at all. When you turn the key, all the dash lights light up as they should, the radio and clock dim as they are supposed and there is 2 clicks from the fuse box under the dash as there always was before (I think). Beyond this, nothing. I took the car to a shop and they said that it was not the starter, as you could bridge the poles and start it that way. They had even managed to start the car with the key once but not again. In the end they told me it would be $70/h to find the problem and there was no guarantee that they would be able to find or fix it. I told them to bridge the poles on the starter and I would take it home. It took a good 10 minutes of playing with the starter but it finally worked. The mechanic said this was probably because of the anti theft system preventing it from happening. he disconnected the battery cables and re-attached them and after a little more playing it worked. Additionally, they had to cut the horn when they were working on it because the theft alarm went off and they couldn't get it to stop.

When I got the car home I did some brief research and decided I would swap the relay for the WIPERS with the ANTI THEFT/START. It started once like normal and then wouldn't start again after. When I did this, I had not played with anything else and the car had been not starting all morning. This was the last time the car started for me. I would try the starter trick again, but it is damn near impossible to get to without removing other things.

I plugged a code reader in and this is what I got back.

P0400 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow
P0325 Knock Sensor 1 Circuit (Bank 1)
P0440 Evaporative Emission System
P0141 02 Heater Circuit (Bank 1, Sensor 2)

A friend was with me when I did the reader and he had me try to start while he payed attention to the relay. He said there was no sound or clicking coming from the relays when I tried to start it.

What should I do next, other than invest in a voltage reader.

[EdBwoy]

Simple stupid question, at this mileage is the key the original one for the car?
Do the teeth seem dull or are they sharp?