Just to be clear, you tried this?
If you didn’t, try that. If the issue persists, make a comment around those nodes saying to reconnect them to remind yourself, and LEAVE THEM OUT for testing! 
Simplifying things for testing makes it easier to pinpoint your issue because there may be a bug in there, as well, and you could falsely think it was the thing you were working with.
But yes if you tried this let us know what changed, if anything! Changes are ALWAYS relevant, even if it isn’t the solution.