from my understanding you need fresh nodes because the block was getting messed with so if you have wrong nodes to say it's not going to work right
I agree. When I've run the client behind a lot of network security with IRC disabled (because leaving it on gets the client quarantined for bot-like behavior by the loal PC's security), no blocks can be pulled down. Does turning "dnsseeds" on, or "noirc" off, help?