I don't know about your current question, but I think I can shead some light on you solution. You have OSC = 8 for an 8meg clock, but the pic you are using defaults to 4 meg. To use 8 you need to set up OSCCON reg for 8 meg clock. The DEFINE OSC just tells PBP how fast you INTEND to run, so it is able to calculate the delays for your pause. I am guessing your pauses were taking twice as long? so 1000 = 2 sec and 3000 = 6 sec?

This will also affect your serial issues