spark plug wire debacle plus more..HELP!, plug wires and plugs now wont start Options

[thecleanoutking]

no help

[fiacra]

We've all been there. Or at least I have. Glad the attempts at witty repartee didn't totally drive you away. It's is not done with a mean spirit. There is a lot of people here with a well honed fund of knowledge and willingness to help out. Others far more knowledgeable than me will undoubtedly soon chime in. Be patient.

First off, if you have a 1974, and the engine has not been swapped, you have either a 1.8 or a 2.0. You can confirm with the serial number on the engine. As far as firing order it doesn't matter, they are the same across all 4 cylinder engines and all years. Not sure if you are asking for the position of the wires on the cap, or the routing of the wires. As far as where to put the wires on the cap, if you look at the rim of the distributor you'll see a small notch. That will line up with cylinder #1. In the picture of your distributor I see it at roughly 12 o'clock. From there go clockwise to get 4-3-2. As far as routing I'll attach some photos of my 1975 1.8 engine. It should be basically the same for all engines.

If it ran fine before you started to work on it then chances are something you changed or did is the culprit. Something else could have happened, but temporal coincidences are rare events. Not "never" events, but rare. Right off the bat I'd suspect either you have the wrong firing order, something is not properly connected, or you knocked something loose. Carefully check the lead from the coil to the cap and make sure it is seated at both ends. You should feel it click into place. Confirm the correct firing order. Look for any loose wires. Did you use the correct spark plugs? All those good? Check to make sure you have spark. If so, move on to see if you have gas. I'm spitballing right now because it is late at night after a long day, but work your way down the troubleshooting flow chart. Don't have a manual? Get one, borrow one, etc. Post your progress, ask every question, post pictures. You are sure to get the help you need.

Here's a picture of my distributor. You can clearly see the notch for cylinder #1 at 2 o'clock.



Some quick pictures of my engine bay. Hopefully you can see where the spark plug wires are running. I can get better pictures tomorrow if you need them.

[thecleanoutking]

Fiacra,
Thanks so much I really needed the vote of confidence and your tone was much appreciated. As much as I want to be able to work on my own cars it just gets frustrating sometimes.. Just need to take a deep breath and get back out there and start from the basics. I know most are just kidding around with the comments ..

My concern is that rev limiting rotor just doesn't seem to sit right down in there and maybe I just need to try again..

Thanks..keep you posted

We've all been there. Or at least I have. Glad the attempts at witty repartee didn't totally drive you away. It's is not done with a mean spirit. There is a lot of people here with a well honed fund of knowledge and willingness to help out. Others far more knowledgeable than me will undoubtedly soon chime in. Be patient.

First off, if you have a 1974, and the engine has not been swapped, you have either a 1.8 or a 2.0. You can confirm with the serial number on the engine. As far as firing order it doesn't matter, they are the same across all 4 cylinder engines and all years. Not sure if you are asking for the position of the wires on the cap, or the routing of the wires. As far as where to put the wireow s on the cap, if you look at the rim of the distributor you'll see a small notch. That will line up with cylinder #1. In the picture of your distributor I see it at roughly 12 o'clock. From there go clockwise to get 4-3-2. As far as routing I'll attach some photos of my 1975 1.8 engine. It should be basically the same for all engines.

If it ran fine before you started to work on it then chances are something you changed or did is the culprit. Something else could have happened, but temporal coincidences are rare events. Not "never" events, but rare. Right off the bat I'd suspect either you have the wrong firing order, something is not properly connected, or you knocked something loose. Carefully check the lead from the coil to the cap and make sure it is seated at both ends. You should feel it click into place. Confirm the correct firing order. Look for any loose wires. Did you use the correct spark plugs? All those good? Check to make sure you have spark. If so, move on to see if you have gas. I'm spitballing right now because it is late at night after a long day, but work your way down the troubleshooting flow chart. Don't have a manual? Get one, borrow one, etc. Post your progress, ask every question, post pictures. You are sure to get the help you need.

Here's a picture of my distributor. You can clearly see the notch for cylinder #1 at 2 o'clock.



Some quick pictures of my engine bay. Hopefully you can see where the spark plug wires are running. I can get better pictures tomorrow if you need them.

[fiacra]

Fiacra,
Thanks so much I really needed the vote of confidence and your tone was much appreciated. As much as I want to be able to work on my own cars it just gets frustrating sometimes.. Just need to take a deep breath and get back out there and start from the basics. I know most are just kidding around with the comments ..

My concern is that rev limiting rotor just doesn't seem to sit right down in there and maybe I just need to try again..

Thanks..keep you posted

If the rotor isn't properly seated that would lead to a no start condition. You should feel it firmly seat in place. Once in place it should have no play if you try to turn it by hand, and any play generally comes from the distributor shaft. When trying to turn the rotor you will feel a hard stop at the limits of any play. If you feel like it isn't seating properly, or doesn't have a hard stop, take a close look and see if the stem of the rotor is cracked or broken in any way. If you get a bit heavy handed trying to put the rotor back on you can crack it. Check the cap closely for damage as well. Anything you touched, any parts you replaced, and any area you worked in during this process merits a close inspection.

Is that a Pertronix ignition I see? I have no experience with those, but I understand that if you leave the ignition on for a period of time without the car running that you can burn them out. If you feel like you have everything back together properly and you aren't getting a spark, that might be the problem. Somebody else with experience can chime in here.

This is a solvable problem. Frustration is inevitable, but don't let it get the best of you. Take breaks, walk away for a while, work on something else for a while, sleep on problems, etc. Practice and experience will teach you that. I suspect that everyone here has thrown a few tools in their day, and broken a few things because of having a heavy hand, but you learn a lot from those experiences. With time you get the feel for things like a properly seated rotor. What you are going through right now will give you a good foundation for future work on your car. Just think about how much you are learning about the layout of your engine bay right now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)