[19Stangnotch87]

1987 2.3l 5spd
well yesterday morning i replaced the spark plug wires and thought id pull each spark plug to see how clean they were. so i cleaned each spark plug and put the wires on. well the car cranks over gets fuel and is now back firing...is there a way that the timing could of went wrong distrubtor or wat i have no idea it ran fine before i changed them. i also put the old on back ones and it still back fires and dosnt start....any help will work thanx

[bluestang89]

When you changed/pulled the plugs, did you change the distributor and wires? It sounds like you have the firing order out of sequence. This would cause the misfiring and backfiring conditions. Check the firing order and make sure your plug wires are on accordingly.

[19Stangnotch87]

i did get them in order i think but im not sure..i turnd the cam til the arrow was up so im assuming that thats piston 1 up? or is it tdc. i didnt change the cap just the wires.say u have a picture of a square and the top left hang is 1then234 well then bird in the cap is facing 3 so im thinking thats 1 idkwat the hell happend

[wlabrum]

this is a pain but it the easiest way to correct
1. pull number 1 plug
2.put finger over hole and turn over engine until you fell pressure
3.continue rotating engine until timing mark hits 0 ish on pointer
4.pull of distributor cap and notice where roter is pointing.....this is number one
5.re-install cap noting where roter is pointed to(the fdactory cap is marked but DONT assume that the last guy installed it correctly.....trust me)
6.install wires per below
firing order 1-3-4-2 --------- front |#1| of | 1 2 3 4 | Distributor rotates clockwise

have fun

[19Stangnotch87]

by chance could there be a wire on the starter silnoid that could cause it to crank over but not start? also could faulty spark plugs cause it not to start? thanx for helpin me out

[19Stangnotch87]

could someone post a pic of there starter relay to see wat wires go to wat posts......thanx