My car has been idling rough so I changed out my spark plugs. I found in doing that that my fuel injector o-rings were worn out and cracked, so I replaced those and the car still idled rough, leading me to think that my spark plug wires were worn out.

I tested this by starting the car, and while running pulled the spark plug wire off the distributor cap to see how the car responded - if it sputtered harder, that plug was good, if it stayed the same - that plug/wire combo was toast.

I pulled the first wire, no troubles, car sputtered a little, I replaced the cable and it worked. The second one, same thing. but the third one, I pulled and it sparked the tar out of me when I tried to put it back on and then the engine died. I replaced the wire and went to start the car - it would not turn over, it sounded like the starter was engaging, but the engine was not turning.

I have replaced all the wires on that bank and tried to start it, same result.

I am at a loss. Did I fry the distributor cap? the distributor itself?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Alyx

 

Probably. That was not a very good idea. Lol