No spark car used to shudder when turned off, now wont start with no spark, tried 2 new distibituers and still no spark ?

gen 3 ford.
YOUR MECH LOST ALL HIS TOOLS AND TRAINING?
THE ENGINE THAT SHUDDER, MEANS MISFIRING
AND HE SCANS THE PCM NEXT ,IF NOT HE IS A POSER.
SCAN THE PCM SEE P03xx errors and now you have bone to chew.
if guessing why not do a spark tune up first , not just PLUGS
2 engines that year,
1997 , is old and spark parts fail, this is 100% normal, to fail zero service, filters, spark parts, fluids, belts.
no engine told at all or VIN or country, we can not guess what is under that hood, and make accurate answers. ever.
this post is generic for your lack of facts.
best of all scan as the engine misfires
can it failing is best, some error clear fast if the end.
so we scan and drive and log all DTC stored or live or pending.
some mech are too lazy to do the real job, test drive it.

1: engine compression test all good at 150psi up. all 4.
for sure after that new belt , we do #1
2; spark parts fresh, plugs ,and wires hV and if cops new boots.
3: fueling fails. even bad fuel. low fuel pressure, bad pump, bad FPR . injector leak down test, injector balance tests. ????

i see 4cops (extended) and each as a HV spark wire
I use NGK wire sets (blue) or mag wire. for best spark.
those HV wires are not any good now this old ever.
there is and ICM module too ,to make spark.
HV means high voltage spark wires sets. 20kv+ volts.



2 engine here, 97


2.0 L SPI2000 SOHC I4
2.0 L Zetec DOHC I4

Probably out of fuel

I would start with fuel filter.

check the fuel pressure and make sure you got the correct pressure

Does the starter crank the engine over? If so, check for spark on a spark plug wire when cranking. If you have a strong blue spark, ignition is probably good. Check fuel pressure. Do you hear the fuel pump turn on for 2 seconds when turning key to on?

sound like engine timing could be off due to worn timing belt or timing chain.

the engine (there are more than one engine)
has a distributor.
"have spark at coil down to dizzy but no spark at plugs"
this can mean only 2 things.
1: spark wires are dead. all 4, kinda hard to believe huh?
2: the dizzy is way off time. so time the dizzy and now spark
lands on each wire term.
if not a dizzy engine, post exact version of engine and country.

spark plugs are deep in the head yet you should get all the the old fuel out first, stale fuel wont ignite and will also clogg fuel filter. you need a mix of atleast 70% new fuel even then its not good for the injecters. If its a manual gearbox a tow start is a quick fix although no go for auto's. cant be much wrong if car was fine when parked, plugs-fuel-filter and possibly fuel pump for sure. If that doesnt fix take plug out put in lead and crank engine to be sure you have spark even just put any plug you know works in lead leaving your plugs in engine just to check for spark y turning over engine looking for spark on plug good spark will be blue but any spark is good.

Check for:
1. if plugs spark, could be a dead puter. 2. if electric gas pump is working 3. If central alarm wont let car start

Your next step in diagnosis your problem should be to check for spark, you'll have to use a spark tester for this, simply removing a spark plug and looking at it WILL NOT WORK, a spark tester looks similar to a spark plug but it has about a 3/4" gap.

Another thing you should check is the voltage of the battery with a multimeter while cranking the engine, if it drops below 9.6v your computer will turn off and your injectors wont fire and neither will your plugs.
If you don't have a multimeter just try jump starting the vehicle.

Hope this helps