924 replacing distributor cap and rotor

Have you checked the condition of the Distributor cap for cracks and dirty terminals, the condition of the rotor arm inside the distributor for wear, and the condition of the spark plugs?

Re-Check the wires. One may have come loose. For external coils, check there first. Next, make sure that the rotor is properly seated inside the cap on the Distributor.
Did you also replace any of the spark plugs?
It could also be completely unrelated. Haha. Check for fuel pump operations, and that you are getting fuel. Its either air/fuel/spark.
But definitely check the wires and rotor. Hopefully you put the securing screw back in.

Best of luck, mate.

Depending on what you have you might not even have one but if you do follow spark plug wires to where they all meet up (Distributor Cap) is where they all come together. On the sides of the Cap there should be springs that can be released, if you don't know your firing order then mark with masking tape each wire to where on the cap it goes so you can match it up on the new. Usually you will replace the Rotor as well its under the Distributor Cap in the middle usually you just pull it up and off and the reverse to put new one on. Once you've done this put the Distributor Cap back on and lock springs down. Hope this helps but difficult to answer not knowing what your driving, Engine etc.

There are 2 screws at bottom of distributor,remove and lift up,then remove one plug and put on new distributor cap in correct location,then do the rest and put cap back on,then tighten both screws and make sure all cables are secure tightly,crank and check running condition,replace rotor if you have one,one screw holds it on.

if its off when you go to start will backfire.if your not sure pull number 1 spark plug and then turn engine with bolt on crankshaft put finger over #1 spark plug hole when you feel air slow down and use flash light to see piston coming up when its all the way up stop then put cap on distributor and see where number one wire is mark distributor and then with rotor on stab distrib with rotor pointing at number one your mark you put on distrib housing then put cap back on and should fire right up if it still back fires your 180 drees off meaning when #1 piston was coming up it was on exhuast instead of compression so take cap off see where your pointing good luck its really not that bad

CLOGGED FUEL FILTER OR CLOGGED FUEL INJECTORS.WILL CAUSE SPUTTERING AND MISFIRE.LEAKING EGR VALVE WILL CAUSE ROUGH IDLING SPUTTERING.

1979 ford 400 Drove inot shop did a cam shaft change and put all back together and no spark! put new coil , distributor, eletronic brian , wires ,rotor, cap, and check wire harness for brroken wires . still no spark? ANY IDEAS??

Check out the distributor cap and rotor arm, - and make sure the plugs ar gapped properly - should be 1mm on 1.6 1.8, and 0.75mm on the 2 liter.
Check the oil level urgently, if it has been misfiring for some time you will have acuumulated all that unburnt petrol in the oil sump!!! (you can test this by getting a bit of oil from the dipstick and putting a drop on your fingers, rub together and sniff the oil, if it stinks of petrol change it -you need to change the oil filter too since it wil be full of petrol tainted oil also.
Once you are sure you have good oil and either it was ok after testing it from the distick "golden, clean oil" or you replaced the contaminated oil and filter you can move on to sorting out this misfire.
- You didn't mention if you checked or replaced the HT coil - Check for strong sparking from the main HT lead from the coil itslelf, Pull the lead from the centre of the distibutor cap - have someone crank the engine while there is a "spare" sparkplug in the main ht lead (ground the plug to the engine, holding the rubber insulation of the cable with pliers - Use a normal HT lead if the main coil lead wont reach a suitable grounding point with the sparkplug) - check for solid bright blue spark, it should be regular timed, and strong EVERY time - any missing or weak sparks indicate electrical problem either - the coil is failing - or the battery is weak - or the distributor is faulty. - a faulty distributor would be expensive to replace and more so to repair, a reconditioned distributor costs around £120.
for now I assume the coil checked out fine and gave a strong steady uniform set of sparks. ----------------------- With a fully functioning coil, you're left with the distributor cap and rotor arm - the distributor cap comes off with 2 screws at the left and right sides of the cap between the HT Connectors - unscrew them - (note the original orientation of the distributor cap before you pull it off to aid refitting) you can now pull away the cap from the rest of the distributor.
INSIDE the CAP there are four "poles" round the outside, and a spring mounted contact in the center - make sure the poles are clean and shiny with only light markings at most, if they are blackened, whitened ro rounded and pitted then replace the cap - ford dealers or local part shop, most shops will stock both the rotor arm and distributor cap for around £15-30 - phone around for the best deal.
Still on the distributor is the rotor arm, this pulls off - it has to be pulled dead straight off the distributor shaft - once you have the rotor arm off you can inspect the metal contact on the top for general dirtiness and decay, it "should" be shiny brass/copper in colour. if it looks pretty bad, pitted or blackened/burned- - get a new rotor arm from ford dealers or from local part shop (not expensive)
Once you are sure of a clean or new rotor arm and distributor cap you can try the engine again - hopefully the misfire is gone.
If it is still there....
we are here

DISTRIBUTOR CAP - FINE ROTOR ARM - FINE OIL + FILTER NOT OVER LEVEL + CLEAN, NO PETROL IN IT HT COIL - GOOD STRONG REGULAR SPARK. -----

If it still misfires with all these things in perfect order then you are left with: Clogged Fuel Line/Filter or Failing Fuel Pump or Ignition TIMING - ( 10-12 degrees BTDC) have igition timing checked and set if not correct. OR... Faulty Distributor - pretty much worst case scenario. Tell me how you get on - Often it is the distributor cap and rotor arm - If not I hope its the fuel filter!
Good luck,

check the condition of the contacts on the cap if worn replace cap,check the the ignition coil out put on both the primary and secondery curcuits

A diagram may not be needed as its a reasonably easy fix to do on your own.the distributor ca p will only fit on properly one way because at the base of the cap locaters can only fit the distributor if they line up.When doing the spark plug leads do them one at a time and if nessecary write or mark leads as 1,2 etc .The rotor can only fit on one way but put a mark on the distributor to show where the rotor was pointing when you took it off and if it still points there when the new one is fitted.When changing distributor cap and leads they have to go to the correct place.Pays to mark the outside of distributor cap where the locating bits are On the new and old one.Fit the new cap and rotor then take a spark plug lead and fit to new cap 1 at a time.You can tell by lining up the marks on the outside of the distributor cap when you hold them one on top of the other.Good luck