HELP!!Won`t start after changing distributor cap,rotor on v6

[hogggman]

hi all,
after taking delivery of a new distributor cap and rotor a few days ago,i decided to fit them today.after a bit of fiddling,i managed to get it all fitted,then went to start the bongo and.........nothing.turns over fine,but won`t fire.i checked that i got the coil lead in the right place.that`s ok.i checked each plug lead with a spare plug,and nothing.no spark to any lead from the distributor cap.i have a multi meter and checked the lead coming from the coil.turned the engine over and watched the meter.it did fluctuate,but didn`t go anywhere near 12volts.wasn`t sure what i was looking for though.i then checked under the bonnet seeing if there were any fuses or relays specific to the coil.again,i didn`t know where i was looking.
if not the coil,i`m wondering whether there`s a minute difference in the length of the rotor arm.it looks identical to me.at the moment i`ve put the old cap back on.still nothing,so i may change the rotor back over to see if that eliminates it.
any ideas or suggestions would be most helpful.i`ve never changed a cap or rotor before,but didn`t envisage any problems.
just for the record,the cap cross-referenced with the part on lush projcts,but the arm is a mazda 929 3.0 one that i found after trawling through parts catalogues.it looks identical
to me.
thanks again
jamie

[Ron Miel]

hi all,
after taking delivery of a new distributor cap and rotor a few days ago,i decided to fit them today.after a bit of fiddling,i managed to get it all fitted,then went to start the bongo and.........nothing.turns over fine,but won`t fire.i checked that i got the coil lead in the right place.that`s ok.i checked each plug lead with a spare plug,and nothing.no spark to any lead from the distributor cap.i have a multi meter and checked the lead coming from the coil.turned the engine over and watched the meter.it did fluctuate,but didn`t go anywhere near 12volts.wasn`t sure what i was looking for though.i then checked under the bonnet seeing if there were any fuses or relays specific to the coil.again,i didn`t know where i was looking.
if not the coil,i`m wondering whether there`s a minute difference in the length of the rotor arm.it looks identical to me.at the moment i`ve put the old cap back on.still nothing,so i may change the rotor back over to see if that eliminates it.
any ideas or suggestions would be most helpful.i`ve never changed a cap or rotor before,but didn`t envisage any problems.
just for the record,the cap cross-referenced with the part on lush projcts,but the arm is a mazda 929 3.0 one that i found after trawling through parts catalogues.it looks identical
to me.
thanks again
jamie

Assume you've got the plug leads back on in the correct firing order? Don't put your multimeter on the output side of the coil, you could weck it. Very high voltages there if its working, to create the sparks - but very short duration, so possibly too little energy to burn out the meter unless subjected to a lot of cycles/output volts.

[westonwarrior]

put your old kit back on and try again
if it works replace 1 at a time to find the offending item

[hogggman]

bugger.found the problem.re-checked around the distributor to see if i had knock a wire off anywhere,and found i bit broken off in the distributor.if you imagine where the main plug goes into the distributor,there are three wires going arond to the opposite side of the ditributor,into a plastic component with a raised up bit with a metallic insert.this raised up bit has snapped off,god knows how i managed that can anyone tell me what the part is called so i can source a new one?it`s only snapped off at the plastic base,so there`s an outside chance that i could bodge it for now.will try and take a pic to show the bit i mean.
thanks
jamie