My wagon died while driving the other day, and since then i have not been able to get it to start, the fuel pump does not turn on when i turn the ignition and there is also no spark. the motor turns and i can hear it cranking but after checking to see if there was spark there was none. i replaced the distrubitor cap and the thing that goes under the cap and i also replaced the coil. still no spark. the distributor can spin by hand (didn't mean to do that but it spun when i put the replacement thing on), so im wondering if the distributor itself is broken or if there is something i am missing and haven't checked. the wires from the main thing that go to it, the one on the front right fender look good but there is some buildup inside of it. and the relay for the fuel pump also looks good. from what a friend was telling me is that the pump is wired to the coil so if the coil isn't getting power than that's why the fuel pump wont turn on. So is it more likely its the ignition switch or the distributor. any help or personal experience would be nice. i'm pretty new to diy but i have the tools and a couple books on my car so once i know the problem i can fix it.

 

if the distributor can spin by hand (not just the rotor spinning on the shaft?) then you have a bigger issue, possibly a broken timing belt (assuming the cams drive the distributor like on older BMWs and Audis).

 

yeah it was the timing belt, im dumb. its all fixed now though. i already had the crankshaft holding tool and timing belt. thank god for non interference motors