98 QX4. Distributor problem? ASAP

[zmods]

I searched but couldn't find the info.

Last night the car was a little tough to start (first time this happened), but I didn't think much of it as it was cold out. All was fine for about 3 miles. As I was getting on the interstate under hard acceleration the car would would begin to stall. As I let out on the pedel and accelerate very lightly the car would stay running. I was triing to get to the next exit to turn around and try to limp home. I made it to the next exit and started up the on ramp and it died. Couldn't get it started back. I got it towed back home. I can hear the fuel pump turning on. I pulled a plug and it looked tan in color and smelled lightly of gas. I pulled a wire to see if it was getting spark, I laid the wire down with a screwdriver next to it and had my wife crank the engine over. No spark of any kind. I was hoping it had a coil but of course not. Is this the distributor or could it be ANYTHING else? The distributor is nearly $300 so I'm hoping someone has something else in mind. Thanks to all who reply.

[mister2nr]

Ya pull the cap completely off. Since you already said you don't have spark your on the right track to diagnosing your problem but go one step further and be on the safe side and make sure that the rotor is spinning. If its not spinning then the timing belt broke but if it is spinning more than likely you have a bad distributor. Not uncommon problem.