what would cause me to only fire 1 spark plug?

[SlidnSideways]

I have a ka24e in my 89 240sx..It stalled out the other day on the highway and wont start up...it cranks but wont start... Only my #1 plug is firing and we bought brand new plugs, wires, ignition coil, distributor cap and rotor. What could possibly be causing only 1 plug to fire?

[themadscientist]

have you confirmed the rotor is rotating? The distributor cannot "distribute" if the rotor isn't spinning. Something may have broken at the driven-end of the distributor. Pull the cap and crank the motor to see.

[SlidnSideways]

Ok it just got more wierd. I have spark to all 4 plugs...i have fuel to all 4 cylinders cause the plugs come out covered in it. Still no ignition. The car just cranks and cranks with the occasional backfire. I checked all plugs to make sure they were all where they are supposed to be and they are. I guess the only thing we are missing from the equation is air right? maybe my MAF is broken? Ideas?

[themadscientist]

did you rotate the distributor housing at all or just replace the cap and rotor?

unplug the AFM and try to start it. If the engine behavior changes that may be the problem

[SlidnSideways]

Yea we though that maybe the distributor may have moved a bit when this first happened causing it to happen so we played with it a bit but no matter where it was, the car wouldnt start.

I havnt checked the Air Fuel Meter but im not really to sure on what i would be looking for. You have any ideas? Also, i read something on another post just now saying that if you disconnect it a certain way it ruins the internals of the meter and the part is around $500 to replace.

[SlidnSideways]

I just did the self diagnosis thing with the ecu and it came back empty. Mode 3 code number 55 no malfunction in the above circuit. This means i have spark, i have fuel, and none of my sensors are bad ( including the AFM ) which im assuming means i have air. My rods arnt done because the pistons still move so if i have spark, fuel, air, and moving rods, why do i not have a running car?

[ziggy682]

You said your plugs were covered in gas. Well, your engine might be flooded. Pull the fuel pump fuse, and turn it over a few times, and see if anything happens. One time, I installed an S-AFC (my third one...don't ask) and forgot to do the setup in the AFC before trying to start it. It flooded it really bad, and took me a while to get it started. When it did finally start (after unplugging the fuel pump fuse), it ran for about 15 seconds on just the fuel in the cylinders and in the lines.

[SlidnSideways]

ahhh good call thanx alot ill try that tomorrow. I doubt it will work cause thats just my luck but if it does ill let ya know. Thanx again!

[SlidnSideways]

Wow ok i did the fuel pump thing and still nothing. The only thing thats left is timing that i know of. I checked the chain and cam and they both lined up pretty evenly and i was getting spark just a bit before TDC in piston number 1. What am i missing?