96 4 cyl won't start

[lukemonroe]

50K miles
timing belt 4 months old
battery is 1 month old

I washed the engine bay last Sunday, the car ran fine on Monday and Tuesday, It got very cold outside (15 degrees or so) then it started running very bad and check engine light came on. I took it to autozone, the code said misfire on cylinder 1. I bought new cap and rotor and plugs. Before I put them in, it would not start at all, and after I replaced them it continues to not start. I have got it to start running for a few seconds, but then dies, smells like fuel, but probably from cranking a bunch.

Things I have checked:

tried a new coil: no change
checked for spark: getting spark, but not strong blue one it is yellow
checked spark at the coil wire on distributor cap and I am getting a good spark there
checked resistance on plug wires, they are fine

I am not sure what do do next.

Thanks for any advice.

[dc_98_cam]

If you have a can of starter fluid, spray a little into the air intake as you crank the engine.

This will confirm that the problem is fuel related, if it sounds like it is running .... or not, if it still refuses to run.

[rholzboog]

this happend to me before i got water in the starter and was grounding out good luck finding the prob

[dc_98_cam]

Still guessing ..... check the ground wire snap connector on the top of the engine .... near the 'belt' area. Disconnect, clean with suitable spray, WD-40 or contact cleaner, whatever is amenable to electrical connections. ....Just to insure that water or moisture in the ground connector is not causing the problem. ... The ground connector on the Gen 4 is located in the vicinity of the dog-bone engine mount .... not sure about the Gen 3.
If you see any other ground connections ....you might tighten or inspect those. ....Even the negative battery cable connection.

[ghettosled]

even thought you checked the wires, they still sound like they are bad. when you pulled it on and off, you might have altered its bad connection slightly to get a slightly better spark that got it running for a short bit then died again.

[lukemonroe]

Dang, you guys are awesome! All these replies so quickly, I am impressed.

I changed the spark plug wires and the problem is fixed.

The car has quite a bit more power now, the wires must have been bad for while.

Thanks