i just got done replacing the distributor cap and rotor along with the spark plug wires

when im finished i go to start it and it cranks but doesnt start. why would this be happening?

wrong firing order most likely.

Double check it.

Did you take all the old wires off at once? If so, you may not have put them back on in the right order. Firing order clockwise around the distributor cap is 1-2-3-4-5-6 ... the cylinder order on the engine is 1-3-5 on the passenger side- with the frontmost passenger side cylinder being #1. Driver's side is 2-4-6, with the frontmost driver's side being #2.

LOL! SYM beat me by a minute.

This is why, before I ever start working on a car, I do a quick diagram that shows the engine, distributor cap, and where all the spark plug wires go to.

i have checked the order and everything looks okay so what else could this be...i disconected the alt wire to get my hands in there and a vacum came off and something that plugs into the pleneum came off but i put everything back how its supposed to be

make sure the coil wire is on secure on both ends. make sure no wire connectors came loose. triple check the firing order on the cap AND the spark plugs (dont want to accidentally cross them). retrace the vacuum line that came loose, see if it came loose at the opposite end. (dumb question here): are all the plugs tight? just things ive seen and heard of in my years (7) of working on cars.
oh does it attempt to fire at all or just crank? does it sound like theres compression or is it cranking too fast? if this is all good, get a spark tester, a HEI spark tester. see if youre getting spark at the wires, if not you may have something else going on there.

yea test for spark, if ya gotta spark you don't have to worry about having a module or pick up coil problem

May sound stupid, but I've put caps on before, and had the little carbon spring thing in the cap get stuck all the way up and in and had a no start problem do to that. If it started fine on your old set up, pull the cap and rotor off and check. Just make sure, like previously said, check the ignition for spark. Should be a bright blue looking color as well. There are also times when the coil cable in the package could be bad or another cable, or even the rotor or the cap. Usually what I do now as a rule is take an ohm meter to my cables and check them. My MSD's rate anywhere from 80-120 ohm's per cable, and stock ones I have notice run anywhere from 800-1800ohm's for new stock replacements. If higher (like over 10k ohm's), that could be a problem. Good luck

-Dan

Dan, stock cables are actually 15,000 ohms/foot! Compare that to our MSD's at 50 ohms/foot... I'll stick with our MSD's!

My car never did run right with a set of Accel 7mm's....I put the MSD's on and it felt as good as my new ignition coil....talk about a difference.

Really? Hm, I was buying those Borg Warner's for the longest time and they wern't even that high. Wow, I guess I under estimated. Oh well, *grin*

-Dan