We have a 94 protege that was running just died and won't start can't get no fire changed everything from except distributor

sooty plugs and misfiring indicates problem injectors
run a couple of quality injector cleaner through the tank and see if that improves the running

have you check for injector pulse? if no pulse or no ignition fire, most likely it is the ECM.

Back firing is usually an indication of a timing issue

The timing chain is most likely worn & jumped a couple
of teeth or the distributor was installed wrong,if you recently
had work done

Wires and distributor cap too-they should be changed if you are going to rule out ignition problems. You can check the wires with a digital meter, but if you know they haven't been replaced in a while, do that-distributor caps are a little trickier in that they can hairline cracks or 'carbon' tracks that can disrupt the spark.

Check the plugs for spark, pull one out and lay it on a metal part with the wire attached,, crank it over and see if it sparks, if yes, then squirt some fuel in the throttle and see if it fires, narrow it down to something. Check the oil, the electrical sensor in the header is an oxygen sensor, it will not effect the engine, If you don't have a spark, pull the coil pack off the old engine and bolt it on the new one. Check it out.

I want a lot more information than what you have given me as there could be 20 answer's to that question at least so its between 3 minutes, and rebuilding the engine so either use SKYPE or answer on line A.S.A.P Ron

heat is a big factor in the distributor module!
they beak down [no current ]
resulting in no plugs firing & can be intermitant also

the injectors are fired thru the engine cotrol module but it gets its signal to fire from the pick-up located inside the distributor if you are loosing injector pulse only the ignition module is bad if you are also loosing spark when you loose injector pulse your pick up is causing the problem if you replace the pick-up i recomend you change the ignition module when doing so because they work together and you have to remove the distributor to change the pick-up

Hello;
Make sure the distributor wires are hooked up and making a goodconnection at the base of the distributor. Also make sure the coil wire is fully in the socket. Make sure no wires got pinched for the relays. Hope this helps;
Thanks;
Rich
RPM Northwest

try buying new points (yes there called points) gap them then install them, they go under the distributor cap, by the condenser, also, the sparkplug wires go in a certin order so if your not sure call an michanics shop and tell them what kind of car you have and they'll tell you what order they should go in. also did you gap the spark plugs??