the cel doesn't come on at all...

 

Do the "oil" and "battery" lights come on? Does the fuel pump prime?

Do you have the plastic separator plate installed in the distributor under the rotor? Without that, sparks can jump into the low voltage section and blow sensors or ECU.

At this point you should back up and go through the complete "cranks but won't start" drill.

 

The oil and battery light come on. and everythings on the dizzy

 

And does the fuel pump run for 2 seconds when you turn the key on?

 

the fuel pumps fine, my battery measured out fine and the wires going to the distributor measured out fine on the ohmmeter. so im pretty sure its the dizzy, does anyone know of a way to test the distributor, i called up the local autozone and they can't test it so that's out of the question.

 

CEL not coming on at all means that either someone removed the bulb, or the ECU is not powering up and running properly. It doesn't mean the distributor is bad. Try an OBDII scanner on it. If the scanner won't connect, there's a problem with the ECU not running.

 

The Ecu is my second guess but my main reason for thinking the distributor is bad is because it's getting power and the plugs and wires are new. If the ecu is suppose to send a message to the dizzy to make spark then that's the only other thing I can think of. I checked all the fusesand they're all fine.

 

Also where can I rent or borrow a scanner? The CEL bulb is still in the dash so if it was registering codes it would come on. What I'm getting is that if I plug the scanner in and it doesn't register that it's hooked up then the ecu is bad????

 

I think it is one of the tools that chain parts stores "loan". You buy it for full price but you are allowed to bring it back and get all your money back.

Check the ground wires on the thermostat. The ECU may be good, but lacking power or ground.

 

i'm checking the coil but ran into a problem... where is it???