Presumido

So my 2000 civic ex was starting normal and without any problems. Then my dad was changing the spark plugs and forgot to connect one of the ignition plugs into the distributor cap. I had started it without knowing he forgot to connect one and the car started for acouple seconds and shut off, we realized all the spark plugs were wet and now the car just cranks but wont start. Everything is working normal and we get spark, i dont know what else could be the problem.

Riick

It is possible that trying to start it with the spark plug disconnected fried the coil. The coil builds up like 20,000 volts, and if it can't find anywhere to go it just jumps through the plastic housing of the coil. Every time this happens the plastic becomes less of an insulator and this makes it more likely to happen again. However, I would be surprised if the coil went from perfect to dead just by cranking it a few seconds with only one spark plug out.
Other possibilities:
Wrong kind of spark plugs?
Your dad did a REALLY bad job of gapping them?
Something unrelated to spark?

Here is a test:
Unplug a wire and stick a spare spark plug into it. Hold the threads firmly against a good ground (like the negative terminal of the battery) and have someone crank the engine. Is the spark is bluish-white, orange and weak, or absent? If it is orange or absent then plug the wire back into the engine and repeat with another spark plug wire just to be sure. Let us know what you find and we'll take it from there...

ezone

This.

Yes, I have done it.

Kind of tough to explain to a customer, even though the coil had to be really close to death for it to die on the operating table like this.

Presumido

Well the thing is i don't think its the spark plug because we had all of them in. The thing i didn't have plugged in, was the ignition coil to one of the cylinders. (the one all the way to the right) All the plugs were connected to the distributor cap but the last one just wasn't inside the last cylinder.

Riick

The test I suggested is not so much for testing the spark plug itself. It just determines whether the problem is electrical (igniter, coil, high tension wires, rotor, cap, connection to battery, spark plug, ignition switch, main relay, etc) or something else (like a problem with the fuel system). Also, notice that I said use a spare spark plug-- you don't have to take any spark plugs out of the engine to perform this test.

I think you are saying one of the high tension wires ("spark plug wires") was not connected to a spark plug. Any disconnect that keeps the 20,000 volts in the coil from reaching the engine block or some other ground the can damage the coil. Once the coil is damaged you will have a weak spark, even if your spark plugs themselves are good. But I don't necessarily think you have a bad coil.

At any rate, the test I suggested will help us know what to check next. A few important cautions: 1) Don't touch the spark plug itself during the test. Otherwise it will be painful. 2) Make sure that the test spark plug is firmly connected to the high tension wire and that its coils are touching a good ground like the negative battery terminal or engine block as the engine is cranking. Otherwise the test itself could damage the coil.

pwnsauce

me too. since your wire from the distributor to the spark plug wasnt making contact it may have fried the coil inside the distributor. but before buying a new coil clean and instect your contacts on the distributor cap and rotor. if they look good you probably need a coil.