This may be somewhat of a stupid question...Is my distributor properly oriented to the engine?(Picture 1) and if I am reading the manual correctly it seems as though the vacuum bladder should be towards the engine block and the amplifier towards the radiator. Which if that is correct how could it have ran this way because when I bought it 3 weeks ago this is the way it was hooked up, as for how they had the firing order I can't recall because when I initally hooked my new wires up I duplicated the way it was and then when I was troubleshooting the igniton system I noticed they were in the wrong order according to the second illustration in attached pdf. I reconnected the wires using the clips and vacuum bladder as a refference. Then when I was looking at the manual again and comparing it to what was actually under the hood I noticed that 1 & 8 should be torwards the radiator. So if in fact it is in backwards how could it have ran, whats the best way to fix it, and what possible damage could I have done trying to (and on occasion) turning it over??

 

looks about right

 

That looks right, I know what you mean by the picture though, the vacuum bladder is pointing top left. It seems that the schematics are somewhat varied but I also have a 94 disco and this is the exact sequence I followed... It would be the top layout for the 3.9L V8
Oh btw, I would mark #2 first and go from there. its the one furthest right on the distributor at 3 oclock and then go clockwise or counter clockwise from there. The fact that the vacuum is flipped around messes people up. You can also zoom into that image while in adobe reader with control and plus to help you look at it. It's page 67 of the RAVE. or you can do it right in your browser

 

Ok the plugs are correctly gapped, wires in order, voltage tested 11.8~11.9 across battery terminals and at both points on coil, bright white spark at the plug, plugs wet w/fuel, air flow components in order, fuses all check out(checked them probably a hundred times by now)...I'm leaning towards TPS but I don't understand how a bad one would prevent startup. Any thoughts?

 

A bad TPS will not stop a vehicle from starting. It will only send you into default/limp mode which is a high idle(unless the ecm doesn't recognize it as bad, then the idle will be eratic and you will have terrible throttle response.

And to clarify for future assistance, when you turn the ignition key to start and the starter engages the flywheel and the engine rotates internally, that is called turning over. When the engine starts and runs, the turning over process stops. So if you are "trying to turn her over", then you are merely looking at the engine and wishing it would do something.

 

Have you checked to make sure the rotor is actually pointing to #1 when it should be?
If all you changed between it running and not running were the plug wires, then that has to be the issue, unless you knocked something loose.

 

If I manually advance the engine to TDC and the rotor isn"t pointed to 1 then what's the best way to correct that.

 

After checking for TDC and then inspecting the distributor I noticed that some parts inside the body were loose and rolling around so I took apart to find that both springs and both retaing clips were off the posts. Still kind of confused as to how that could have happened. Put it all back together and it started up on the second turn. One problem down three to go. Gear selector interlocked switch is engaged, turn signals don't work but hazards do, brake lights don't work already replaced brake light switch. Any suggestions?

 

Nice find!

 

That can happen when the rotor is pulled up in order to remove it. If you don't hold the shaft down while lifting up on it the springs have a tendancy to detach....

Some moron wrote a description of this in the sticky tech section...

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...acement-33384/