1997 Avenger is turnin over but doesnt spark?!?!

hey! i jus bout a 97 Avenger..wen i went to test drive it started rite up, we were drivin and didnt realize it was low on gas, well we were hittin about 60mph and it cut out and ran out of gas..well we added a quarter of a tank and it wouldnt start back up..i got the car for 800 becuz of that..n i was checkin it outyestrday still wont start theres oil all over the spark plugs n plug wire!?!? could any help me with this because the only reason i could think oil leakin onto the plugs n plug wires is valve cover gasket?

hey! i jus bout a 97 Avenger..wen i went to test drive it started rite up, we were drivin and didnt realize it was low on gas, well we were hittin about 60mph and it cut out and ran out of gas..well we added a quarter of a tank and it wouldnt start back up..i got the car for 800 becuz of that..n i was checkin it outyestrday still wont start theres oil all over the spark plugs n plug wire!?!? could any help me with this because the only reason i could think oil leakin onto the plugs n plug wires is valve cover gasket?

This is the 4 cylinder engine? The valve cover gasket set includes 4 seals to go around the spark plug wells.

But honestly it seems strange that the no-start would be caused by this. How do you know that you are getting no spark? Are you sure that you actually ran out of gas? If it were me, I would just clean the wells, plugs and plug wires with carb cleaner and see if that helps first. If so, then go ahead and replace the valve cover and seals. If not, then its time to look elsewhere.

You can narrow it down by checking for computer codes by following this procedure (this is for neons, but it also works on 'Venges): http://neons.org/howtos/diag.shtml

Very Similar Situation:
Driving home on very low gas, notice the car has been occasionally misfiring throughout the day. Car dies on acceleration. First thought is that fuel shortage but by chance pull the Spark plug wire. The thing is covered in oil.

After some reading, turns out it is my valve cover gasket that is broken and pushing a ton of oil out to the plugs.

Replaced the gasket (very brittle), cleaned everything up, put in gas and got new plugs. Got absolutely no spark.

Get a new spark plug cable, same thing. No spark on all cylinders.

Could it be the oil shorted/shot the ignition module? Perhaps a coincidental malfunction somewhere else? ECM? I read that the oil dripping down may be causing a misreading on the crank position sensor which it turn causes the Computer to not send the signal to spark.

Please give me something to go on.

Did you remember to plug the coil pack connector back in? I apologize
if that sounds really basic, but we've all been there, done that at one
time or another...

Well, It turns out it was the distributor. The problem now is that it runs real weak. I am thinking that it may be a vacuum leak. Is it even possible to put the distributor on the wrong way on this car?

1995 Dodge Avenger ES 2.5V6

PS. Turns out the distributor rotor at Advance Auto Parts for this model is not correct. You must ask for the one on the Sebring LXi.

Finally Fixed.
I ignored the distributor as the "new part" and checked my other failure points. I finally took apart the distributor and found the problem pretty quick.

The re manufactured distributor I bought from auto zone had a slightly offset groove on the axle that keys the rotor into position. It may have been off by < 1mm at the center but at least 5-10 degrees at the points. The timing was completely off. Matter of fact it was causing the spark to ignite in the compression stage. Talk about robbing power.

I adjusted the rotor, runs like a beast. I suppose after all those pieces have been swapped out, I may get another 20k miles out of it without any issues.

192k miles now.

why isn't my 97 dodge neon not starting it won't even turn over I know nothing about cars could it be the battery?are maybe it jumped time?I have no idea what it is I need HELP!!!!