97 Escort Engine Misfiring

[Whomp]

ed- sorry for posting in the wrong forum. Reposting in right one hopefully.

Hi.

I have a 1997 Escort LX "Sport" and the other night the engine started sputtering and dying. Gas gauge is broken so we thought it was running out, but filled it and still no good. Service Engine Soon light had been on so I had the codes pulled, and it said that there was a primary/secondary circuit failure on the ignition coil, as well as misfires in cyls 1, 3 and 4.

2's doing ok, I guess.

Anyway, new plugs and wires, no help.
New coil, no help.

Don't have a mechanic I trust, someday I hope to find one. In the meantime, I'm looking for easy things I can look at with basic tools.

Thanks all, this is a great resource. Wish I could contribute, but what I don't know about cars would fill a bunch of books