My name is Spacegogo and I have a 1996 TE exec 4 cyl. manual.

I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice as you all appear to be very knowledge able on Magnas.

I recently changed my spark plugs all by myself (which I was very proud of) but I am afraid I may have put the ignition leads on the wrong order and mucked everything up.

http://imgur.com/7rYwyBe
http://imgur.com/7rYwyBe

Here is a picture of how I connected my spark plugs up, I was wondering if you could tell me if they have been done correctly?
I have been reading alot about something called 1342, but I am afraid I don't know what that means.
I would really appreciate if you could help me out or tell me if my numbers need switching.

I know that on a v6 you can tell if their done properly by length, matching them up to the previous ones help also as each plug lead is a certain length to correspond with the plug its made for.

1342 sounds correct as I helped someone ages back with something related to that, but its basically engine design, how the engine fires and strokes. If that helps

Why do you think you have mucked up? Misfire? Did you take the leads completely off the car?

Can't quite tell from the pic which lead is where on the dizzy, but from memory the firing order is 1,3,4,2, with 1 being at the top of the distributor and each sequential number running clockwise from there, and cylinder 1 being at the drivers end of the motor. So, the longest lead runs from the upper most port on the distributor to the far left plug (ie. drivers side), then moving in a clockwise direction around the distributor run the next lead to cylinder 3 (3rd from the left), cylinder 4 (passenger end of motor) and finally cylinder 2 (second from left).

Tip: only remove one lead at a time when changing plugs, the length of the leads makes it obvious which goes where (once it is set up correctly). Same can be done if replacing leads, just do them one at a time.

Thanks guys, the confusing thing is that my distributor cap doesn't have the openings in a circle they are in a straight line kind of like this below (I tried to make it clear in my picture).
Spark plugs on engine and distributor cap and the corresponding leads I have connected are =
--------------------------
(1) (2) (3) (4)
s p a r k
--------------------------
----------------------------- d (o) 3
------------------------------ i (o) 4
------------------------------s (o) 2
------------------------------s (o) 1
Front of car.

Edited picture:(copy link into URL)

http://imgur.com/y6fFpOV

Im just so confused, So if we draw a line from 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, and 4 to 4, thats what I have done with my leads, but as my picture shows 3 + 4 are crossed over and i'm not sure if that is correct.

Hopefully this makes more sense as to what I have done, anyone able to confirm what they think is going on would be very much appreciated!

Ah, I see, your distributor cap has the terminals in a straight line. Sorry, mine's the V6 and I used to own an older Magna with a "normal" cap, not familiar with this setup. If you look at the cap you'll see that the front and back terminals actually originate near the bottom of the distributor cap, so they are still in a circular arrangement, sort of. If the terminal on your distributor nearest the front of the car is terminal No. 1, and if the direction of rotation of the rotor button in your distributor is anti-clockwise, then your order would be correct (ie. spark plugs are triggered in the order 1,3,4,2). Unfortunately I don't know the answer to those two 'ifs'. Best suggestion would be to look for a manual or maybe another member has a better idea, sorry mate.

From front of the car looking at the distributor cap from top down to bottom try 1 (firewall) at top 3, 4 then 2 at bottom (radiator) and connect the other ends to respective sparkplugs and see how that goes.
Not looked at a TE motor not so many of them around if the top two connections are side by side on the distributor cap swap them around if it is not running correctly after you do the above.
Trying to locate a pic of the distributor with better detail not easy.
You are correct the other end in your photo No1 starts at cam belt cover (driverside) then 2,3,4. Vee
If the above does not work do the same but start at bottom of dizzy cap No1.