I have a problem after changing the plug wires on my 1997 4.0L Aerostar.

I have a 97 aerostar with a 4.0 liter engine. Just replaced the plug wires and it is running rough. It was running pretty good prior to the R&R of the pulg wires. . I replaced the passenger side one at a time and believe they are correct. The drivers side has terrible access but I managed. I've tried two configurations of the drivers side and have some scuffed up arms to show for it. I have seen posts telling me what the firing order is. This would be OK if I had a distributor and knew which way the distributor was rotating. I am looking for a diagram linking cylinder with coil location. Please help, I need to get into this and get this running. Stupid me for not marking the wires before I pulled them through.

Yup, checked everything again for point to point acuracy and its still running rough. Feels like only 5 cylinders. At idle, the exhaust is making a low rumbling noise and its still running rough. On accelleration, just doesn't have the power and has this chugging sound. If you've done plugs and wires on one of these, its no small feat. Before I changed the wires this exhaust sound and issue didn't exist. Maybe I should have changed the coil as well, considering I know my way around this area of the vehicle. This all started when I noticed the transmission seeming to jump a little when the engine was cold and in OD. Once the engine warms up, everything is good. I saw a post that sounded exactly like my original condition and they replaced wires and coil and solved their problem. I'm thinking I have one cylinder not firing or the van would be spitting and chugging while at idle. Need some thoughts here. Should I replace the coil??? I drove it around and just doesn't sound right. When I come to a stop while in gear, it idles down so low that it seems that it will stall. HELPPPPPP!

Go unplug and trace every wire. Trust me. Print out that picture above to and look at it while you watch the wires.

Cylinders 123 and coil positions 123 are a no brainer, I can see the plugs and coil positions. I disconnected each plug wire on 456 seperately and confirmed by tugging on the coil connection side. I will have to remove all three of the drivers pulg wires and start all over again. I screwed up when I removed them because I thought the coil sequence was the same as cyl 123. If I had two cylinders reversed, wouldn't the van be bucking and chugging while at idle? Once I do this, I will know for sure but I thought I was good in the fist place with the last check.

Which brand did you use for the plugs & cables? Maybe the gap on the plugs is incorrect or the quality of the cables is inferior to what was previously in there.

replaced with Autolite

Autolite is good since it's the same as Motorcraft. Did you use platinum plugs?

I replaced the plugs over a year ago with Bosch Platinum plugs

It's possible that one of the cables isn't good or two cables got mixed up. I would suggest that you pull one at a time to double check everything.

I plan on doing I more time before the end of the night. Just the drivers side.

Do you have an Ohmmeter? Check each cable on that side to see what the resistance is.

I going to check the resistance on the wires I removed against new wires from the driver side.

Which brand were the old plugs & cables? Were they original?

The van now has 182K on it. I believe I replaced the plugs around 160K, they were original. The wires were original. The body has rotted but the powertrain has been stellar.

A spark gap tester tool will compare the amount of spark energy on each cable:

I have a spark plug cable voltage tester from OTC:

This has a digital readout of the actual voltage on each cable. The spark gap tester is second best from an economical point of view.

OK, measured the resistance of the old wires. Found one of the short wires, either cyl 5 or 6 was open. No resistance or continuity. The wire to cyl 4 8,500 ohms and the other short wire was 5,400 ohms.

Removed and measured the new wires from the drivers side. Long wire was 7,500 ohms, the other two were both in the 5,400- 5,500 range.

I am going to rethread and see what happens.

It's a good idea to use anti-seize on the threads of the spark plug, and tune up grease in the boot.

I meant rethread the plug wires. I'm not touching the plugs.

OK, put a dress on me and call me Sally. I rerouted each one, 4 thru 6 separately and fired it back up. We are back in business. I hate to say it but it may be getting time to think of a replacement vehicle. At least something that is a little easier to work on. The kids will probably continue to use locally. Thanks for all that contributed.