Ford Repair: Weak (red) flame from spark plug, spark plug wires, excessive corrosion

Question
1988 Ford Escort was running fine, sat up for 6 mths, trouble. Had to rebuild CFI (stopped up). Now I have a red spark from I know 2 spark plugs. Car will run but at least 2 are not firing properly.This is a 1.9 l 4 cylinder engine. 1 and 3 are firing a red flame haven't really checked the other 2 but the car will run the same with these 2 off. Is there anyway to tell if that is the distributor, rotor, or coil wthout replacing them all or should I just start with the cap and rotor then plug wires then coil? That is the order of the pricing anyway with the coil being the highest. Thanks for the help in advance!

Answer
Chris, it sounds like you are heading in the right direction.  If it has not had a tune-up lately, then it is time.  A red flame usually represents old spark plug wires.  I would put a new cap, rotor, wires and plugs.  The only way to check the cap and rotor is to look at it and see if there are any cracks or excessive corrosion.  The wires can be checked with a multi-meter, and checking the resistance.  The same can be done with the ignition coil.  To check the coil, I would first let the car idle for a while so that the coil can heat up, then I would check the resistance.  Set the meter to ohms, and hold it across the secondary circuit. (Red meter wire should go on the part where the spark plug wire goes on it, the black meter wire should go on the negative side of the ignition coil)  You should have less than 9 kilo ohms.  If it is more, or right on the line, then the coil is probably getting old.  If you try all this and the car is still not running good, then write me back.  Good luck,   Jason