2000 Sebring JX / 2.5L /

Full disclosure - I am a shade-tree mechanic. I know enough to fix things but I have no depth.

Crank-no-start condition; ended up replacing distributor; verified engine was at TDC on compression stroke, aligned distributor "wing" hatchmark to hatchmark on dist body, installed, and then verified rotor was at proper position pointing at #1 position inside distributor. Car starts but runs VERY rough, blows smoke from exhaust, runs by itself for about ~20s then just dies. It will start again but has that same behavior. Verified spark plug wires are correct to distributor. Given the four items to line up (TDC mark, timing belt mark, dist hatchmark, rotor to #1 position) I do not understand how the timing can be off. I'm guessing that the timing is off considering I replaced the distributor and now it's worse off than when it was running fine.

Thanks

--maxnpj