I just replaced the valve cover gaskets, spark plug tube seals, plugs, wires, and coil boots on my GF's 03 Outlander which ran perfectly before (despite having nothing left on the plugs). When we started the car up it started shaking real bad and misfiring. I have traced it down to the #1 cylinder, but cannot figure out what could have gone wrong that would cause it to no longer run.

Replaced:
Plugs
Wires
Coil Boots
Valve Cover gaskets
Spark plug tube seals

Checked:
Spark on all 4 cylinders
Compression is good
Tried all different combinations of the old wires, old boots, old plugs, etc. and nothing made a difference.
Bought a new coil and no difference
Pulled valve cover off just to be sure nothing got dropped in there, loose, or whatever (grasping at straws by this point)

When I take the plug out of the #1 hole it is coated in gasoline so I believe the injector is OK, when tested against the block with the engine running it is sparking, so the only thing left must be timing but I didn't touch anything timing related (aside from loosening the cover to make valve cover removal easier) and I didn't touch anything to do with the injectors or any sensors. There is no CEL, it just runs rough and you can hear in the exhaust that it is missing a cylinder. Letting it idle and checking the exhaust temperature cylinders 2 and 4 are consistent (usually 200-300 degrees when measured after short idle) and cylinder 3 is a bit cooler, and cylinder 1 is typically around 80 degrees. I have tried everything and have asked everyone I know that knows anything about imports and cannot come up with a fix.

 

sounds like the coil boot is shorting out

 

Pulled the plug to wipe it down and make sure it was clean, wiped down the wire boot and it was dry as well. Holding the plug to the valve cover while it's running I get spark.