Why my '81 16v won't start? [long]

["Dave Novak" <toastworks@hotmail.com>]

I haven't driven this car since April, and there's 6" of snow on it, and 
it's been under 20 for the last week. My battery is definatley toast. 
hehe....

'81 16v.. cranks, no spark at all, tho. All components test Ok, and the 
engine ran fine before I stuck it in the rocco.

I had an idea a while ago.. It's definatley electrical. I know that. I can 
feel it in my bones.. heh..

Ok, so the coil is supposed to produce voltage to create a spark when the 
negative lead is switched to battery/chassis ground for a moment. Positive 
power is always supplied to the coil, but it's the negative lead that's 
switched by the Ignition Control Unit which is commanded by the Hall Sender. 
The good old CIS and CIS-E way.

Lets say something were permanently grounding the coil. The following 
symptoms would arise: Constant voltage at the coil when the ignition is on 
as well as when the starter is cranking...

also, I try a visual test for a spark by taking the primary wire off the 
distributor and lay it on the intake manifold (chassis ground). Normally, 
I'd see lots of sparking going on. I only see one spark occur and that's 
when I initially turn the key on.

Wouldn't these two things lead me to believe the coil is being given a 
constant ground?

This would weaken the coil.. all that power, no?

What could be at fault?

Either the ICU is bad (I've tried two different ones, and the electrical 
test passes),

The Hall Sender is bad (electrical test passes just dandy),

Or some wiring going to the coil is bad. The negative leads are this: A 
green wire going into the ignition control unit, and a red/black wire going 
to the tach. The green wire makes it's connection just fine. The ICU is 
properly grounded, too.

Could my tach be screwing my whole thing up?

Remember, with my old 8v engine in there, it would only stay running over 
2k. If it dropped below, the engine died instantly (no sputtering, etc... 
something like that sounds like there's suddenly no spark).

What gives? Any thoughts?

-Dave
'81 Scirocco 16v (Winnie)
'87 Subaru GL 4WD Wagon (Evelyn)

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