yeah i tested power to the coil it had power all the way to the 2 screws.although the spring at end had no power not sure if its suposed to.im thinking of just swaping the whole distributer like you said.is that a big deal? i just hope it starts if i do.i brought the coil to part store they tested it with a volt reader and they had a new one,they both tested around the same not enough to tell a diff.

 

Bad coils test about the same with a voltmeter as good ones. You could with the cap off crank the engine and see if you can get sparks from the spring on the coil to a grounded wire (put divider piece back in so it doesn't spark to the module or something and fry it). If you just get little yellow ones maybe 1/8" long the coil is probably bad, if it is totally dead it could be something else.

Only problem with changing the whole distributor is that it is rather costly. Do not turn in your old one until the new one is on the car and working.