Tune up question.

[milt]

I've been chasing a miss in this '90 Cadillac I got when my mother died 4 years ago. I've spent a ton of time of this thing and had it running real sweet a couple of times and we've put 25K on it just bopping around to the parking lot destinations like the store, airport, etc. The thing is, I've learned more than I ever could have about the fuel and ignition systems used in the OBD I era. So, I've been game to mess with it as it fails with age. A lot of this realates directly to my Carrera.

I'm at a cross roads, though. It might be time to retire the thing to the crusher. It leaks a tremendous about of oil from the engine and it's an expensive fix being a FWD. I've put 2K in it in the last year and a half. It's worth nothing on the market. But, it's got good everything including cold air, tires, brakes, shifts great; a great beater. Even looks good. Here's where I stand today:

The miss came back and I've replaced fuel injectors and all kinds of things as per normal procedures. It did run nice when cold, but started acting up when it got hot. I began to suspect the plug wires and was unplugging them one at a time looking for the dead cylinder (rubber gloves and insulated pliers). The spark was jumping toward the coil pack and the car died. So, I burned what up? The pick up, the rotor? How do I test this stuff? If I can get it rolling for 50 bucks, I will. Otherwise, adios Caddy.

This is an HEI coil pack mounted in the cap. Just one, not the 8 you see on the later cars.There are a couple of components that could fail here for a couple of reasons. The coil might not like a wire unplugged, but it is still firing 7 plugs, not like I took the primary off. In fact, there is no primary, the coil shoots right into the rotor. Spark jumped into the side of the cap. I may have fried the pick up. Any thoughts?