10.4v to coil wires until i hook up coil, then zero

[BrewCityMusic]

The title says it all, pretty much - if I put a DMM on the wires to the coil with no coil hooked up, I get 10.4v while turning it over, then I hook up the coil and get zero voltage when turning it over ...

It's an 88 Marathon 2 stroke, BTW - also, I noticed that the voltage slowly climbs to 10.4 as I'm turning it over, for the first few turns it's at 3-ish, then 5ish, etc until she gets rolling good, then it's at 10.4 (also, the engine takes a second to start turning over when you step on the gas, then slowly builds to full cranking RPM's) - solenoid? Regulator? PLEASE HELP !!!!!

This is the third time I replaced the coil (I have no way to test them, so for all I know all 3 are still good) - would the ignitor be the problem, perhaps (I could always go HEI) ???

[BrewCityMusic]

Uh Oh ... Might this be a problem, the Pulser resistance is 151 ohms (double what the specs call for) AND the coil resistance is 1.8 ohms (which doesn't worry me as much as it's a high-output coil so I'd assume it would have lower resistance) ???

[BrewCityMusic]

Well, the tech guy at (insert non-sponsors' company name here) led me through all the tests again over the phone, and it looks like the Ignitor is the trouble - running to pick up an HEI module and get going on the conversion, if anyone has any conflicting opinions go ahead and post them, I'm not unwilling to try almost ANYTHING at this point!

[BrewCityMusic]

Starting to feel awfully alone in this thread.....

Alright - the HEI module is installed - and 3.1v to the coil using the wires to the coil to test. NOW, if I attach the DMM ground to the coil wire coming off the HEI (which goes to the - side of the coil) and the other to the solenoid where the coil + wire goes, I get 10.4v while turning it over, then drops to 4.1, and bounces all over the place ... AND if I go from the HEI~coil wire (-) to the battery +, I get 10.4v when turning it over (which tells me the HEI seems to be doing what it's supposed to)

Is it possible that the solenoid is not giving consistant voltage? when I go to turn the cart over, it slowly ramps up to starting speed, that seems to make me think the solenoid isn't working correctly, but I'm literally a musician - not a mechanic - and I've found what's logical isn't always what's right.

Any Ideas? ANYONE? Thanks in advance