I have been working on this, off and on, for two or three weeks.
Turns out, it was the power supply relay, the outboard one, in the box above the coil.
Several people suggested the usual culprits, ECU, Hall sender, coil, but only a few mentioned
relays. I also cleaned all of the grounds.
The reason I had not checked it earlier, is because it is the only item different from the one
on my '90, in which both relays are 141951253B.

The non-starter is an '88 Westy, AT, power windows, locks and cruise.
The relay in question is PN. 321919505A, but is listed on vendors site as being for an '85.
I replaced it with an OTC NAPA Signal-Stat 192, rated 40 amps.
They are both 5-prong, but not identical configuration.
The diagram on the VW relay has 87A connected to the same line as 86, but with a symbol that
looks like a diode.
The NAPA relay has TWO 87's, both receiving power from 30 when the circuit is closed.

Can someone please explain what is going on here? The '88 starts, runs fine and all of the
power options work, but am I risking damage with this weird relay?

Thanks for all of the suggestions,
Jerry