Being an "86 there are three major components needed for ignition. The most important is the ignition coil itself. On occasion they do fail but it is very rare. The usual cuase of a coils death is the engine being cranked with the high tension lead disconnected. Always ground it or hold a small gap if testing. The coil is actually operated buy the ECU, test the fuel injection controller also has the ignition control on the Digifant. Rare for them to go bad but it does happen. Had two in the last month. Then the most common failure is the hall sensor in the distributor itself. Often it is the connector that gets broken and then the wires inside get damaged. Other times the sensor itself just goes bad. The most difficult trouble shooting is if there is a problem with the wiring itself. Yes wires can break inside the insulation. This is where you need to know how to do both voltage and current measurements or wring out every wire end for end. The wire that goes from the +12 volt side of the coil to the ECU is a popular failure lately. Dwalt with one of those at West River Westys last year. 

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of thewestyman
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 10:08 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: No spark, clueless

It is amaizing how clueless I can get at the most simple fault.  
This ‘86 camper was standing here for a long time but it has always started up.  Now, for some reason, I don’t get spark.  Checked the voltage at the coil and it gets 12V.  So, I got the ground wires  cleaned on the left side on the body and the head, but it did not help.  For some reason, I have no clue what to check and in what order.  
The battery is strong, and the engine turns over fast.  
There is 12V at the coil, 

Anyone?

Thanks for your time. 

Zoltan