A Milano ignition question - longish

["Ralph Moorhouse" <ralfalfa@domain.elided>]

Pre-amble:
The Milano Gold ran like #$%* yesterday, which had me majorly worried since I
had just spent the w/end fiddling with the  cam belt & tensioner (aka
re-adjusting tensioner since the belt was a little slack).  Anyway after
determining that there had been no cam belt tooth-jumping or other such
calamities (i.e cams still set correct & no bent valves), I got the car to
start (reluctantly).

Diagnosis:
Once running I could hear a load clicking (louder than the injectors) which
turned out to be a spark from the coil center post to wire connected to
terminal 1 (+) on coil.  Not good.  Replaced coil & control module with unit
from my  Milano Verde; adjusted the timing & the car runs like a champ! Which
is more than can now be said for Verde.

Mystery & question:
When I came to hooking replacement coil, I found that the coil on the 'Gold'
had the connections to terminal 1 & 15 reversed from how the Verde (donor car)
was.  In the 3+ years I have had the car, I have never altered the way the
coil was hooked-up - so I guess it has been reversed for all this time. The
wiring diagram shows the hook-up on the Verde was correct so I hooked
everything up on the 'Gold' as per wiring diag.  Car runs great.
So the question(s):  What would reversal of wiring to terminals 1(+) & 15 (-)
do?  Did the reversal ultimately cause the demise of the coil and/or ignition
module?  What's the best way to check function of coil or module (other than
switch units stepwise)?  If coil and/or ignition module are toast, any
suggestions for replacement other than stock Alfa?

Thanks for any feedback

Ralph M
Houston, TX

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