well , a few replies point to the right answer here, from what i can tell ..

apparently these bosch ignition systems built in 5000 ohm or (in my case 89 240 b230f ignition) 1000 ohm resistance,

the reason i can repeat what i heard is to suppress radio interference... fm radio and relays too.

so the cost benefit of such high resistance rotors (and not just an open circuit ...there is a resistor imbedded in that resin goo on the rotor arm. ) the tradeoff to such application is tougher cold weather and wet weather starting.

i also read somewhere about the 700 series volvos that the ignition wires have 2000 ohm resistance ... but i haven't checked mine yet. this makes it easy for the spark to want to find another path through the rubber boot for example and ground out through a body even while wearing rubber sole shoes. (i wanted an explanation for this cus i really wondered why the spark would rather go to me when i touched it and not the the plug metal conduit all the way. )

thank you so much to everyone who offered input and advice on this.

i guess it's time i replace the cap and rotor even though they look in great shape the miles are higher than 30k on each. same for the plug wires. ... i guess another 100 bucks and my ignition system is rebuilt new right from the coil, and that's good peace of mind for wet weather performance.

good tip to keep the still good wires as spares. i'm going to post back some resistance values of a fresh set right out of the box for further reference with this thread, if ever someone has the patience to read it all in the future ...

Best regards,
Jonny