Good description. Using a digital multimeter across the ignition coil in that manner would probably fool you based on the high collapse voltage compared to the small drop across the coil when the ignition power stage is not dropping. The autorange couldn't keep up with it and if you lock the range you'll see overload.

What you saw makes sense if the meter "cut out" in concert with the sound of the motor skipping or the timing light skipping. If you suspect "power to the coil" measure between ground and coil positive. That's sometimes a problem due to corrosion in the harness connector just below, but that really doesn't sound like your situation.

Did you check the OBD?

I found a bad CPS this way also, and it was one I had just replaced. Painful, because one tends to trust a new part that seems to work when freshly replaced. I think this will be your fix too, based on having two OE (Bougicord Electricfil) develop intermittent open. On the way to being open it actually would be partially open, as in an internal high resistance in series of between 50 ohms and several hundred K-ohms.

So far I'm rid of my CPS problems. See this post AIP CPS

--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.-Rodney Dangerfield