Not getting 12 volts to coil

wrecks said

In the engine compartment, I unhooked the big red wire's male connector and touched its end with one end of a volt meter and its associated 'female' receptor at the bulkhead with the other end. It's possible my 2 relevant column connectors underneath the dash we re not pushed in far enough to get contact, and maybe that's why my dome light did not come on and my reading for resistance stayed '1'. That's all I can think of at this point.

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OK. I think I follow what you did.
If I understand correctly, you measured the voltage across an open circuit.
To measure for continuity with the voltmeter, one lead has to go to ground and the other lead on the circuit that should be hot.

To use the voltmeter to look for resistance between two points in a circuit, that's a little different. One lead on one accessible junction, the other lead downstream of the suspected resistance. Then turn something on that sends current through that section of wire.