how would you know if an ignition coil is going bad?

 

Unplug the fuel injector and check the spark plug for spark while cranking. Do this one at a time, and remember to ground the plug.

 

what about normal driving, would a coil thats going bad cut out every once in a while and make the vehicle sputter.

 

Take off the distributor cap, static shield, and rotor. You can test the resistance of the primary and secondary connections with an ohmmeter. Ensure that it is within spec according to your vehicle-specific Haynes/Helms.

To answer you questions, yes, a bad coil can cause intermittent firing, and sputtering.

 

i have the msd sci ignition, i currently have the blaster ss coil, i was going to go with the blaster three coil, i know this is a bit of a down grade but the price is great, will it work well with the sci ignition?

 

Find out what the specs are on that specific coil (resistance) and the test will be exactly the same.