wont fire up ( no spark )

hi all I have a 1990 mk1 cabby 1.8 auto on thurs I broke down in blackpool car just stuttered and stopped had plenty of fuel called breakdown who traced it to coil giving weak spark he was also a fellow mk1 owner and said he had a 2nd hand coil at home which he went and got car fired up straight away and got us home car seemed fine until yesterday then it happened again same symptoms so do I go with 1 - it was a second hand coil with no history and it has also failed or 2 - is something amis and making them fail any help / advice appreciated

Hard to say but you've got to try a new coil at least there's no way of knowing till then , I removed a engine from a car the other week had thrown a rod 2010 Clio had been running fine till then no misfire or anything just let a rod go made a good mess as well lol anyway I removed the coils at they were working mint before hand friend had a miss on his Clio so gave him two of them both went faulty within a few days you just never know with secondhand parts especially when it's been in a garage for how ever long