Yes, I pulled out some wires today and had a close look at the crank sensor wiring at the plug. Seems fine. I stopped a tiny short with the interior lights temporarily. I bought anotehr battery, a Bosch, no difference with that either.
I tested the spark again from the both coilpacks. 1 & 2 spark seem erratic, e.g. they spark but stop sometimes and then splurge out a bunch of sparks out of sequence. 3 & 4 spark fine it seems, just sparking in sequence with the turning over noise. Anyone seen this before?
It has been said why don't I plug in a laptop 'and run diagnostic'. There is no diagnostic tool as such for this ECU, it is just a case of looking at the map and the sensor feedback. I don't have a laptop, but I have just gotten a COM to USB adaptor for it so I don't have to use an old COM port laptop.
All of this is a pain in the arse.