sorry for my lack of electrical knowledge
my question is:
with just ignition on
if the wire in the ignition harness were bad (red line)
what could happen?

 

Nothing, you just have an open circuit, assuming the fault is not a short. A short to ground would be worst case, as it will overheat the coil. Either way, the leading coil will not fire.

Hope this helps you.

 

how can i verify if i have a short? i did a ohm test through that wire and it comes out fine, but looking at it .. it looks pretty bad physically, i've also ran an ohm test between that wire and the wire going into the igniter and it came out fine

 

Your leading coil connector leads are baked. Wrap the wiring with a fresh cover of electrical tape IF you show good continuity.

later

 

Buy a new harness. They're like $70 from Ray at Malloy.