GMC,

I just found out the hard way that I need a resistor on the positive coming into the coil. (OPS!) My truck also stopped while I was driving it down the road due to a extremely hot coil. Once it cooled down, she started right back up and I was able to limp her home. I am dealing with all the gremlins involved with mine.

I am thinking out loud after learning from my MANY learning opportunities over the past month.

Did your coil get hot or just warm? (I assume warm due to the Voltage change, but not hot)
How long did you wait before you ran the wire directly?
Do you have a bad battery (if you ran wires directly then you may have bypassed other things that would create a draw)
Do you have a bad ground or bad/loose wiring? Have you changed/alter anything recently that might caused this issue?

Good luck and keep us all posted. I am sure that many others may have this same issue and will read this.

Chris