[jonah]

What is the specific function of the hall sender...How do they fail and what might the symptoms be..I see alot of refurbished distributors where they replace the inner seal....is the hall sender fixable or should it be replaced at the same time...
any help and expirence would be appreciated to save me a careless mistake...i have been off the road now for almost 2 weeks with this problem....and i'm afraid its going to grow weeds or deep freeze....
thanks
: jonah

 

[jonah]

Re: What exactly does the hallsender do? (jonah)

lots of tastes but no bites..

 

[Penguin]

Re: What exactly does the hallsender do? (jonah)

the hall sender output to the ECU information about where the engine (camshaft actually) is, or more specifically, how fast it is moving (rotational velocity). It operates using the "Hall effect" which was discovered by E.H. Hall in 1879. It basically states that in a given conductor, there is in fact a seperation of charge, and potential difference in the condutor perpedicular to the direction of current flow. This is due to the current inducing a magnetic field perpendicular to itself, which then acts back upon itself forcing the charge to one side of the conductor. </physics>

I'm actually not sure how this translates to rotational measurement, as my understanding is that the output is not the analog voltage of the induced emf, but rather a square wave. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get bored and Google it sometime, now sounds good.
Anyway, using this, and info from many other sources (airflow, throttle position, coolant temp, etc) the ECU sets the ignition advance. My understanding is that the hall sender is not an item you can fix.
If you need a new distributor, the best price I have found is from TRM Performance for $159, but you may be able to do better.

 

[16V-2STROKE]

Re: What exactly does the hallsender do? (Penguin)

I had one fail in my 82 Scirocco and in my Golf the wiring to it needed cleaning up. Without in functioning you will get no spark. If you run through the Bentley ignition test it's like the third test for why you have no spark and you do learn alot about it's function in that chapter.
I was doing a search just yesterday and there was reference to an English web site that sold it seperately. I looked it up and it was 24pounds which to me is 50-55CDN dollars plus shipping. You can remove your Hall sender and clean it. Mine was not oily (which can happen with a bad seal) but it did have some metal fillings stuck on the magnet, so I cleaned it off and seems to run better. The whole job is really easy and quick, only 2 10mm bolts - the only difficult part is removing the clutch pin(VW's name- but not really a clutch) with a punch and reinstalling the pin.

 

[Elwood]

Re: What exactly does the hallsender do? (Penguin)

quote:[HR][/HR]the hall sender output to the ECU information about where the engine (camshaft actually) is, or more specifically, how fast it is moving (rotational velocity). -snip- </physics>

[HR][/HR]​

Wow. Lots of info. From an old fart's perspective, the Hall sender is a replacement for points in a distributor. A signal is sent to the ECU four times (four cylinders) per rotation of the shaft. Each signal triggers the ECU to activate the coil which then sends a high voltage spark to the distributor (and then to the spark plug).
This is much easier for my head...

 

[16vinqueens]

Re: What exactly does the hallsender do? (VWhombre)

http://www.vwparts.com has ditributors for $150, it's the cheapest i seen, I got one the other day cause my hall sender was cutting in and out intermitently, caused the car to hesitate, backfire stall..etc it was a nightmare.

 

[Broke]

Re: What exactly does the hallsender do? (16vinqueens)

Some good reading discussing the Hall sender and the trigger wheel and so on and what not

http://www.parttrackers.com/library/1/117/129/ <-Hall info
Broke

 

[jonah]

Re: What exactly does the hallsender do? (Penguin)

Wow hey thanks everyone this is what a fourm is all about!! now i feel as though i know what i'm looking for...with some luck i'll get this thing back on the road...
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif

 

[jonah]

Re: What exactly does the hallsender do? (16vinqueens)

these are the same problems i'k haveing..