It is the stock hall sender that tells the ECU that the engine is
turning and then the ECU uses that info to pulse the injectors and
supply gas. This has nothing to do with the spark as that is only used
to fire the spark plugs. Putting in a points distributor means the
engine will never run even though the plugs are firing.

This is a clear example of the need for a Digitool. You may not have 12
volts at the ECU.

Mark

Kevin Hayden wrote:
>
> Hi There!! :-)
>
> So far I checked all vacuum lines and they are fine.  With the stock
> hall type distributor, I have no spark.  Is there a way to check it??
> Also, will a distributor from a Golf, Jetta, Rabbit, etc fit??  I have
> access to one of these, but no Vanagons!  I was told that the
> distributor tells the computer what to do, and I'm not getting any spark
> or gas into the cylinder.  I've tried to flood it and the plugs are
> still dry.  LIke I've said before (so you have a brief history), I was
> driving on to the on-ramp of the highway when my 1985 1.9 4 speed died
> and I couldn't get it restarted, so I had it towed home to work on it.
> I hooked the timing light up to each of the plug wires and no spark was
> present.  Next, I checked the power relay and fuel pump relay and they
> checked out fine too (but I don't know if there is a fuse for this??)!
> After this, I checked vacuum lines and bleeder valve on the metal
> T-fitting to check for presence of gas--these checked out alright.
>
> The only distributor that I could find, in a bone yard, was a point type
> distributor, so I dragged it home and hooked up the single wire to the
> trigger wire on the MSD 6A unit and sure enough, I have plenty of spark
> to the distributor cap and out but no gas to the plugs!!
>
> Now, I should mention that I disconnected a green wire that goes to the
> ignition module wiring harness that originally went to the negative side
> of the coil...do I need this wire hooked up to get gas??   Or, is the
> computer the culprit??
>
> ANY help saving what little sanity I have left my wife will really
> appreciate!!!
>
> Kevin