A break in one of the 3 wires that go to the Hall sender plug is really common - they get really
dried out and brittle. And it will certainly prevent your van from starting - just yesterday,
after putting the engine back in my syncro, it wouldn't start. I had noticed that those wires
didn't look good when I was taking things apart, so it's the 1st thing I checked, and sure
enough the red one was broken.
I've had problems with all of my Van's Hall senders at some point - they seem to last about 200k
or so miles, when they start getting flaky and soon after- van won't start.
But if your distributor is new, then presumably so is the sender...I'd closely inspect that
connector, esp. inside the boot.
David

> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Mon, 8 Apr 2013 09:58:59 -0400 From:    john schaper <tahljohn@GMX.COM> Subject:
> What's a Hall sender do?
>
> Still trying to diagnose and fix my intermittent start (latest theory is that it is do to dew
> point). Checked all grounds; saw some cracked wires to the distributor, spliced and repaired,
> vacuum lines connected, getting fuel, AFM is rebuilt, connections to fuel injection is good,
> coil is new, distributor is 2 years new as are spark plug wires. Swapped out a known good ECU
> with no effect. Now it won't start at all--just grinds with the engine turning. Now, after my
> recent repair fixes, it won't start and its 80 degrees! Reading the list and Bentley, the one
> item I haven't replaced or diagnosed is the Halls sender, generator or whatever is in the
> distributor. What does this thing do and could it be the problem?

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David Hardy
Planetmind Internetworks
Nedernet, Inc