Maleficio

How about using one of those four-terminal connectors for the window switches and just re-terminate the wires with regular female/male spades? If there's enough slack in the wires, trim back the material and terminate, then plug up. You only need three slots, the connectors have four slots.

Radio Shack probably sells basic connectors.

Load with dialectric grease, wrap with vulcanizing tape, tie with spot-tie, then forget about it.

Mrmerlin

dont try to repair the hall sensor just replace it so its good for another 20 years

docmirror

A. Don't use dielectric grease.

B. He's not repairing the sensor, just the frazzled connector. I explained earlier that the connector bits are avail alone, or he could replace it, or he could simply replug it and seal with RTV.

Mine was thrashed the same way, and I just cleaned, connected and sealed it, and it's working fine for a long time. If it has to come apart again, it's a hassle.

Maleficio

Sounds like I need some training on the proper app for dialectric grease.

dr bob

Yep. Dielectric grease is an insulator. It has a high dielectric strength to inhibit arcing through the conductive metals that normally inhabit 'grease' as most folks know it. Only the high-voltage spark-plugs meet the need for that kind of strength in the car. If you feel the need to pack the plug connectors to keep water or dirt out of the connectors, dielectric grease is the weapon of chouce. It doesn't get used in connectors until after they are assembled, since a film of grease can easily prevent contact between connecting elements.

There's a similar warning for folks that want to use RTV on electrical stuff. Be Sure to use an RTV product reconmmended for electrical parts. Common RTV products use acetic acid as the curing agent, and that can lead to corrosion with the acid sealed in with the metal contact parts.

Tails

If your are going to repair the connector to the hall sensor use rubber welding tape which is self amalgimation tape. In other word is forms into a solid rubber after it has been wrapped. The connector collapsed year ago and I repaired it with rubber welding tape without removal, however, I removed the sensor this time and simply cut the rubber tape off with a sharp knife, no problems.

The spring steel piece that you held in your hand is the piece that fits into the hall sensor metal terminal support and the hall sensor wire fits into the spring clamp to hold the wire tail in line with the terminal.

The hall sensor can be removed in situ without too much difficulty (engineer), as I recently removed it and carried out some rountine maintenance on the sensor after I detected a fault via the diagnostic tool that I used.

After my repair to the terminal plug I completed a 2000 km trip and at the end I had no detectable faults in the LH, EZK, RDK or the PSD systems.

The hall sensor can be simply tested by connecting an analogue multi-meter to the terminals and when a metal object is passed through the magnetic field of the sensor (by hand) the voltage needle of the meter will flicker. IIRC the hall sensor produces around 5 volts DC and is a square wave form.

So you have 2 choices remove and repair or remove and replace.

Tails 1990 928S4 Auto

NoVector

Thanks all! - There’s enough room on the wires to the hall sensor now that the connector has completely disintegrated to put the spades into the harness connector. I’ll go to radio shack to see if they have the rubber tape—or something comparable. If not, I’ll use an RTV that’s okay for use on electric stuff. I bought some black RTV yesterday, but now looking at the package, it doesn’t say it’s sensor safe(?) But, the blue RTV silicone I already have does say “sensor safe”; which I assume means it would be okay for this project.

Believe me, I get it… I don’t take shortcuts on the GTS. Just trying to buy time until I do the intake and valve cover R/R--which seems like a perfect time to replace the hall sensor. But, I’d rather not jump into taking off the top of the engine until I know I have everything right on the front of the engine. And then there’s the constant travel…

Thanks again! / Bruce

WallyP

If the RTV smells like vinegar, don't use it...

docmirror

You have an excellent grasp of the project. Proceed.

auzivision

I’m pretty sure ‘sensor safe’ RTV doesn’t mean anything related to electrical connectors… it has to do with sealing chambers that also contain sensors (not 100%).

I am 100% positive that self bolding silicone tape is up to the task. Good from -60 to +500 F, air and water tights, insulates up to 400 volts. I’d get a roll of this stuff (or something similar); ~$5 at Harbor Frieght:



First rap each individual spade at the proper length to builld up spacing , then wrap the entire bundle including overlapping the harness connection. Then when you want to replace, just use a sharp razor to carefully cut this off.

My thinking is the RTV will get everywhere and you'll have a heck of a time removing when you do get around to replacing the hall sensor.

Maleficio

We use that sort of tape on F/A-18's. We call it vulcanizing tape, or chafe-tape, and there is nothing out there that works better for the job. We get it in huge rolls, and I sometimes "borrow" a roll here and there.

We wrap the harness in thin teflon tape, then the vulcanizing tape, then tie off the end of the wrap with a wax-impregnated string to keep the end of the wrap from unwinding because of oil and fuel corruption. Using a fresh razor blade, it's effortless to remove the tape. It's the best.