Rogers advise is spot on... both connector ends tend to get brittle. Removing the sensor is a chore but worthwhile. I removed mine and cleaned it gently with a toothbrush and replaced both connectors.

 

Most of my connectors on my 88 were gone or broke when I removed them. Injectors, hall sensor, both knock sensors, idle air valve, crank position sensor. I have elected to replace most of the sensors while I am overhauling the intake, fuel and vacuum systems.

 

Personally I replace (or have replaced) everything under the intake manifold. Our cars (32v) are 20 to 30 years old and the effect of heat cycling and degradation from the various sources is inevitable. Degradation is mostly age related irrespective of the mileage. 10 years ago my GTS with 60k miles had a refresh and all the above were toast in one way or another.

Why would you ever contemplate doing an intake manifold refresh for the first time in 20 to 30 years and not replace the key parts - knock sensors, ISV, TPS, Flappy Actuator, rubber hoses and vac lines!! Possible argument for the ISV because they clean up well and apart from the alternative mostly NLA (Bosch) unless you want to pay Porsche prices 8>(.

I have one thought - I do not want to go in there again for another 20 to 30 years.

Hall sensor and CPS are accessible without removing the manifold - however I change them anyway.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

I've got the intake and several other things out now, and I was under the impression that the Hall sensor plugged into the same harness as the CPS, TPS, and MAF. But, it doesn't. So, where the hell is it? I can't tell from the pics I've seen.

 

Nevermind. I think I found it from one of Ed's pics in 2010. He didn't know what it was at first and asked with a pic.

Louis

 

I swapped out the connector on Mark's hall sensor this morning- couple of pics for posterity.

Starting point: Old 'n busted. Note the red wire in the pin #1 position, to the left as you view the single 'key' on this face of the 3-pin connector:







Busting the old connector with some dykes and pliers:




Turns out the original pins are somewhat different from the (correct) pins Roger supplies with his connector kit, the old ones are not 'keyed' to latch into the new housing. So the old pins need to be cut off and replaced.

Also note the factory's heatshrink insulation on the center pin, as the three connectors will be close in the housing.




I have to confess I have no idea what you call these crimper jaws (perhaps one of the electron wranglers can chime in), but this is the type needed to crimp the collar on the insulation and on the wire simultaneously, and end up with the correct 'shape' that'll fit into the housing.



New pins crimped on (I probably overcrimped/'bananaed' them a bit, but they fit in the housing ok), with new heatshrink on the middle pin:



Pinout:



The boot is easily pushed over the neck of the housing, and voila:




All in ~30 minutes with a few simple hand tools.

 

No dielectric grease. That's for use ithe spark plug boots only. In these small-signal sensors, the grease is an insulator. The connectors are o-ringed already, so if you want you can add a little o-ring lubricant there, but none on the pins.

 

And thanks for the photo-lesson Rob! I guess I need to do a casual refurb on the old sensor sitting in my used-spares bin. I need one of those crimpers too, obviously. Can't have too many tools, right?

 

Nice work Rob and no job could be started or completed without DC

 

Memories..... Nice photos. I solder in my ends and use a hand crimper.... I like the end result you show though

 

Have a question regarding this procedure. I have a set of these plugs. The plug on the sensor is toast but the plug on the engine is fine. If I replace the sensor plug do I need to do the other one? Was hoping to just do the broken one but see the pins are different. Don't know if they'll match up.

Thanks
Mike

 

Hmmm...I guess there's no chance of doing the plug swap w/o removing the Hall sender.