Hall effect pickup

[spacejunkie]

Can someone please explain to me, in lay man's terms, exactly what is a "hall effect pickup" and how does it work? Also, what symptons would by NA 2.2 exhibit that would indicate that it is going bad? Just need to get educated.
Thanks
Bill in SLC

[GrimShadow]

hall effect, as i understand it, is a change in voltage in a conductor when a magnetic field is introduced so therefore a hall effect pickup is a sensor that "picks up" this change in voltage so when the distributor turns the hep knows where the engine is in its rotation and can tell the computer this information. symptoms are your car either will not start or it will stall.

Mike

[GLHS60]

If you are having stalling problems the tach will drop about a split second before the engine dies when the HEP is faulty.

Thanks
Randy