http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...SUM%2DCSUM1475
Hall effect trigger, wow, now I'm confused (not really but isn't that interesting).

 

The "Hall effect trigger" is the same trigger wheel that you see in your stock distributor. The hall effect sensor picks up the change in magnetic flux as each vane of the trigger wheel comes into proximity . It looks like the summit units are just "premium" replacements for stock.

 

Hall-effect? I thought all the HEIs were reluctors.

 

 

I think the key to this distributor is the custom ignition module. It would be designed to use a Hall Effect sensor. As long as it handles the ECM side properly it will work.

RBob.

 

I'm thinkin its probably just mislabeled. They talk about rotor phasing and gap, tends to suggest a reluctor pickup. but hey, maybe they've got something new.

 

Ah. I am too used to Mopar elec. distributors. So I do not know which Summit actually uses on this dist.

 

Rotor phasing has to do with the alignment of the rotor to the cap terminal at the time of coil firing. In the days before EFI I would remove the vac can and phase the breaker plate to the cap/rotor. To do this I'd use a clear distributor cap. Once close fire up the engine and then use a timing light through the cap to observe the location for final adjustments. But I digress.

The 'gap' is also important with a Hall sensor. I don't see any reason why a Hall Effect sensor can't be used. Look at the MSD distributors, all Hall Effect?

One thing about using a Hall Effect sensor is that each and every tang of the distributor cam needs to be accurate. As each individual tang is responsible for a particular cylinder. The GM distributors with the reluctor setup isn't a single point of reference. It is more of an A/C generator where every point is used together to generate the signal.

But then again what good is all this accuracy if the distributor itself is being twisted and turned by the pressures of the cam twist, oil pump chatter, timing chain noise, and the crank snout that twists and turns with each cylinder firing.

Maybe there is a reason GM is now putting the crank sensor mid-ship on the crank. . .

RBob.