Camshaft Position Sensor: Description and Operation

Camshaft Position
A camshaft position sensor is mounted at the rear of each cylinder head on the intake side and each provides four signals every 720 degrees of crankshaft rotation. The combination of signals from both sensors (normally only Bank 1 sensor is used in conjunction with the crankshaft sensor for normal fuelling and ignition functions) can indicate to the ECM when a particular piston is approaching TDC on the compression stroke.

On supercharged engines, one sensor is mounted at the rear of Bank 1 cylinder head on the intake side and provides one signal every 720 degrees of crankshaft rotation. The signal, in conjunction with the signals from the crankshaft position sensor, indicates to the ECM that the piston of cylinder 1A is approaching TDC on the compression stroke.

Camshaft Sensor
The camshaft sensor is a variable reluctance sensor that provides an input to the ECM of intake camshaft position.

On normally aspirated engines, a camshaft position sensor is mounted at the rear of each cylinder head on the intake side and is triggered by a four toothed sensing ring, to provides four signals every 720 degrees of crankshaft rotation. The combination of signals from both sensors can indicate to the ECM when a particular piston is approaching TDC on the compression stroke, should it need to e.g. if a fault occurred with the crankshaft position sensor. However, during normal operation, only Bank 1 sensor is used in conjunction with the crankshaft sensor for normal fueling and ignition functions.

On supercharged engines, one camshaft sensor is installed to the rear of Bank 2 cylinder head and is triggered by a single toothed sensing ring installed to the rear of the intake camshaft.