Camshaft Position (CMP) Sensor
WARNING: This page does not describe the selected car, but rather 31 other vehicles, including the 2006 Mercury Mountaineer, 2006 Mercury Monterey, 2006 Mercury Montego, 2006 Mercury Milan, and 2006 Mercury Mariner. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.
The CMP sensor detects the position of the camshaft. The CMP sensor identifies when piston No. 1 is on its compression stroke. A signal is then sent to the PCM and used for synchronizing the sequential firing of the fuel injectors. Coil-on-plug (COP) ignition applications use the CMP signal to select the correct ignition coil to fire.
Vehicles with 2 CMP sensors are equipped with variable camshaft timing (VCT). They use the second sensor to identify the position of the camshaft on bank 2 as an input to the PCM.
There are 2 types of CMP sensors: the 3-pin connector Hall-effect type sensor and the 2-pin connector variable reluctance type sensor.