Camshaft Position Sensor

« Back to Glossary

📖 YOUCANIC Automotive Glossary

The camshaft position sensor (CMP) monitors camshaft rotation to determine which cylinder is on compression, enabling sequential fuel injection. The ECU uses CMP with CKP signals to synchronize injection firing order. On engines with VVT, the CMP is critical because the ECU constantly compares expected vs. actual camshaft position for cam phaser control.

Symptoms: hard starting, rough idle, misfires, stalling. DTCs: P0340 (Circuit Malfunction), P0341 (Range/Performance), P0016-P0019 (Crankshaft/Camshaft Correlation — may indicate jumped timing chain rather than sensor failure). Check the connector for oil contamination — a very common cause of intermittent failures is oil leaking from valve cover gasket failures down the harness into the connector.

Synonyms:
CMP Sensor, Cam Sensor
« Back to Glossary