Crankshaft Position Sensor: Description and Operation

CRANKSHAFT POSITION (CKP) SENSOR

The crankshaft position (CKP) sensor is a 3-wire sensor based on the magneto resistive principle. A magneto resistive sensor uses 2 magnetic pickups between a permanent magnet. As an element such as a reluctor wheel passes the magnets the resulting change in the magnetic field is used by the sensor electronics to produce a digital output pulse. This system uses 2 sensors within the same housing for the V6 engine, and 2 separate sensors for the V8 engine. The powertrain control module (PCM) supplies each sensor a 12-volt reference, low reference, and a signal circuit. The signal circuit returns a digital ON/OFF pulse 24 times per crankshaft revolution.