Cam sensor ??

hi guys.

Can someone please explain to me what the cam sensor is exactly for and what can happen to a car if its faulty. I just had mine replaced at the mechanics suggestion because my taurus would stall (not all the time) when in gear, or sometimes when driving, and for the most part once fully warmed up i guess would dissapear. And now to my dissapointment is still happening.

any help comments would be greatly appreciated...

The cam sensor tells the computer when the number one piston is at top dead center, so it can start the firing order. When's the last time you got just a general tune up? Maybe a set of plugs and wires would help your situation out. It's sometimes the little things that make a big problem. Good luck

Ok, this is what I know.... The cam sensors in Tauruses (particularly the 3.0L 2-valve) is actually a synchronizer that takes place of the old distributor and is used for fuel injector timing more than anything and also drives the oil pump. The crank sensor is used for spark timing since they have coil packs instead of coil on plug ignition. The reason I know this is because I fought with one for many hours and as many times as it was out-of-time, it ran fine. Now, the 3.0L DOHC uses the cam sensor for #1 TDC identification as well as injector timing. The older Tauruses that still had distributors didn't have either crankshaft or cam sensors and used a TFI ignition module for spark timing and were fairly notorious for failing (causing stalling and no-start). The TFI module sent a PIP (profile ignition pickup) signal to the PCM which used that to gang-fire the injectors (1,3,5 all at once, then 2,4,6 on the second round) Hope this helps.