K-series camshaft senso - what does it do?

My 2004 SE petrol has as sensor fitted in the cam cover. It apparently reads the position of the exhaust camshaft. What does it use this signal for?
Neither my MGF nor my previous (older) Freelanders have this..

jonaf said:

My 2004 SE petrol has as sensor fitted in the cam cover. It apparently reads the position of the exhaust camshaft. What does it use this signal for?
Neither my MGF nor my previous (older) Freelanders have this..

Click to expand...

Iirc? It's used to provide cam timing for the sequential injection and DIS ignition system. The earlier K series engines used a non sequential injection system with a rotor arm and cap for ignition. It was introduced to make the engine Euro 3 compliant. The engine got a pre-cat and post-cat O2 sensor at the same time.
The VVC engine had a cam sensor from the start of production iirc.

The speed and position of the engine is detected by
the CKP sensor which is bolted to, and projects
through, the engine adapter plate adjacent to the
flywheel.

The CKP sensor is an inductive sensor containing a
coil and a permanent magnet which provides a
magnetic field. The sensor is situated such that an
air gap exists between it and the flywheel. Air gap
distance is critical for correct operation.
The flywheel incorporates a reluctor ring which
consists of 32 poles spaced at 10° intervals, with 4
missing poles at 0°,50°, 180° and 240°. The missing
poles tell the ECM when to operate the injectors.
When the flywheel rotates and a pole passes the
CKP sensor, it disturbs the magnetic field inducing a
voltage pulse in the coil. This pulse is transmitted to
the ECM.
By calculating the number of pulses that occur within
a given time, the ECM can determine the engine
speed. The output from the CKP sensor, when used
in conjunction with that from the Manifold Absolute
Pressure (MAP) sensor, provides idle stabilisation
and reference for injection timing.
If the CKP sensor fails, the engine will stop and
cannot be restarted.