What part of the car does the crankshaft sensor relate to? The transmission, engine, or alternator? Because the sensor malfunctioned and was replaced after my car popup a CEL.

 

Engine.

It's a bit of a misnomer on this ca because it's actually the eccentric shaft sensor, but they use the same codes as piston engines so that's what it gets called. It tells the computer where the engine is in the rotation cycle so it knows when to fire spark plugs and fuel injectors.

 

It would be a computerized version of the "points and ignition rotor"

It counts the long and short pulses from the wheel, to figure out where the ignition should be.

S

 

Ahh, thank you guys for the information, it's very helpful. I'll remember to call it an eccentric shaft in the future.

My car only has a few thousand miles on it. I did my first oil change this past weekend. I used Mobil 1 5W20. When I was done with the oil change, I turned on the car to circulate the oil without looking at the dash and turned it off after a few minutes without looking at the dash again. Later that night, I was gonna go cruising. I immediately noticed the CEL. I turned the car on and off a few times, but it didn't go away. Didn't take it out that night. So the next day I tried to start it up, and the CEL was still there.

So, the question is, was it a little too early to start putting in synthetic oil in my car? Which may have caused the ignition and fuel injectors to be thrown off causing the sensor to malfunction.

 

No, the sensor is outside the engine (just ahead of the spark plugs) so could not be affected by oil, totally unrelated.

S

 

Ahh, thanks for clearing it up!