Cam position sensor doesn't have anything to do with ignition. It is for injector timing, and that's it.

I agree with you on the "quality" of replacement parts though... it is truly hit and miss, even from supposedly 'good' manufacturers...... If you still have issues, take a look at the crank position sensor. That's the one that has everything to do with timing.

 

The pcm needs inputs from both! Without the cam sensor input it wouldn't know what cylinder to fire. Crank needs to make one complete rotation before the pcm fires the coil.

 

PCM doesn't care which cylinder its firing the coil for. That is all dealt with mechanically. It DOES need to know which injector to fire though. It needs the cam sensor state to switch at least once, to clue it in where it's at in the firing order. You only need the crank sensor to get spark, but, you need both for the engine to actually run.

 

To expand on the venerable Mister You's response: The plug at the end of the wire the rotor is pointing at while the coil secondary voltage is great enough to bridge the gap is the one that gets the energy.