How can u tell the cam sensor goes out - 2001 Ford Taurus

no car told ,maker ,model ,year nor engine there.
or post the VIN and we tell you what is under that hood.
the new one goes in just like the old one cam out.
surely it has not fallen out and is lost. no way.
yes some sensor for sure 2 wire need to be calibrated, with shims.
we have cars now from (SOHC./DOHC) 1990s up. with a CMP sensor
even 2 on V6 engines.

post VIN, and a photo of any kind of odd CAM CMP sensor or its tone wheel..

best to change cam and crank sensor as they both need to work together. if either one goes it confuse the ecu depending on how the sensor goes wrong. so will show cam sensor fault. but really its the crank.

when a crank sensor goes bad it can make the motor not run right or shut down this tells the ecm the postion of the crank and works in junction with the cam postion sensor as well as if the crank sensor has a crack in it it could over heat the sensor and shut down the motor. they are usually in expesive to purchase a crank sensor and fairly simple to change

IAT sensor is Intake Air Temperature sensor and goes in the air intake tubing. Don't know why it would tell you CAM sensor.

I agree it sounds like the magnet for the cam sensor, or a problem in the wiring harness.
I don't think the engine will run with the cam sensor disconnected since it needs that signal to set base timing. It can run without the crank sensor once the engine starts.
There is a slight chance the timing chain is getting loose and affecting cam timing too. You may be loosing plastic teeth on the cam gear.

If I were doing this on my own car, I would start with the cam and crank position sensors...if one of them is failing it will cause all kinds of mayhem in the engine... they need to be in sync to tell the engine where the crank is relative to the cams...for timing purposes. If the ECU can't tell where one of them is at a given moment, it may cause that "misfire" issue, but again, this is a starting point...Then there's the Throttle position sensor, the MAF sensor, the MAP sensor...the list just goes on...could be the fuel pump, the fuel pressure regulator, injectors...etc. However, has the car been throwing any "codes" at you? if so, list them here.

the cam shaft sensor is inside the distributor
the distributor is located at the front of the engine
any more questions ill be glad to help

I have a 2005 and the things that go bad on it is when the sensor goes off then for the intake then where the butterfly is on the intake gets dirty and needs to be cleaned it is the venturi gets dirty and needs to be cleaned and if it is a cam crank then it is the cam actuator that needs fixed you can tell if you take it off and there a screen missing it is a good sign that it needs be replaced and it is on the left side of the engine you need to understand that if it gives you a code that tells you that it is a sensor that is telling you that what the sensor looks after is bad not the sensor

your car wont start if it goes out.it control injectors timing.your cam sensor and crank sensor works together they control ignition timing and fuel injection timing.

The cam position sensor tells your computer when the #1piston is in position and your vehicle will not run without it as it would not know when to fire the cylinders. However, you could be having intermittent problems with it which means it is failing but hasn't broken completely yet. Since you have a code in for the sensor I would check the wiring and connection. If all that looks ok then I would replace the sensor. Better to replace it before it completely fails and strands you someplace.