A rotor is provided such that the rotor rotates with a crank shaft of an engine. A plurality of detection sections are formed on a rotor periphery at equal angle intervals. A particular detection section is used for detection of a reference crank angle. A pickup is provided near the rotor periphery. A crank angle detecting apparatus receives pulse signals from the pickup, and sequentially detects a detection section time. The detection section time is a time interval from the front end to the rear end of the detection section. The crank angle detecting apparatus also sequentially detects a time between each two adjacent detection sections (detection section distance time), which is a time from the rear end of one detection section to the front end of the next detection section. A reference angle detection signal, which indicates detection of the detection section dedicated for the reference angle, is generated when at least two ratio conditions are met. These ratio conditions are decided based on the detection section time and the detection section distance time.