I just changed the syncro shaft and sensor for routine maintenance. Got it in, fired it up and ran fine for the rest of the day, then next mornin I'm comin in off the highway and my oil pressure drops to nothing so I immediately threw it in neutral, turned it off and pulled over. Now I have an undrivable vehicle parked outside. It still runs but the oil pressure won't even nudge from zero, this truck has never had oil pressure problems, the gauge has never strayed from the center the whole time that I've had this truck. I've already pulled the syncronizer back out, looked it over and everything, but it looks fine, is their anyway that it could have rounded off the oil pump shaft, I wasn't able to get a look at it so I don't know what condition it's in, I seem to not own a flashlight at the moment. It's a 97 ranger 3.0 by the way, any info on this would be better than great, I really don't know a whole lot, I got pretty shitty grades in school.

 

Its most likely the gauge which is no more than an idiot light as soon as it reads a preset PSI it jumps to the middle and stays there. Id bet your pump is still running but to be safe you can get a different sending unit and do the gauge mod listed on this forum to get a true pressure reading

 

In all honesty the little resistor on the back that makes it sit in the middle may have burned up causing it to no longer function either way now is a good time to try the mod maybe $20 in parts. Id check there first before you go tearing the pump apart its a lot of work to get to and the motor may have to come out to do it. Sorry for multiple posts.

 

I pulled the dipstick out and started it for a second and no oil spewed out so I know theirs no pressure in the crankcase.

 

I'm thinking I probably broke the intermediate shaft or something cause it was workin fine until I got on the highway.

 

I see your point but at idle it may not spew its a long tube but does the bottom of the shaft look worn like it was spinning against broken input shaft on the pump? The bad shaft bearings have been known to ruin the pump but usually its squealing like hell by the time it does that kind of damage hard to be sure without pulling the pump though. How many miles on it?

 

Yeah I looked it over, it kinda looks like maybe the intermediate shaft broke free inside but I really can't tell for sure, it still has a good hex shape to it still. I'm not really all that shire how the synchronizer goes on the shaft, theirs very little info about it, I've been combing the Internet all day and have only found pictures of it. It's very frustrating.

 

Yeah im not 100 percent sure myself i thought at one point i read it seats directly on the pump shaft. Ill see if i can find the post i read that in somewhere.

 

Do you happen to know how to get to the oil pump, I hear all I gotta do is pull the pan but I'm not sure, it's 2wd. I'm at wits end on this one, I was just doing regular maintenance on this truck and I'm scars I may have ruined it. I'm never buying a ford again.

 

Everywhere i read though is saying if the pump stops the engine will seize in seconds which leads e to believe its still running if only a little its very odd.

 

yeah you just drop the pan its right there at the back.

 

Yeah I've read that too, I did pull over immediately though, and that engine is in like new condition, I'm sure it might have done a little damage, good thing I have the habit of checking my gauges every three seconds lol , I might as well check that sending unit, do you happen to know where it is located? Oh yeah and theirs like 109k on it.

 

https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...1&d=1387608676

 

That's the bottom of the synchronizer where it connects to the oil pumps intermediate shaft, it doesn't look worn to me, it actually look better than the old one.

 

Ok I pulled it back out and snuck a peek at the intermediate shaft, and it looks fine, also saw the teeth on the camshaft and they too look good. So I geuss I will be dropping the synchronizer back in soon and looking for evidence elsewhere. One thing I notced though is that I can't seem to get it back in with out a little help from hold down bolt, is this normal, I can get it part of the way in but have to tighten the bolt to get it all the way down, does anyone know why this is?

 

I think theres a seal in there to hold in oil but i couldn't get mine to seat with the supplied tool so i ended up just lining it up to the way the old one came out and wiggling it down in but mine did seat all the way without the bolt maybe your issue is its not seating enough to fully drive the pump? I also don't recall the position of the sending unit I've never had to mess with mine. Im pretty sure its on the back of the block somewhere though.

 

Ok I'm ruling out the whole cps now. Everything seems fine on it theirs no broken or worn parts, I would jump to the oil pump but I've read around a lot and it seems like that never solves the problem, is their anyway to look for strong evidence of oil pump failure? I just got laid off, lost my house and now it looks like my trucks going too.... I can't afford to fix a part that ain't broken.

 

I fixed it !!! :) it was the sending unit, when I took the synchronizer out I accidentally unplugged the oil pressure sending unit. I feel so dumb I must have taken that damn thing out six times.

 

Glad you sorted it all out! sorry to hear it was something so small. Cars in general can be ridiculous sometimes.