2 questions

ok all this is a stupid question but is the crank sensor the pointer to find tdc?
the reason i ask is the manual says to line up with pointer. i held my finger over the plug hole till no more compression and low and behold timing marks are by the crank sensor!

and 2nd how to tell if intake or exhaust stroke with out push rods in?

 

Yes to the first question, I took my crank sensor out, painted the tip white and put a thin black line on it to get it as close as possible.

Why not just slip the rockers and push rods back in place temporarily on #1 to find out if it's on compression ?
I am going to assume that the lower intake manifold is still in place and you can't see the position of the lifters and their position.

We don't know what state of disassembly your engine is in, why not wait until the valve train is back together and install the syncro, it's not that hard to put it back in, I did mine with a fully assembled engine and it took me about 5 minutes once I got things lined up. Having the tool is very helpful as well, I got mine in the relatively correct position so as not to distress the wires to the sensor.
I rotated the sensor until the tool fell into place.

Just to note, the syncro is installed when number 1 is on the compression stroke, not on intake or exhaust.

 

i have the head loose already, waiting on parts to come in the mail. i replaced the drivers side head already and discovered this is a virgin engine never touched from the factory! lol im just preping so when parts do come i can rock an roll on it.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5...lURjZfb2o3RXZZ

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5...h3d2FfX2hsNjNz


https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5...ZkYXVuX3NDMFl3

 

oh and had a brain fart lol couldnt think of compression

 

crap now that i look at the pics closer and think about it, it is just like doing a distributor! the body dosnt matter so much until ya get it fully seated, as long as ya get the center (aka rotor) in the correct position!

 

In your first picture, it's wrong, you have it on TDC, you want it on the "ZERO" line to set the cam syncro. ZERO in TDC, not the lettering.

I remember that photo of the syncro from another post.
I would get the tool just to be sure it's right.
You can get the plastic ones in a set of four which will work.
Because the syncro is so badly damaged you have no point of reference, so you may need the tool anyway.

Get the valve train back together with the lower intake manifold in place and set the syncro up then.
Even with the lower manifold in place it's easy to get at.

 

The tooth in the syncro doesn't always end up in the center and is not always correct there.
The tool for my 99 (which is different from yours) put the tooth on the syncro, "not in the center".
It was a few degrees from the centre.

 

Mine is the "Blue" one.
Yours will be either yellow or grey.
Either one, as you can see, it will put the "pick-up" not in the centre as so may posts will have you believe.
The expensive metal OTC tools are marked by engine displacement and year.

You can get the coloured plastic ones at Amazon and they are supposed to come with a chart to tell you which is the correct one for a given application.

And yes, it's just like putting a distributor in place, you get it close to the correct position and use the tool to get it exactly where it's supposed to be by simply rotating the syncro.
In this case the tooth in the syncro that passes on front of the sensor is just like the rotor in any distributor.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Richporter-Te...ZJQK8D2VJEJRFW

 

Also, don't throw away you old synchronizer, you can tear it apart so you can use the end of it in a power drill to prime the engine oil before start up.
You will have to tap out the roll pin and remove the gear.
The idea is to have only the shaft left to fit in the hand drill to spin the oil pump.

 

thank you jeff you have given me some ideas! and yes i had it on the letters instead of "0"
i wont pime it as i dont want so send crud through the system

the syncro i am gettin has the tool with it, and from what i gathered from the pics on the web the center might be different from the one i had
the cheapest thing im doing is run a gallon of vinegar in the radiator after i get her back together! lol

 

Here's the OTC tool, your synchronizer looks like the half moon one.

https://www.otctools.com/products/fo...chronizer-tool

OTC 6472 Ford Camshaft Synchronizer Tool 3 0 4 0 '95 '98 | eBay

https://www.amazon.com/OTC-6472-Cams...5ETHMQ0KYKBPYB

There's a mis-print on Amazon _ we have 30 and 40 litre engines !!!

 

You can't tell without knowing Cam position, so you will need to watch lifters or push rod sitting on lifter for #1 valves to tell.
Rotate crank/engine in its normal direction of travel, #1 intake lifter/pushrod will start to rise up just after the WRONG TDC passes the pointer, the next time TDC comes around will be the CORRECT TDC

 

There we go, thanks Ron.

 

thank you ron!

 

who wants to make a sticky of this?

 

got the new one in and i can tell it wont last long as i couldn't afford more than $50 for it. a lot more sloppy than the one i pulled out!

 

got new pics

top dead center, notice the blue dot

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5...1pRGs1NUxKUWZv

 

with the tool on it

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5...I5dFYzN2l2TEtN

 

ya can see its not inline with anything

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5...RlTFFNOHJEcDVZ

 

the final pic

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5...czMXEyUVdfYUR3

 

Yeah, when using the tool it doesn't line up in the centre. All those posts on other forums that tell you to put it in the centre are wrong.

Mine was out more then 90 degrees, the doofus who put mine in knew absolutely nothing where the correct position was.
My truck ran, but poorly, I'm sure the computer was doing its best to compensate though.

 

lol there is a big learning curve on these 3.0

 

mine apears to be one tooth off of center line of sensor

 

Allot of people just have no clue as to what they're doing and have no understanding of things.

It ran well enough and the old guy who had it before me just used it for short city driving and probably never really noticed.

When it was out on the highway it had no power, pinged like a bugger and stalled easily if I wasn't very carful with the clutch.
Probably explained why the clutch was slipping _ the previous owner rode it allot I'm sure because of the syncro misalignment problem _ that and the MAF sensor was really dirty.