New Ranger owner with a host of issues. The truck was slammed when i bought it so i had to return it to original suspension components. Waiting on shocks to come in. The transmission was full of motor oil. Im fairly certain either the pilot bearing or slave/master are bad. I need to replace the u joints. In the process of all this, i would like to make sure that the motor doesnt explode on me. What is the deal with the cam drive on the distributor trucks? I know its an issue on the later motors but what about on my 94? And if it is, where do i find the part? Im seeing conflicting part names and actual parts when i search. Also when I drop the trans, aside from clutch, slave/master and pilot bearing, what else should i replace while im in there?

 

Welcome to the forum

Ranger 3.0l used a distributor from 1991 thru 1994, in 1995 and up they were distributorless, used coil pack and Crank Sensor for spark

So your 1994 has a distributor driven by the cam shaft, so no need of a cam sensor or synchronizer

On most engines the distributor is also the oil pump drive, same for the 1994 3.0l
Distributor shaft has a gear that's driven by a cam shaft gear, this turns the rotor under the spark plug wire cap
At the bottom end of this distributor shaft is the oil pump drive shaft it runs down into the lower engine area to the oil pump and spins the pump when engine is running

This part doesn't concern your 1994 3.0l, just FYI
In 1995 the distributor was replace with a synchronizer to drive the oil pump, and on its top was a cam sensor to replace the timing signal of a distributor for better sequential fuel injection timing

 

Ok cool, thank you. I knew that mine was the last year of distributor but couldnt tell from what I read whether or not the actual shaft was an issue as well, or if it was just the sensor. Ive never gone this far into mechanic-ing, mostly just smaller jobs like throttle body cleaning, changing fluids, gaskets etc. This year has me delving deeper into things like valve seal replacement on my cougar, and now a whole bunch of stuff on this ranger. Im assuming this truck was not treated well by one or more of its previous owners and now im left to deal with the repercussions lol. Im dreading having to drop the trans to do all the clutch and hydraulic stuff... from what Ive read its kind of a nightmare. But Im fertainly not paying a mechanic 1500 to do it when I o ly paid 2300 for the truck.