I have a question probably for Ron D
my 97 ranger has 161,000 miles on a 3.0 engine. I have been concerned about wear in my cam synchro shaft. I have found a good mechanic who has experience on that engine and has offered to check my shaft wear
I have purchased a new cam synchronizer from Advance Auto. NOS Carquest Brand.
my question is how much wear in the shaft is allowable I’m thinking 1 to 3 thousandths maybe. And also since I have the new synchronizer should I just have the guy put it in and forget about it?
i’ll reply all will be appreciated thanks in advance, Larry

 

If it's the original synchro, that's a miracle it's lasted this long. My original went out at 50k, and then the Motorcraft replacement I put in lasted 100k.
Replacing it is always a safe bet, but the aftermarket versions used to have a pretty bad reputation. In time they may have fixed those issues because I rarely hear about it now.

 

I too have heard the stories about aftermarket parts, however, I’ve never had a problem with Carquest parts.
thanks for the advice
Larry

 

I'm running the shelf brand cam sync from Autozone currently because I'm too lazy to put the Motorcraft one in, and it's been reliable thus far. Even the Motorcraft one only lasted 100k, but most people wouldn't have kept the vehicle that long to figure that out. lol.

I think most of the aftermarket issues with cam syncs have been resolved at this point.

 

I am going to submerge the new one in about a quart of all so that the part that goes in the engine is submerged. Then I will put it in a plastic bag and carry to my mechanic.I used to do all this work myself but I got old and weak so I have to farm it out now. I want this little Ranger truck to last the rest of my life...
Larry

 

+1 ^^^

The 3.0l Vulcan Cam synchro tower bushings would wear out, 80-100k was expected, but the odd thing was that the 3.0l distributor bushing(1991-1994) didn't wear out, same bushing setup

As far as I know there is no wear test, although I am sure you could test it and compare to new
Its more of a general maintenance thing to replace it at over 80k or if it starts to squeal, lol

 

All this talk about it made me think. What symptoms besides the squeal does a worn out or failing unit produce? What about drivability issues? I ask because my 2003 3.0 Automatic had 245K miles and has the original part. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

 

If the sensor on top has a problem then it will cause rough running and Cam sensor codes, but synchro can still be OK

 

RonD, Thanks but I am not experiencing either so I guess drive merrily down the road for now

 

Well, I don’t have any symptoms either at 160,000 miles, however, I have read on this forum and mechanics have told me that if that thing seizes up at high speed and jumps time it can literally destroy your engine. I bought a new old stock Car Quest part for $42 with my Advance discount. The mechanic is going to put it in for $40. He said he had a Mustang with that synchronizer in it and it blew up on him. I am good with wrenches but I can’t hardly get back there to it because I’m so old and stiff. Also because it is such a critical part I don’t want to fool with it I want someone who’s done it before. It’s my understanding that the thing is just half of an old Ford distributor. I used to work at a tuneup shop 50 years ago (in the 292 & 312 Y-block days) and the only problem I saw was the distributor would freeze up in the block and you couldn’t hardly get them out to run on the Sun Distributer Machine. Never had one freeze up inside the distributor it’s self. The Mustang 4.0 used that same synchro. Has anyone on here ever had one seize?
Larry

 

I've only seen mention of it a few times, and the main issue seemed to be that the single wall roll pin on the early aftermarket models would shear off, which caused the cam gear to spin freely on the synchro shaft. This meant the synchro shaft wasn't turning, and neither was the oil pump.

The other issue was when the bearings got so bad that the synchro shaft lifted out of the bore and hit the cam sensor, tearing it all to shreds and usually seizing the shaft. This also resulted in no oil pressure, which in turn kills an engine.

 

All very good reasons to change that sucker out...
Larr

 

Yes, the synchro IS the oil pump drive
And no oil pump when running finishes off any engine in about 20-30 seconds

I miss the days when there was an oil pressure LIGHT, an idiot light, instead of a gauge or have BOTH if you want, but I do miss the light
No one really watches an oil pressure gauge all the time, a light coming on however grabs your attention right away

But sometimes a light is not enough...................
Years ago my wife went to the airport to pick up her parents
On her way back a truck in front of her dropped something out of the back and she couldn't avoid it and heard it hit something under the car
But all seemed OK so she drove on
Well a mile or 2 later the OIL PRESSURE light came on, big RED Light, and I have told her red light means BAD, and to pull over and call me
She wanted to get her parents home so she drove on and less than a mile later the engine stopped, so she had to pull over, lol

Yes, if you hadn't guessed, the thing that she ran over put a hole in the oil pan and the oil all drained out and engine seized up, a write off

Now when I asked why she didn't pull over when the BIG RED LIGHT CAME ON????
She said, "well if it was THAT IMPORTANT then there should have been a bell too, don't ya think, DUH"

Can argue with logic like that, well I dare you to, double dare, lol

I do miss the oil light
But some models do have a "check gauge light", not sure it monitors oil gauge though..............and would ya believe it NO BELL YET!!!

 

^ Funny! Yes

 

Alright, so I am not sure if I jinxed myself or not but here is what I am experiencing within the last 2 days. I had to make a 260 mile round trip and at speeds of over 85 most of the way. On the return trip once I got off the freeway I noticed the truck was not idling smoothly and felt the vibration thru the entire chassis, thru the seat. I looked at the tach and it was steady at about 750 rpm and the vibration continued even when I turned off the AC, it did not make a difference. Once the light turned green and I got going again the truck ran fine, it accelerated with no issues or hesitations.

So far this has come up off and on, it idles very smooth cold but once it warms up the ruff idles/vibration returns off and on, not all the time. I do not have any warning lights on, no check engine or service engine soon light on or anything. I did open the hood and looked for loose wires, spark plug wires or vacuum lines but nothing in detail and could not see anything out of place

So is what I am describing a sign of a failing Cam Synchronizer?

 

Symptoms of a bad or failing camshaftposition sensor

• Vehicle does not drive like it used to. If your vehicle idles roughly, stalls frequently, has a drop in engine power, stumbles frequently, has reduced gas mileage, or accelerates slowly, these are all signs your camshaft position sensorcould be failing. ...

 

I'm overly paranoid and besides the oil pressure light, I added a analog oil gauge:







Of course, easily done while the engine is out of the truck.

 

I’ve been thinking about adding gauges myself tell me, what does your oil pressure run at speed and hot idle?
also what motor do you have?

Thanks, Larry

 

How did you wire your oil pressure light?

Larry

 

2004 Mazda B3000 DS | 3.0L Engine | 166K Miles

Oil pressure reading is 40 psi at 2,500 rpms and 10 psi at idle with engine hot.

I wired the gauge lights to the dome light adjustor switch:

 

I might of misunderstood your question, the dash "oil pressure light" was factory installed.

 

I thought you meant you had added an oil pressure light that came on if you lost oil pressure.
been thinking about putting a big tach shift light to my oil pressure gauge that would get my attention quick nobody sits there and watches the little oil pressure gauge all day long. It is either oil pressure or no oil pressure. It is a switch not gauge...

Larry

 

I know we have discussed this before but I’m getting ready to make a final decisions and actually do something. RonD seems to be of the opinion that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
others have stated that replacing the cam synchronizer is more of a maintenance thingy that generally they only last about 100,000 miles. Well, I have 160,000 miles on my 97 XLT 3.0 Auto. The truck is in excellent condition new tranny new paint bucket seats & console lots of new parts everything works as it supposed to just finished installing a nice double din stereo, backup camera and Kicker speakers. The lady that owned it before seems to have taken good care of it I have invoices for well over $7000 during the eight years she owned owned it. I didn’t see invoices for any oil changes or for a cam sync but just about everything else got replaced. The shop she used (Midas Muffler, Lawrenceville, GA) really took advantage of her. So, I don’t know if the Cam Synchronizer has ever been replaced or not. My question is and I’m hoping to get a a lot of opinions should I just go ahead and have the new Carquest Cam Synchronizer that I have installed or as Ron says “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. There would be no question if I could be assured that the one that is currently in the truck would give me some warning before it goes out but what if that roll pen breaks and I lose my oil pump at at 70 miles an hour? Thanks in advance and all replies will be appreciated,
Larry

 

I have the original at 255K miles, if this helps you decide.

 

The cam synchronizer will start chirping when its wearing out. I squirted oil into the synchronizer to quiet it down until I had time to replace it.

I initially replaced it with an aftermarket one and a few months later it started chirping again. I ended up purchasing a Motorcraft one and no problems since.