So I caught a light chirp coming from my engine this morning and immediately knew my synchro was going. I've read so many posts about it already and was already expecting to replace it but now HAVE to.
So my question is, how bad are aftermarket synchs like Dorman compared to a more expensive Motorcraft part? If I'm too poor at the moment, is a cheap part better than a bad part as long as I'm prepared to replace it again?

 

3rd party is fine, I don't think time wise there is any difference, 80,000 miles and they need to be replaced again.

In the late 1990's Ford started using the 2 wire VR cam position sensors on some models, previous models used the 3 wire Hall effect sensors.
So make sure you know if you have a 2 wire or 3 wire Cam position sensor(just look at it) when you go to parts store or order one on line, they are not interchangeable.

 

Went and got me a Duralast Gold, dropped it in no issue, perfect.
I had a chirp at certain points, i was sure had to be an idler pulley, wasn't.
The cam sync looked fine, but take it out and chirp, chirp.
I heard a faint one that was different this morning but im still glad i decided not to put it off any longer.
Now for new coolant and oil before winter.

 

Good work :)

 

So i spoke too soon about my squeak anyways, the cam was definitely bad or going bad, but i still have it and tracked it to my bottom most pulley, the harmonic balancer i suppose.