I tried to swap out my synchro and position sensor but came across an issue that took hours to get nowhere.

I tightened the retaining bolt on the base of the synchro until I couldn't anymore (started off doing it until it was moderately tight but that did not work) and when I got up to the sensor to tighten it on, hand twisting those screws twisted everything, and it was like the bottom bolt was not even put in place.

Is there a second thing that keeps the assembly together that I am missing or forgetting? I want to get this working today as I have to go on a long drive and this is My only vehicle. If someone wants to call me as well, shoot me a pm! I just want my baby running again!

 

The synchro shaft also powers the oil pump so after you place the synchro onto its hole you need to rotate the crank, a 1/4 to 1/2 a turn and synchro will drop down more when oil pump shaft and synchro shaft line up, then turn crank back to TDC for CPS alignment.

If you have forced it down I would pull it back out and check for damage.

Starting up an engine without an oil pump would be very very bad for you.

The retaining bolt on the block just holds the housing, the shaft is held in place by the cam gear, and it is held in place by a pin thru the gear/shaft, have seen these pins missing or sheared off, so shaft would spin with only a little resistance from oil pump.

 

So I struggled long and hard with this, the synchro was flush against the engine and I put it in so many times I could line it up perfectly every time after a while and after a while, I created a help post, worked on it for another hour, and went to bed.

Woke up the next morning, checked my threads and had nothing so I went back to my truck. In the daylight and with a clear mind I realized the retaining bolt was not all the way down as the washer was loose and spinning. Took it apart again to tighten it more and after a while realized that even though I ordered a motorcraft synchro, it was not as thick between the surface where the washer held and the block and with my attempting to tighten it down I stripped both the screw and the block so I went to a family members shop, got my screw fixed, shortened covered in blue loctite, and added a washer, got a tap for my block, and came back to try again. Tapped the block, put in the bolt, tightened everything down, and got a purring truck with no codes thrown! (right after I took a 200 mile trip and have since put on about 3 or 4 hundred)

Thanks for your help!