Hey guys,

I'm not much of a poster around here but I do have an issue I'd like some input on. Recently my cam syncro was replaced because of the dreaded sqeaking. No problem there, although the day after it was replaced the Check Engine light came on and gave a cam sensor error. The timing was off a little too, so my mechanic fixed the timing (it was off by a tooth) and cleared the error. The timing seems to be fixed, no backfiring or misfiring anymore and it seems to run fine, however the Check Engine light came back on the next day again. We used a Doorman syncro and sensor, so we though the sensor was bad. We replaced the sensor with a Motorcraft yesterday and the Check Engine light is still coming on with the same cam sensor error.

Not sure how to proceed or what any of your thoughts are. I would hate to dump $400 in a Motorcraft syncro just for the light to come back on again especially since the intake has to come off.

Can anybody shed some light on what the possible problem is?? Could the timing still be an issue even though its running fine? I would hate to have a major mechanical failure driving down the road with no warning. I also can't imagine the syncro is the cause of the problem unless Ford is just nuts about tolerances and the Doorman isn't cutting it.

EDIT: I've had the truck almost 6 years and put 70k miles on it in that time (it has 113k now). Never has the Check Engine like been on until now and the only prior issue was the squeaking. I normally do my own work on it but I didn't want to dive into removing the whole upper intake. I am very familiar with how my truck feels and runs/should run.

Any input is GREATLY appreciated!!!

Matt

 

The tech saying the timing was slightly off and the synchro being one tooth off makes me think he did not use the proper alignment tool, or any alignment tool at all when installing it. The Dorman synchro and sensor are not known for their quality, but they should work fine for the time being.

I would set the motor to top dead center and make sure the alignment tool can be set on top of the synchro, indicating it is timed correctly. If it is timed correctly, move the crank back and forth slightly to watch when the synchro starts to move and see if the timing chain has excessive slack.

The Motorcraft synchro is $206.38

 

Thanks for the info, he did use the tool but he had also never replaced on of these before so I don't know if it was done right or not. I'll let him know about the timing chain test too.

Do you have a link where I can buy the Motorcraft syncro for that price? He was only able to find it for about $375.