3.0 Ford V6 cam synchronizer tools

[D60]

I'm needing to replace the synchronizer in an '03 Ranger 3.0.

I've not done this before and I understand the alignment tool is technically optional, but I like tools.....

I found RA has the Wai Global kit (part # DSTCAMKIT) of five tools for $4.53 which seems stupid cheap and includes at least one more tool than any other kit I've seen.

Less my 5% code and plus shipping I had the kit to my door for $9.95...albeit 1.5 weeks later with USPS we'll-punish-you-for-being-a-cheapskate "First Class" (a misnomer if ever there was one)

It comes in a huge box and had white stickers obviously trying to hide something (I assumed it involved Putin 'cause you can blame that guy for anything).

A little M18 heat gun action removed the redaction stickers and the kit appears to also be marketed as an Ultima TK01, which appears to presently be ~$44 on O'Reilly's site.

Anyway these fancy plastic tools (sarcasm) are fairly application specific but if you're a Cologne guy.....a pretty good value for ~$10 right now

These stickers are obviously safe and effective, nothing to see here:

Ultima branding:

Somebody alert the GND, too many trees were used here for 5 plastic discs:

 

[Boomer]

Wow! California says you will probably die of cancer if you use those!!! Probably contain plasticizers and man made color additives! Oh, the horror.

I get so sick of seeing those CA Cancer labels on almost half the stuff I see at Lowes or Home Depot or Ace Hardware. It's just crying wolf. Nobody pays a **** bit of attention to it anymore.

 

[nobb]

I remember digging into this deeply when I did mine. It's been super frustrating because I have a check engine light that comes on intermittently but I've never been able to fix it completely despite trying everything with the camshaft synchronizer AND both cam/crank sensors.

Note to NEVER buy an aftermarket synchronizer. I started with an aftermarket Spectra unit where the bore mounted super tight to the engine and it was REALLY difficult to remove. Some Dorman units are also known to have shafts that fail prematurely. This Spectra unit came with the blue tool. The blue tool installs in a way that when your crank is at TDC, the tab on the sensor is offset from the center slightly which was strange.

I was cross referencing the tool and installation procedures, some of which seem to reference having the synchronizer notch centered... corresponding to the black tool. IMO, you don't really need the tool in this case because you can just install the synchronizer and center it by eye once the synchronizer is pushed in.

I also looked at the OTC tool kit's manual and it's really hard to make out in their picture if their recommended tool has the notch centered, or if it's offset for the Ford 3.0 application: https://www.otctools.com/products/ford-camshaft-sensor-synchronizer-tool-0

I really couldn't find a definitive source on which mounting configuration is correct. I tried BOTH centered and slightly offset configurations and it didn't really seem to make a difference. I believe the ECU can self compensate slightly. Either way, I could not get rid of my intermittent check engine light but the engine runs perfectly fine regardless. I had to choose, I would be inclined to believe the blue tool with the slight offset is the correct one since it was included in the Spectra kit (despite their synchronizer itself being made poorly).

 

[D60]

@nobb yeah I bought the Motorcraft part from Quirk on ebay (Quirk's a great place for OEM stuff) and it doesn't come with the tool, so I wanted something.

I too have/had some confusion on blue or black because both fit. The pics on RA suggest those that do include a tool include the black, but I've come to believe it's more of a stock photo because I've now seen you and one other (here on BITOG) say they got the blue with an aftermarket synchronizer.

I also found a thread on a different forum where guys (who struck me as credible) were saying the blue is correct and sometimes aftermarket synchronizers include black because... aftermarket.

Black puts it here:

Blue puts it here:

 

[D60]

@nobb it was your thread!!

Ford 3.0 Camshaft Position Sensor Alignment Help

Hi guys, I'm kind of confused on this one as I've scoured the internet and there seems to be conflicting information. The official recommendation is to use the synchronizer alignment tool which is a small plastic cap, but I discovered there's two styles. There's both a blue (metal notch on the...

bobistheoilguy.com

I saw you never really had a resolution there and apparently still haven't based upon your results

 

[nobb]

Yea it was super frustrating to figure out and really annoying that I get this intermittent check engine light for P0340 camshaft position sensor circuit malfunction. I've replaced the synchronizer and sensor with Motorcraft OE, as well as experimented with both positions. No luck. Maybe my problem is a wiring fault somewhere, who knows....I'm completely out of ideas.

Did you ever make note of the position before pulling the synchronizer? That would've been the best way to verify.

 

[D60]

Yea it was super frustrating to figure out and really annoying that I get this intermittent check engine light for P0340 camshaft position sensor circuit malfunction. I've replaced the synchronizer and sensor with Motorcraft OE, as well as experimented with both positions. No luck. Maybe my problem is a wiring fault somewhere, who knows....I'm completely out of ideas.

Did you ever make note of the position before pulling the synchronizer? That would've been the best way to verify.

See that's what I'm thinking....as I understand it if I get #1 to TDC on compression and the balancer mark lines up....one of the two colors should slide into place....?

 

[nobb]

See that's what I'm thinking....as I understand it if I get #1 to TDC on compression and the balancer mark lines up....one of the two colors should slide into place..

Yup. Getting to TDC was also frustrating from the various online sources. On the crank pulley, I pointed the crankshaft sensor to tooth #6. Tooth #5 lines up with the 0 degree mark on the harmonic balancer, which also points to the reference mark on the timing cover. Tooth # is the tooth on the left relative to the missing tooth position on the crank pulley.

Let me know if that's also the same TDC you got?

 

[D60]

Yup. Getting to TDC was also frustrating from the various online sources. On the crank pulley, I pointed the crankshaft sensor to tooth #6. Tooth #5 lines up with the 0 degree mark on the harmonic balancer, which also points to the reference mark on the timing cover. Tooth # is the tooth on the left relative to the missing tooth position on the crank pulley.

Let me know if that's also the same TDC you got?

You probably saw this one but he says you want the first tooth after the gap lined up w timing cover mark?

 

[nobb]

You probably saw this one but he says you want the first tooth after the gap lined up w timing cover mark?

Didn't see that one, I was dealing with this a year ago. I don't know if I agree with him, was a little difficult following him with regards to finding TDC. There's various sources that illustrate how to position the harmonic balancer to correspond to TDC. What I stated with the tooth #'s in my previous post and how I lined things up while installing the synchronizer with the tool, corresponds to the diagram in the first post here (cover+balancer.jpg):

Harmonic Balancer Marks - Actual TDC Confirmation

Hoping the right knowledgeable savior can help me with my issue. Have a 1998 3.0L Ranger. At 235k installed reman’d ATK / Gearhead Engines and updated to the newer 2003-2008 3.0L long block, it’s bored +1.0mm so ~3.07L actual. Used all original manifolds, have driven it 5k miles so far, but...

www.therangerstation.com

In the video, I did like how he explained the various tools, which I didn't see from other youtube videos. But what was strange is that he claims his tool kit suggested blue vs black depending on the year of Ford Ranger (even with the same 3.0 engine). Wish he went into more detail with that because I don't think all kits say that. I also looked at the official Ford service manual for this truck and it was not clear there either.

BUT I really do think the ECU compensates slightly and I'm not entirely sure it matters if you're off by a teeth or two. I've tried positioning the synchronizer with the "blue tool" and the "black tool" positions and neither seemed to make any difference. The engine ran just as smooth, and annoyingly, the random check engine light still would pop in and out at random. So I'm stumped there. I almost want to give up and take it to a real mechanic, but I doubt I can find anyone that actually knows how to properly diagnose this beyond what I've already done. The truck does run perfectly fine, but this bugs me!

 

[D60]

Sooo...if we truly are shooting for TDC I wonder if it's possible to go old school and use a dial indicator with the necessary extensions?

At the very least it'd be interesting to see where all the external marks fall when we know the piston is at its highest point

 

[nobb]

Sooo...if we truly are shooting for TDC I wonder if it's possible to go old school and use a dial indicator with the necessary extensions?

At the very least it'd be interesting to see where all the external marks fall when we know the piston is at its highest point

I kind of gave up on this a year ago, but you've piqued my interest again. Technically I haven't tried finding TDC using the old school way. I have a compression tester so I'll give it a go and see how that lines up with these harmonic balancer diagrams.

Still doesn't answer the original question on which tool should be the right one with any confidence though...

 

[D60]

I kind of gave up on this a year ago, but you've piqued my interest again. Technically I haven't tried finding TDC using the old school way. I have a compression tester so I'll give it a go and see how that lines up with these harmonic balancer diagrams.

Still doesn't answer the original question on which tool should be the right one with any confidence though...

I dunno if a compression tester would get you there, but maybe. Maybe you were just saying it'll help you identify the compression stroke, which is true.

Also I don't think it's wise to use a piston stop tool on these engines because really you need to spin it forwards and backwards. But maybe I'm wrong

The TRS thread had a good point in that true TDC doesn't matter, what matters is everything relative to the gap in teeth. BUT if true, physical TDC lined up with SOME mark that would make life easier in the future.

 

[nobb]

I just checked my alignment. Everything is setup properly with the blue tool lining up with TDC. TDC does indeed correspond to the diagram I referenced in my above post (tooth #6 points to the sensor). This is on a 2008 Ranger 3.0.

 

[DuckRyder]

I used the blue one on my 2002 3.0.

 

[D60]

Finally had time to complete this on this '03 3.0 today. I hung my compression tester attached to #1 and turned the crank 'til I saw the needle move a bit (I had a poor seal but figured any movement = compression stroke)

I decided I didn't much care about marks or anything, I just wanted the blue tool to fit before I yanked the synchronizer.

On a whim/as a starting point I then went until the 6th tooth was under the crank sensor, which actually put like tooth "4.5" under the mark NEXT TO the sensor (the diagram on TRS seems to show tooth #5 precisely). I pulled the cam sensor and the blue tool fit beautifully...on my first try. In hindsight I should have purchased a Powerball ticket....

So then I just pulled the synchronizer reasoning I had a known quantity at that point and could just use the blue tool to again verify final position with the NEW synchronizer. It takes a bit of finagling (profanity seemed to help as well) because the shaft of the synchronizer rotates as you drive it down, so you learn to "preload" it such that once the o-ring is fully seated the alignment tool still fits.

Note: the hold down screw does appear to be tapped at a slight angle, so if it appears to not run parallel to the synchronizer shaft, you are not losing your mind

ANYWAY, the complaint was severe bucking at 3000rpm+ and the new synchronizer cured it. The truck seems to run fine (wow the 3.0 is underwhelming) so I guess my methodology for synchronizer replacement was sufficient. No CEL, so good enough for the girls I hang out with