for what its worth. i tore into the truck today. i purchased a 3 pin cam synchronizer from ford for 257.00, which they told me 3 pin is the most popular. i took off everything bolted to the upper (plastic) intake manifold, then removed the manifold. looking back there at the suspected area, there is not a lot of room. you can take off your fender wells( plastic part underneath) to gain a little extra looking/feeling space. i decided to remove fuel rain as well to help get in there. i marked the way the sensor on top was facing. if looking at the front of truck, mine pointed roughly 1/4" to the left from a imaginary straight line across motor to firewall.( this is not the degree of the synchronizer, just the way sensor faces). i unplugged the sensor just to find out...... i have a dang 2 pin stator, not the 3 pin ford suggested i had since its more popular. called ford and they had to order a 2 pin, it worked out i guess since the 3 pin was $257.00, the 2 pin i need is only $200.00, im cool with the savings. since i have read and heard you CANNOT interchange the sensors between the 2 and 3 pin synchronizer's, i didn't want to try and mess up a part i can return. seeing as i had it apart already, i figured id see how bad the synchronizer was by removing and inspecting it. now, ive already marked the direction my sensor faced, now there is 2 screws that hold the sensor on top of the synchro, i removed the 2 screws which are 5.5mm, and don't come fully out of the sensor when removed. after a little wiggling and pulling upward, the sensor came off. looking at it the magnet piece was different then the one i got from ford. mine has a chrome circle on the circled wall of the sensor, the part i got from ford had a tiny magnet placed near middle of circled sensor? i assume they changed the design due to part failing. keep in mind, there is very little room above the area your working in, to see straight down and look and study the synchro. you do NOT need to, but i went and dis-connected as many sensors, plugs, clips, hold-downs as i could for the wiring harness that's above synchronizer area, i did this to achieve maximum clearance since i was nervous about removing a critical engine part. doing so let me move harness a good deal, just be very careful with wires and there clips, can be brittle and if you break a wire somewhere, you will have a lot more work ahead of you. also i good idea to label each end of plugs, example being label both the plug and the part it goes to as number 1, then next plug and part number 2 and so on. even with doing this, still very tight. from what i could tell, and i could be wrong, it looks like if you take the top bolts out of both valve covers, then remove bolts on lower intake you could take it of as well, which would give you all the space you would need and some. i would think you would need to remove the valve covers completely, to be able to lift the lower manifold up, i DID NOT do this nor am i sure if this is correct. i did not go this route because i just put a new radiator in 2 days ago, and i didn't want to remove water pump and lose a bunch of radiator fluid. i will most likely be doing this when i receive my correct synchronizer from ford in a few days. back to the synchro, i used a small mirror, and a small flashlight to look down at it a little better, than drew myself a little picture of how it looked to be at that time. example, the small half moon shaped flange in the center of the circle was facing 180* backward of the small open area on circled walls, i also marked it in 3 places with 3 different colored paint markers. i then removed the 10mm set screw that hold the synchro to the engine block. with a little wiggle and gentle pulling upward, the synchro was lose. i had to spin and wiggle it to pull it out all the way. lot went in to removing this part, to bad i am re-installing it. comparing the one from my truck, with the one purchased from ford, they were as close to identical as they could be, mine was a original ford part. i sprayed with carb cleaner to get gear clean, and shaft that spins. holding it in my hand, it spins very freely, has very little upward-downward play between shaft and housing, very little side to side play as well. with new ford part in hand, once again, nearly identical movements between the two old and new parts, gears looked the same even. my old part doesn't show nearly any wear on the gear drive, which would be bad if it had. my main reason for changing this part, is the very annoying chirp, squealing sound it made every morning i first started it, it would make the sound till engine was at operating temperature. i have heard, and can tell after removing the synchro, that the synchro is a particular part in the motor that doesn't see any oil, or get greased, so that's why when they get old they make the awful sounds of birds matting under the hood of your beloved explorer. with the situation of me having the wrong part, and this is my daily driver, i had to reinstall the old noisy part. even though there were no visible or feel-able differences between the old and new, something isn't well with old part. i took some 3in1 lightweight oil i had, and put a fair amount into the top of the old synchro. i rotated the shaft in both directions for several turns to work it in, wiggled it side to side and up and down. it felt smoother, although it didn't feel gritty before, just felt more like the shaft was gliding on a smooth surface. i very carefully, reinstalled the synchro in the motor. REMEMBER, the gear on synchro is twisted, so when you put it in, it will naturally turn while going in. to achieve the proper placement i had previously marked, i had to set mine about 1/4" to the left, so when i pushed it in it would line up with my marks. it took me 3 tries before i succeeded at lining it up correctly. i then put the hold down bolt back, then i once again added a fair amount of 3in1 oil into top of synchro just as before. i installed the cap(stator), screwed it down and put the rest of the jungle of things back into there proper places and plugs. crossing my fingers i started the truck, fired right up like normal, except....... not a single noise like before, hmm, go figure. now i know the part was making a sound due to its old and may be going out, but my argument is simple. if compared side by side with new ford part, and no difference was determined, who is to say that's all it needed was a little oil after 140,000 miles of spinning at high rates. yes, its a band aid, when i get my new part in i will change it, but i am also going to wait a few days maybe weeks to see how long the oil helps or lasts. i did also notice the truck felt smoother when at stop lights, it use to feel a little slight vibration in floor almost like truck was idling too low, now it feels like a well tuned motor should. i will update on how long the band aid lasts. id like to add, there is a SPECIAL ALIGNMENT to needed to install new part, and your number 1 piston needs to be at top dead center of the compression stroke to use and install synchronizer. since my truck ran, and drove before i started the replacement, i did not need the tool. that's why i took the TIME and carefully drew, marked with separate colors, the exact placement of the synchronizer. i do not know if i can do the same thing when installing new part, ill try to find out. also, if your about to attempt this small nightmare, do a little research. this isn't a alternator change, your timing, fuel injectors and oil pump are ran by this part. you want to be very certain you can do it, which if you research it and take your time you should be fine. while your tearing your motor apart, this is a good time to check your lower intake manifold and upper manifold gaskets, if you have p0171 and p0174 codes showing lean banks 1 and 2, this is where your problem is, gaskets are cheap, 28 bucks for both sets. i did this about 2 months ago and codes have been gone since, i replaced over $500 in parts chasing those lean codes, finally did the gaskets and it fixed it right away.
