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how reliable are the v6 3.0


kawasakiman27

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How is 300 miles to a tank for a ranger 3.0 4x4?
 


Wicked_Sludge

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miles per tank is a meaningless number because there are 3 or 4 different tank sizes available and it depends on how far down you run the truck on gas.

lets hear some MPG figures.
 

Toms01PSD

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miles per tank is a meaningless number because there are 3 or 4 different tank sizes available and it depends on how far down you run the truck on gas.

lets hear some MPG figures.
Before I did my cam syncro, 15.7 mpg...i'll let you know when I fill it up next time, i'm at like 70 miles and it's barely at 3/4.
 

fireant

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Looking to do the CPS soon, since my Ranger has 168K. I've noticed Dorman is not mentioned anymore in Autozone or Advance's online catalogs. They list Cardone now.

Also, I noticed it is sometimes listed as Crank Angle Sensor, and apparently it includes the small sensor on top. Locally those are $107 for new and $70 for reman.
 

fireant

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I just did a replacement of my Cam Position Sensor and Synch Shaft. Most autoparts places have it listed as a Crank Angle Sensor... go figure.

Anyways, for future reference here's a brief how-to for a 95 vulcan:
  1. Disconnect battery. Get a stool and access the motor from the passengers side near the firewall.
  2. Unplug the 6 spark plug wires from the harness on the top of the engine.
  3. Use a 12mm socket to remove the spark plug wire harness from the top of the engine and move it all aside so you can reach between the engine and firewall. Unplugging the harness will help some.
  4. Use a stubby flathead to pry loose the plug from the sensor
  5. If its stock, use a 6mm socket or driver to loosen the top two screws and carefully remove the sensor.
  6. Use a cameraphone to take a picture of the shaft's position as it is before moving or prying. You need to get a record of the exact position of the half-circle part that's on the top. Mine was mangled, but I took a pic anyway.
  7. Using an extension or two and a 10mm socket, remove the bolt/washer that is holding the assembly down in postion. This is hard to see, as its between the bottom of the assembly and the firewall, down next to where it enters. Grope around down there and you'll feel it... you might need to pull some of the wires out of the way to get to it.
  8. With that gone, you can now lift out the whole assembly... be sure to pay attention to the position of that half-ring (mark it with a sharpie, maybe). When you put the new one in, the half-ring needs to be exactly back in that spot. If your's is mangled like mine was, look very carefully at the base the ring sits on for where it USED to be, and use this as a reference. I also recommend NOT leaving it for a core charge until you are done, so you have it as a reference. Also, DONT crank or turn the motor in any way while this is out, or you'll have to do a bunch of timing settings.
  9. Getting the new one in takes some lubing and jiggling, and a little tapping with a rubber mallet and dowel, but it will go in. When the teeth engage, they will turn the half-ring a few degrees bit clockwise, so you'll need to compensate for that before inserting. Be firm but not excessive
  10. Replace the bolt. Replace the sensor and plug it in. Replace the spark plug harness and plug it all back in. Reconnect the battery.


Here's a good long reference thread that also helped a lot:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/202004-camshaft-sensor-synchronizer-replacement.html
 
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with pleasure, and i appologize in advance for being long winded:

starting in 1995, the vulcan recieved a distributorless ignition system (DIS). this system uses a set of positioning sensors, one on the engines crankshaft and one on the engines camshaft, to determine when to fire the spark plugs. since the oil pump is driven by the camshaft via the distributor on this (and many "V" pushrod engines), ford could not completely do away with the distributor. the bottom half that engages the camshaft and drives the oil pump would have to remain (less ford redesign the entire block). since the bottom half of the distributor would have to remain anyway, the easiest way to retrieve a camshaft position signal would be to mount a sensor right on top of this "cam syncro shaft".

the cam syncro shaft has a small metal flag on the top of it. the camshaft position sensor bolts to the top of the cam syncro shaft, and this metal flag passes through the sensor...in this way the engine knows exactly where the cam is in its rotation (and thus, when the #1 cylinder is on its compression stroke).

heres where we get into trouble.

the cam syncro shaft rides on a set of bushings. for some reason (and this doesnt appear to be a problem on distributored engines for some reason), these bushings seem to wear prematurely, thus allowing the cam syncro shaft to wobble. at this point, the cam syncro shaft will usually emit a noise very similar to a belt squeel (but not always). if left unchecked, the bushings will continue to wear to the point where the metal flag that is supposed to pass through the cam position sensor contacts the sensor. this puts a sudden hault on the cam syncro shaft. the gear that engages the camshaft itself is nylon, and attached the the cam syncro shaft with a roll pin. the force of the cam syncro being stopped and the cam still spinning either rips the teeth off the nylon gear or sheers the roll pin...either case causes the cam syncro shaft to disengage the cam. with the syncro shaft no longer turning, the oil pump is no longer turning, thus oil pressure drops to zero.

it can take a matter of seconds to completely destroy an engine while driving at highway speeds with highway loads and no oil pressure. even if you see the oil light come on, you might not be able to safely pull over and shut the truck down in time to save the engine.

my truck, being a '93, doesnt have this problem. but if i had a DIS 3.0, heres what i would do: if buying a DIS 3.0 with more than 80K miles on it, replace the syncro shaft. after that, pull the syncro and check it at 50K miles and replace again every 100K miles. dont ignore squeeks or long engine cranking times, as these can be indicative of cam sensor or cam syncro problems. if your oil light comes on while driving, as soon as its safe to do so, put the truck in nuetral, turn the ignition off, and coast to a stop. these trucks (that being rangers in general, not just the 3.0) are known for having flakey oil pressure sending units that like to give false low readings. your next step in this situation would be to varify either low oil pressure or a bad sending unit and take appropriate action.

tomorrow, i will try to remember to look around the shop and see if i can find an old cam syncro shaft lying around to take a picture of.

again, sorry for being long winded. i hope i covered everything.
That's awesome information, love the long winded.
 

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