'05 Cam Synchro Failure = Engine Destroyed

*Update below*

Hey everyone. Thought I'd share what happened to my 3.0 a few weeks ago. I had searched for cam synchro failures, but all I came up with was cam sensor failures, not the actual synchro failing. Not looking for advice, just sharing my experience to hopefully help someone down the line.

I was driving 65-70 MPH on the highway when the oil light turned on in my instrument cluster. I keep the dash lights fairly low, so the bright red oil light was noticed immediately. Within 10 seconds the engine started to get sluggish. I happened to be close to an off-ramp, so I exited the highway. By the time I reached the top of the off-ramp, the engine had turned off and I was able to coast into a parking lot.

Tried to start the engine and it would not crank. I could hear the starter engage, but the engine would not turn over. Popped the hood, checked the oil level, and the oil level was full. Tried to start the engine again and it still would not turn over. Luckily I have AAA, so I was able to get the truck towed home.

After two evenings of Internet searching before I dug into the engine, I removed the cam synchro. One side of the drive gear looked great while the other side of the gear has all the teeth sheared off. Since the drive gear had sheared teeth, the camshaft was no longer able to turn the synchro. With the synchro not spinning, the oil pump was no longer spinning, in turn starving the engine of oil. I have not torn the engine down, but my guess is that the lack of oil on the main bearings caused them to melt to the crankshaft, locking the engine up.

Took less than 20 seconds for the engine to go from a great running engine to a boat anchor.

I've got 175,000 miles on my truck and I keep up with routine maintenance pretty well. I actually have maybe 1500 miles on this oil since my last oil change. I have seen the reports of people hearing the bushings in the cam synchro squealing, letting them know that the synchro is about to fail, but I haven't seen anything online about the drive gear letting go.

Too bad Ford didn't install a pressure switch that would kill the ignition if oil pressure were lost. Seems like a really simple safeguard that would have saved my engine from being destroyed. How many others would have been saved as well?

I've been planning and gathering parts for a 5.0 swap for 6 months now, but I would rather have gotten into the swap when I decided it was time, not because I now HAVE to. Anyway, hope this helps someone.

*Update*

The shaft spins smoothly and freely. I did not hear the squeal that other people have mentioned hearing. No warning signs at all. Just let go. Looks like the teeth have been wearing funny for a while though based on the second picture. Not sure what could have been done to prevent it.

That sucks.
Good luck on the build.

I pulled this out of a running 99 (?) last week. the top bushing was dry.

And here my 98 with 161,000 is still purring like a kitten. Once a month or so, I pop the sensor off, pour some oil down into the area, put the sensor back on and keep motoring on. I'm not sweating it, my truck is kind of slowly gradually falling apart around the engine. AC no longer works, not fixing it. Climate control, all air comes out the defrost vents and the floor, no matter where the knobs are set. Paint is long ago shot, thanks to my sister. Just waiting for it to go completely Tango Uniform, then I'm calling a wrecker and having it towed to the nearest junk yard.

Still got my 04 Lightning and two motorcycles. Will get something to replace the Ranger once it's gone.

I replaced my original syncho and sensor at 145k miles since I already had the engine torn down to replace the heads. I used Motorcraft parts for the replacement.

The original on mine seemed fine with no wear on the teeth and it turned freely without any play. These seem to fail all all kinds of random mileage.

Did you hear any of the telltale squeak or squealing before the failure?

It wouldn't be hard to install the kind of low pressure cutoff you suggest.

I would do it on the fuel side myself. Put a T in the port for the oil pressure switch, and then use a normally open 2-prong pressure switch (so it closes when pressure is applied)and use it to interrupt the wire that runs from the fuel pump relay to the PCM. GM did it for years.

You might notice some increased cranking or difficulty starting in low temps so you may want to add a push-button bypass in the cab for priming the fuel pump.

I had a neighbor who was an electronics nerd. I was thinking of installing an alarm when the oil pressure failed using relays, but the neighbor offered to put together a circuit board to trigger the alarm. It works great and every time I turn on the ignition without the engine turning the alarm sounds to remind me it's working.

It's nice to have something audible in case I'm not looking at the dash.

You've motivated me to get back on this. I had intended it to be the first thing I did to the truck, but there were so many other issues to deal with it got put off. Well, that and a little warmer weather would be nice. I'll move it back up the priority list!

If you don't have a electronics nerd neighbor to build the system for you, get a Kysor engine protection system. We ran them on a fleet of forklifts at my old job because the operators didn't care about the gauges.

RangerMax said:

Too bad Ford didn't install a pressure switch that would kill the ignition if oil pressure were lost. Seems like a really simple safeguard that would have saved my engine from being destroyed. How many others would have been saved as well?

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your engine troubles. :>(

The cam synchro is a known problem with 3.0 Rangers, and it's too bad Ford didn't care enough about their customers to do a redesign to fix the problem. Shame on them.

I was going to proactively replace the synchro in my 2000 at 160,000 miles, but when I pulled it out to inspect it there was minimal wear on it so I left it in. Hopefully it will last for the life of my truck.

KZEE said:

Sorry to hear about your engine troubles. :>(

The cam synchro is a known problem with 3.0 Rangers, and it's too bad Ford didn't care enough about their customers to do a redesign to fix the problem. Shame on them.

I was going to proactively replace the synchro in my 2000 at 160,000 miles, but when I pulled it out to inspect it there was minimal wear on it so I left it in. Hopefully it will last for the life of my truck.

Click to expand...

Strange how that works, isn't it? And me, I've run 20W-50 in mine for 19 years now. And yet, the oil place down the street refuses to change my oil for me because I insist they use 20W-50. LOL

Their lose is my gain.

Is there a reason you run 20w-50 instead of 5w-30? Just wondering why you insist on this specific oil. To the OP, that really sucks that happened to you. Sounds like something that would happen to me with how my luck goes. Last week I actually replaced the sensor for the camshaft due to the check engine light pulling that specific code. I didn't pull the whole camshaft out bc I was replacing the sensor on my lunch break so I only have an hour to get the truck in and out of the shop. My issue was I didn't have the right tools with me (I needed about 12" of 1/4" drive extensions and I only had 3/8") which were bigger and getting in the way of things. Plus it is in the back of the motor and is just awkward as heck to work on. Once I replaced the sensor I hooked the battery back up and no more check engine light. Somehow my p0455 code is gone too lol. I personally never realized how serious these parts were until you read stories like yours where you literally have SECONDS to shut the engine off when the oil light comes on. Main thing is no one got hurt, (could have been bad at highway speeds and a wreck less driver behind you not paying attention.) and it sounds like you have other intentions for the truck now.

You needed all those tools to change the sensor? Really? Different years must be totally different. All I need is a 7/32 wrench. I take my sensor off quite frequently to pour a small amount of oil down into it. Never has any problem removing it or re-installing it. Can do it in a few minutes easy.

Yeah I didn't have a 7/32" wrench on me. I was trusting that my basic socket set would do the job but I just couldn't get my fat hands in there. It was just more awkward than anything. I'd rather do wheels and tires than crap like that. so whats the point of adding oil to it every so often? I don't really see a need for that.

I'm curious what the root cause of the failure is:

Does the bearing fail (lubrication problems?) causing too much drag, and excessive wear on the gear?

Is the gear too soft, eventually wearing badly and causing side thrust on the bearing?

Bevel gears need to slip as they turn - is it a lubrication problem causing gear wear?

And how did Ford screw up a distributor drive, which was worked out 75 years ago?