'96 Ranger 4.0 V6, 88k miles. Heard a weird quiet squeaking noise (consistent w/ engine speed) that sounded like a spot of oil on a belt. Check engine light popped on a few minutes later, called for a bad camshaft sensor. Tore down to it, sure enough, the little magnet on the bottom of the sensor had fallen off and was getting thrown around on top of the synchrnizer gear. Changed sensor, cleared codes, they stayed gone, all is well. Except for some noise. Apparently, a few metal shavings from the magnet being bounced around have gotten in the synchonizer. (very small shavings, the little magnet was almost fully intact) My mechanic said, "don't worry, it'll go away as soon as they get ground up into dust." Well, after a month, the squeaking continues. A week ago, I decided to try a little white lithium grease sprayed on top of the synchronizer. On the first start, the noise was gone and stayed gone for a week. Now it's back, just as annoying as before. Is there a better lubrication for a situation like this? When you install a new synchronizer, it calls for soaking it in motor oil before installing it. Maybe I should try pouring a little oil in there??
Bottom line: It takes me about 1 hour to tear down to it, and label the tons of vac and elec connections. I use the truck everyday and don't have time to keep trying different things. Any ideas???

The people in traffic next to me thank you.....


Scott

 

Welcome to FTE danger ranger003,

All I have to offer is check out all the threads in this and other Forums for a possible resolution to your question.

What your doing so far is commendable, searching for a resolution through experimentation.
I've done + am doing this quite often myself!

You never know what you may invent + possibly become famous!

 

Thanx wolfen,

Great forum! I'm going to try a shot of 5w-30 next with a little additive which will keep the oil in place longer. We'll see what happens in a few weeks. The white lithium didn't last long enough, it was too thick. I guess I could always take out the synchronizer and clean it, but you need that stupid little plastic tool from Ford to set the angle properly to avoid timing issues.......

 

Just thought I'd share my progress....When the weather got cold, the white lithium grease got too hard to lubricate properly. Dug down to it, shot some 5w-30 in there, and success. (so far) Two weeks and we're quiet as can be. People no longer stare at me in traffic because of the wonderful noise.....I miss the added attention.......

 

Thanks for updating us.