Cam synchronizer questions

[n00bus m@x1mus]

Hi all im new here and dont really own a bronco LOL but i do own a 5.0L explorer windsor in an australian built fairmont and im looking for answers about it if anyone has the time to help me out that would be much appreciated.

So the vehicle in question is a Ford AU Fairmont Ghia 5.0L it has the good old 302W with roller cam, GT40P heads and explorer manifold. EFI system has coil packs and a crank trigger and the good old cam angle sensor. So a good while ago i picked it up for a fair price and got it on the road, was running quite well a little underpowreded for what im used to but as it was mostly stock except for the PH 4001 pipes into the stock twin 2 1/4" exhaust and a K&N filter i wasnt expecting any neck snapping power from it. But shortly after it developed one hell of a squeel on startup and oil pressure was dragging so i promptly shut it down and went investigating. This lead to stripping down the sump, timing cover, pump and drive system including the cam angle sensor.... but it wasnt until the put back together stage that i checked the manual and it states i need a special tool to properly allign this sensor. Ford service here has never seen or heard of it and any pics i can find on the net are very vague at best.
The PIP rotor has s single tooth about 4-5 degrees wide and passes a single mag pickup. The tools (which is a simple plastic cap that holds the tooth in place while installing) shows it should sit in line with the crank and the the tooth right against the pickup all aiming at 6 oclock if your standing at the radiator however it doesnt seem to matter where i put it it still acts the same and shows an error code on the scan tool. I have also asked people with aussie built falcons running the same motor to post me a picture of where theres sits when the crank is at TDC no.1 and they are all over the place aswell.... So im lost, i would love a bit better fuel econ from it and at the least a lot more power, im sure it had a lot more go in it before this problem so i hope that if i got it sorted it will spring back into life again.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Clint.

 

[EFI Guy]

My understanding is that all V-8s are set at TDC of compression stroke. 4 and 6 cyls, can differ. Be sure you are on the compression stroke when you set it.
The timing is not all that critical, it only tells the PCM if it is on the compression stroke or not. The real timing is done by the crank sensor.

Here is a pic of my master set. Eyeballing it should be close enough.

 

[n00bus m@x1mus]

Yeah thanks for the pics, ive tried the 3.8-5.0 option and the 4.0 2v and 3.0 2v option as well thinking that it was wanting to know if it was simply on the compression stroke or the exhaust stroke. In aus here we have a 4.0l I6 that has the half moon same as the 3.0-4.0 in your picture, that would simply show the ECU which stroke it was on but my thoughts where if that was the case with the 5.0L then why the single tooth?
I also thought that if that was supposed to tell the ECU when to fire the injector on no.1 then it would want it to line up with the mag pickup at 180-200 degress ATDC so its when the piston is on the start of the intake stroke. This seems to make more sense with the sensor designed the way it is.
I also read somewhere that some balancers have a big notch machined in them at 180 degs to the TDC mark (so at BDC) and this is where you need to have the crank while setting that sensor with the tool.... this would also support my theory above. My manual says it needs to be set at TDC no.1 and use the special tool to align the cam synchroniser and your done.

But it doesnt seem to make a diff which way i put it in, each time i reset the KAM when i do it and it straight away throws up a error code for the cam angle sensor at first start up. Make me wonder now if the damn sensor itself isnt rooted and the ECU is just trying to run without.... is there any way to test it out? It looks to be in perfect serviceable condition, i stripped it down, cleaned it up like new and reassembled it with lube after i pulled the thing out due to the squealing noise it was making before hand.
Oh if only i had thought to pop the lid off and see where it was before i pulled it out

 

[EFI Guy]

The missing tooth (big notch) sits at the 12 o'clock position when at TDC. At least here in the states it does. I can't imagine any reason to make it differently for Ford AU. However, I have played with a couple of AU PCMs and found several things that are done differently.

I've never seen one of the 5.0 sensors go bad yet. The 3.8 and 3.0s are pretty notorious for it though. I've seen a couple that were squealing and had enough play in the bushing for the tooth to hit the cap and damage it. Since the sensor portion is in the cap they would throw the code until you replaced it.

You might pull the cap again and look at it very closely.

 

[n00bus m@x1mus]

Cool thanks for your help, the big notch im referring to is a slit about 4mm wide and the width of the hub cut into the circumference of the balancer hub, not part of the trigger wheel itself, however i do believe that it has a wide notch (missing tooth) at the TDC mark... its not at 12 oclock but it lines up with the pickup when the timing marks show TDC. Yeah these cam angle sensors look pretty robust, would take one hell of an event to damage it to the point of in operability. I wonder weather the cap should be replaced to see if it is not reading.. or i might even strip the loom back a bit there and check its not perished from heat or anything.