Camshaft synchronizer drive gear replacement part

That would also be known as the camshaft distributor drive gear and it drives the cam synchronizer as well as the oil pump. I use parts directly from the dealer for those as you need to replace both the one on the cam and the one on the base of the drive and I have seen more than a few aftermarket sensor drive gears that don't match up properly with the Ford drive gear which leads to rapid failure again. I know you can get aftermarket gears for the bottom of the sensor drive but I don't know of any of the drive gears on the cam.

I would also recommend replacing the oil pump if you haven't already, it can wear and greatly increase the pressure needed to turn that gear and damage the teeth that way. Be sure to pack some petroleum jelly in the pump gear teeth if you install a new pump, they don't prime well if dry and that method helps a lot.

thank you! Managed to track the part down with the help of a Ford assistant and get it ordered. Now lets hope I won't have to wait a month for it to arrive, haha. I've got a new oil pump ready to roll. Going to clean the oil pickup and pan of any metal shavings. It is a miracle the engine is still sound after all that metal that has been chewed up. But i guess it all just dropped straight down into the pan after all.

From that area it should have hit he pan. Then through the pump and into the filter, as long as the filter wasn't plugged enough that it didn't open the bypass most of it should be trapped in there, maybe cut the filter open and see what you find. Once you have it together it might not be a bad idea to run some cheap oil through it a couple times to flush the rest out.
Parts wise it's been a roll of dice here, some stuff is on the shelf, others seem to be shipping on the back of a sloth...

Just a final update. The part came in less than 24 hours! Got the gear on and made sure the oil pickup screen wasn't clogged. Got it all back together this afternoon and its running like a champ. Upper engine tick completely quit after about 2 minutes of idle and oil. No leaks on the new timing cover and water pump gaskets so far. With 282,000 on this motor maybe it'll keep on rolling for a while longer the 4.2L is an awesome engine. It certainly doesn't owe me anything. Bought the truck for $3,400.00 nearly seven years ago and this was the most expensive repair I've had to do.

Great to hear it's up and running. Thank you for using 2CarPros.