Timing Cover rebuildable?

ricardoa1

Registered User
Hi All,

My cps synchronizer stalk gear and related drive cam gear are getting chewed up, most of these failures appears to happen when there’s too much play from a worn brass bushing on the timing cover, probably other reasons. But before I damage another set of gears I want to get some feedback. I’d like to rebuild my 94 cover as they are unobtainable. Do they sell the brass bushing, is is just pressed on? Can I take a bushing from an early cover which are more common?
 
Are you sure it's brass and not sintered bronze?

I can imagine a proper repair given the right tools and new bushing wouldn't be too difficult. You could ream the OE bushing and sleeve it, or, drill it out and replace it. I'd find a local machine shop and ask them for their opinion.

I would not expect a donor bushing from another cover would survive the process unless and be worth the effort.
 
Thanks, truly I do not know the material, just trying to find the root cause. So I’ve been on an internet quest. Other similar ford OHV engines 3.0l 3.8l and 4.2l with a similar design have experienced synchronizer stalk failures. And actually now things are making more sense after my web expedition. I had this squeaking noise that I thought was belt noise, but never managed to make it go away. Others with CPS stalk issues experience the same noises, the internal bushings wear out on the stalk and the grinding noise comes out as a chirp or squeak. I had ignored that sound for over 2 years about 5k miles. When the bushings go bad the alignment of the gears goes out of sync and leads to wear and failure. I had wondered where the metal on the magnetic plug came from. It’s Likely that the cover bushing is ok as it should have lubrication from oil splashing. But higher up the bushing inside the stalk are dry. With all that, I might have to make an educative risky decision to reusing the front cover again. Change the stalk and drive gear and hope for the best. Wanting to upgrade the timing gears and chain to remove the tensioner while in there.

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When it was all together, did you happen to measure lateral play at the trigger wheel with the cam sensor removed?

Interesting point about the sounds...
 
The 96 I built years ago had the stalk getting tight. I replaced it then. I'll have to see if i can dig it up and inspect further.
 
Not sure how to verify lateral while all is assembled. Once I remove the front cover I do plan on checking for lateral play and assess if I do in fact need a front cover. Below is a comparison from my may stalk in my spare motor. I’d like to find old stock on it since it appears the life expectancy is about 150k miles from the dry bushing. You can see the gap on the locking hub on the stalk. The dirty damaged one seems to have extra gap, probably from a worn upper bushing. I’m sure this is not the only contributor. Just piecing evidence as I go along. Valve float has been suggested, let’s not discount Fords less bright design ideas. Also factor some good old bad luck. I’m not upset with the cps synchronizer I’m upset the front engine cover needs to come off that’s a lot of work for this type of failure.
 
Not sure how to verify lateral while all is assembled.
Remove the cam sensor, mount a dial gauge w/probe touching one side of the trigger wheel. Load the trigger wheel one direction, zero the gauge and then load the trigger wheel the opposite direction. Any lateral/side-to-side movement of that end of the stalk in it's bushings should result in a (deflection) reading on the dial indicator. Having more than one to check should help gather data. Not a big deal, so don't spend too much time on it, just a data point that might help suss the issue(s).

Not sure the vertical gap difference between those two stalks is actionable. Bushing/shaft wear would mean side-to-side play vs. up/down, I think. Unless that gap is creating a clearance issue w/trigger wheel and cam sensor, it might just be an assembly variance that goes away when installed.

Haven't seen new for sale for a while now, but Cardone has reman'd:
 
Yeah I might be chasing a ghost with this. Valve train shock? I took the roll pin of the locking bushing and slid it, I noticed water caused rusting in the areas probably from power washing at some point. The bushing in the stalk appears to be steel so hardly any chance to severely wear, side to side/lateral movement is minimal, wear on the gear is pretty even and simply looks like shock and lack of lubricant. The squeak was there and probably from the rust but I can’t imagine it causes the whole assembly to malfunction, going back to the front cover bushing when I take it out. Anyways fun detective work and great full for the ideas. Another interesting point the oil pump shaft hex is taking a beating too.
 

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Offhand, I'd expect the oil pump to dampen valve train shock in the case of the cam synchronizer. Any benefit from swapping the hex shaft end-to-end on assembly?
 
Offhand, I'd expect the oil pump to dampen valve train shock in the case of the cam synchronizer. Any benefit from swapping the hex shaft end-to-end on assembly?
One side it has a circlip, like a cv axle, that retains it in the assembly so not flipable. I’ll see what lurks under all. But not sure I can rule a preventable cause. Aside from replacing the bad parts and wait if things fail in the future. Any valve train issues the car and I will have to live with it and just not ring out the motor as often during operation.
 
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