Hello. I have a 2004 Ford Freestar. I purchased it last year pre-owned and sadly, it has not been a reliable vehicle with constant issues. The latest has been a strange squeal that my one mechanic could not figure out. He thought it was a pulley. Not it. I took it to my other mechanic, he thought it was the water pump. New water pump put in and still doing it. It was also occasionally stalling. He finally figured out it was the camshaft synchronizer. He said he never had one of these go bad before, but I found that it is a fairly common fault with these Freestars. It was only a $64 part but labor was $528. He said it was a very difficult and lengthy job. From my research, yes, it looks like a tricky job, but not impossible and to me, $528 seems a bit excessive This Freestar is making me broke. Is that a fair price for labor for this job or is that a bit steep as I think it is?

 

You can do it yourself for the cost of the part. It's fairly easy to do if you are somewhat mechanically inclined. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours from start to finish.

"He said he never had one of these go bad before"...Find a new mechanic, it's a common failure.

"I found that it is a fairly common fault with these Freestars"...It isn't just Freestars. Sables, Taurus' & Rangers have the same common issue. It's the design of the engine (poor oiling to the upper shaft bearing).

Here's my write up from 12/12/2014 when I replaced the one on my 2004 Limited...

It's actually not that difficult. It took me about 2 hours to do mine start to finish. The new Cardone unit (part #84-S2601) was $10 more than a rebuilt unit and it includes the cam position sensor.

1. Drain the cooling system down
2. Remove serpentine belt out of the way.
3. Unbolt the P/S pump and move over out of the way.
4. Remove coolant tube that Ford put just in the way of removing the cam synchronizer.
5. Remove the cam position sensor. (mark the old cam synchronizer housing and the engine block with your favorite color sharpie.)
6. Put a mark on the new cam synchronizer in the same place as the old one.
7. Put the new unit in so that the mark on the new unit lines up with the mark on the block (no need for the sensor install tool with the marks).
8. Tighten the new unit down and install the new sensor.
9. You may need to put a new O-Ring gasket on the coolant tube, I just used some copper-plus silicone and reused the old o-ring.
10. Put everything back together and top your cooling system off.

Take your time, you should be fine.

 

I have a much easier and cheaper fix for that! Take the cap off and squeeze some oil in there around the edge. I've been doing it for more than two years and she runs like a clock.

 

Until it finally galls enough and seizes the shaft causing the oil pump gear to shear off. Then you're looking at more than just a simple remove and install of a camshaft synchronizer. I'd rather know that I have a good unit in the engine, than to have a known bad one fail at 70+ MPH in the middle of the night while cruising across I-10 in New Mexico in the middle of nowhere. But that's just me...

 

"It's the design of the engine (poor oiling to the upper shaft bearing)."

I oil the upper shaft bearing every time I change the motor oil. Since poor oiling is the problem (as you stated) why would it fail if I am keeping it well lubricated?

My Freestar is 15 years old and has 330000kms on it. I use it as a highway commuter, not to cross New Mexico! If she breaks down she will be towed directly to the boneyard. I don't throw away good money when there is a very simple and cheap solution that works.

But that's just me...

 

Hello, dear friend. I`ve bought 2009 Ford this week. I am going to go to car service because the engine has not enouph power. I think that problems are in a cam mechanism. Have you been such problems? I have seen that camshaft replacement is expensive service.