engine squeal

[kristi02]

I'm having difficulty diagnosing a squeal that seems to be coming from near the throttle body. It is a '02 taurus 3.0 ses with approx. 40k mi. Belt looks good, power steering fluid is good. It only squeals at idle and mostly when cold, at morning start up. Did a search, found similar post dealing with electrical connections on air intake to throttle body, which I didn't quite understand how this would fix any squeal.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[hughw]

Sounds like you may have a cam sensor squeel....its located on top of engine near throttle body....

[kristi02]

Originally Posted by hughw

Sounds like you may have a cam sensor squeel....its located on top of engine near throttle body....

Had to have the tires rotated so I asked the mechanic to see if he could locate the squeel. He also said to replace the cam position sensor, they wanted $300.00 for parts + labor. I elected to do it myself, PIA to get at but fairly simple. Afterwards, the squeel remains. Although noticeably diminished. Not as loud and occurs less often. Any other suggestions? Also, what does the sensor sit on, could that be causing the squeeling?

[way2old]

It is a syncronizer. Ity looks loke the bottom of a distributor has been cut off and placed in there. You need to mark EXACTLY where the old one comes out and install new one EXACTLY the same position. If not you will experience the dreaded "check engine light syndrome" and a code P0340 will appear.