So this is what happened last night with my 1999 3.0 Ranger, and I am really at a loss. I came out of a toll booth and stepped on it pretty hard, shifted through to 4th gear then all of a sudden the "check gauge" light came on. I looked at the gauges and the oil pressure was as low as it could go. I cut the motor off and coasted to a stop, got out and looked under the hood. Didnt really notice anything so I hopped in and hooked up my OBDII reader that I just happened to have with me and it didnt kick out any codes. So, I try to start the truck and all I am getting is a single loud starter click, not like a dead battery click, but a single loud click.....almost like the starter is engaging but not turning the flywheel. I tried to spin the motor by hand and by wrench and it seems to be seized. Most of my experience is on older vehicles, but to me it seems like maybe the oil pump went tits up and I blew the lower end. Any thoughts?

Thanks alot,
Jason

From everything you have said, the cam syncro died. The problem with that is it also powers your oil pump causing the motor to seize. This is a known issue on the 3.0. How many miles do you have on the truck?

Crap.....it has 180k on it.

From what I've read and researched, most people replace them every 100k for "preventive maintenance".

Usually you can tell if its going bad by a chirping noise coming from the passenger side firewall.