problem idle

[ugly1]

Hi guys
my mrs has a year 2000 puma 1.7
last few days it has developed a fault
starts all ok no problem there.
drives fine until it warms up and then when you come to a stop, it does not idle right
the revs drop down really low and the engine shakes as if it is going to stall. then when you drive off again all ok and pulls like a train in every gear.
I have been round to my mate, who has a diagnostic machine and it chucked out code P1380

looking it up online. this points to the Variable Cam Timing Solenoid
pinched pic from here some were but ringed the solenoid in red



ok I have looked on ebay and found this



it says this fits her puma.

anybody ever fitted 1 of these ?
is it easy ?
do I need any special tools ?

or would it be cheaper and easy to let ford do it ?

 

[Dave93.marsh]

Would be surprised if it was the vct, but to replace it is rocker cover off inlet cam out ( don't think you need to remove exhaust cam) swop over with cam back in then re-time.
While you have the cambelt off people would tell you to change the water pump
Cambelt and tensioner.

Hope this helps

 

[ugly1]

if its not the vct
what else could be the problem plz ?

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Idle Control Valve… Take it of and give it a good clean. Can't do any harm, might be solution to your problem

 

[Dave93.marsh]

Not sure to be fair someone with a better understanding of engines will be along soon
To help!

The vct can get jammed but very rare, the vct controlls the the power boost shall we say!
When your engine is reving at say ( my Frp around 4000 rpm ) the vct changes the position of the cams to give it that extra grunt.

With the vct unplugged your car will still run fine but abit sluggish under acceleration.

 

[ugly1]

ok I removed the Idle Control Valve and sprayed some carb cleaner in it and let it soak for 10 mins. also removed the air filter and replaced it with new.
at the bottom of the air filter box in the corner is a little sponge, this was soaked in oil so I cleaned up the box and put a new bit of sponge in there.

while I had that all apart, I removed the pipework to air filter and sprayed carb cleaner into the maf, not to much.
also heard a little hissing coming from the throttle body, on checking found a little bung on the side of it that was letting in air. so replaced that also.

put it all back together and it started 1st time. took for a spin and seemed more responsive on the throttle. gave it a bit of welly to really warm it up well.

now it idles about 1000 rpm
that's seems a little high to me, what you guys think ?

 

[CherryVimto]

Normally around 800-900 rpm ish.

The little rubber bung on the side of the throttle body is a common cause of idle issues. They go brittle and split letting air in.