VCT is giving me problems

[mjkmc]

Hello,
I have a 2000 I4 MTX Cougar with 106k. It recenty broke the timing belt on the highway last week. I had it towed to the shop and they replaced the belt. I thought it was all good until I started to drive it home when it imediately through a cyl 1 and 4 misfire codes and began to run really weak. So I took it back and they told me that the VCT may be dirty from poor oil and are changing the oil on it now. They said this may clear up the problem over time.

Does this sound right to anyone? Or is does my VCT sound really messed up? I've read the past forums stating a VCT Delete kit. Has anyone used this with sucess?

Looking for any kind of help or direction on this. Thanks!

[iceberg65]

i would make sure that the shop got the timing right, its never bad to get a 2nd opinion from another shop. change your oil tho, you might want to concider seafoaming to help clean everything out before the change and see if it clears up, might want to check your plugs and wires too.

[james99]

have them recheck the timing, deleting vct is alot of work the kit itself is only about $40, but then you have to buy an xcal 2 and a tune to make the computer not look for vct, thatll probably ended up being well over $400 for the xcal and tune. im sure the vct replace would be checker than that.

*alittle slow

[Turbo Zetec 'tour]

as was said, have them double check the timing. its not uncommon for even a ford dealership to screw up the timing on a zetec with VCT.

[cbman]

I would guess the most likely situation is that they did not set the timing properly.

If you can take off a valve cover and you can remove a spark plug, you can check the timing approximately to see if it is way off. Let me know if you would like me to explain this.

[mjkmc]

Could you explain please? It would be helpfull.

Also I've got the car back home now. It is running ok but feels like about 75% of the power prior to any problems. Also when idleing it will dip fluctuate between the normal 1k rpm to about 300 rpm. And I am getting a cel, i'll check which one tomorrow. Thanks

[cbman]

Well, the best way to check the timing would be to use the Cam alignment tool and TDC Peg, but if you don't have those you can try this method.

1. Jack the front passenger side of the car up and remove the tire. Remove the mud guard exposing the crankshaft pulley.
2. Remove the black plastic cover over the cam gears. There's only four bolts, but this can be a PITA since you have to bend it to get it out.
3. Remove the Valve Cover. The bolts have retainers, so they won't come out all the way.
4. Remove the spark plug from cylinder #1(Cylinder closest to belts).
5. Put something in Cylinder #1 like a long screwdriver.
6. Turn the crankshaft clockwise using the pulley bolt. Be careful not to damage anything since there is an object in the cylinder, or you can take it out until your close to TDC. Use the screwdriver in the cylinder to determine when you reach TDC.
7. Now that your at TDC look at the ends of the cams. The ears on the cam ends should be parallel with the flat surface of the top of the head.

So, if your timing is way off, you should be able to visually tell using this method. I'll attach a drawing showing my paint skills.

[mjkmc]

I haven't updated this in a while. Spring is finally on the way and I hope to attack this problem soon. The fiance is driving the car for now. She says that it is driving ok at best with less power than normal. I don't know how long it will run like this, but I'm sure I'll need to fix this sooner or later.

I haven't rechecked the timing yet. But if it turns out the timing is correct, it's got to be an issue with the VCT Solenoid. My question now is that if I do the VCT delete I will still get a CEL code, right? Will the car function better though? I guess that if I can delete the VCT and the car will work normally again at the expense of only throwing a CEL code, I would be willing to accept that. Is there any other reason to reset the computer other than to just get rid of the light?

Any help is appreciated. I'm hoping to find a free Saturday in the next month to attempt this. They are hard to come by these days.

[james99]

i may be wrong here, but i think if you take it away without tuning it from the ecu, the computer will go into limp mode and the car wont run right. disconnecting the battery will only clear the light for a short time and itll come back. im sure someone else will correct me if im wrong. ive always wanted to unplug my vct while the car was running to see what would happen, but ive never been brave enough to do it.

[GTownCougar]

I unplugged mine when I first got my car cause I had no idea what it was. Apparently did no harm. Didnt change how it ran at idle when unplugged.