Carbon Canister Solanoid/Purge Flow Sensor for 97 Ford Escort

I need to replace my Carbon Canister Solanoid (aka Activated Charcoal Canister Valve I believe)-Purge Flow Sensor on my 97 Ford Escort.  I've already replaced a few other parts like the air bypass valve and the PCV valve and the EGR pressure sensor etc.  Is the canister solanoid and the purge flow sensor one and the same?  I can't seem to find a picture or illustration of either online to find it in on my car.  Unfortunately, most chain auto parts stores don't carry it.  I'm under the impression its a dealer only part.  Could anyone tell me where its located on the car?  Any suggestions where I might buy one?  I believe the Ford manufacturer's part # is: F7CT 9C987 AC.

They are  separate components..
 
Pic 1 is the purge solenoid and you can see the sensor along side and to the right.. Pic 2 is the sensor..


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Thanks a lot Hayapower.  So it looks like that part is electrical based with accompanying wires? After a diagnostics the dealer quoted me $106 for the part. All the other parts they quoted me extremely high so obviously we hunted them down elsewhere.  Unfortunately, these two items and the PVC Tube (not the valve) aren't available at Autozone, Pepboys or Kragen.  I suppose I'll have to try my luck with Craig's List part outs, ebay or as a last resort the Dealer parts dept.  Any idea how necessary it is to get the solanoid and the sensor replaced?  I'm not too familiar how they're impacting the drivability and the mileage.  I was having major idle problems, stuttering, stalls at stops, and fuel deficiency resulting it horrible gas mileage.  Upon replacing the fuel filter and spark plugs the problems were elleviated but it kept throwing codes with a check engine light on.  Finally took it to the dealer to get a thurough diagnostics so we're down to the last few items to replace. 

Ok, so after taking off the air filter to reach the solanoid and sensor, we noticed that the line running from the bottom of the fuel injector to the purge flow sensor and solanoid was completely corroded and not attached! DOH! So yeah, I'm sure that has 100% to do with them registering "bad" on the diagnostics.  So we'll replace the tubing and have the code cleared and see how it goes from there.  Thanks again for the diagram that was helpful.

bump.
Previous symptoms:

• stuttering, jerky, "panting" inconsistent idle - sometimes stalled at stops in gear (automatic) because of it.  went from intermitent to frequent very rapidly
  
• bad gas mileage that got worse over time-12/13gal tank only getting ~170 miles to the tank
  
• heavy vibration in reverse and sometimes at stops (prior to stuttering problem)
  
• started throwing various codes-check engine light came on at the worst sputtering
  
• stuttering acceleration-when applying gas it'd hesitate a few times

1st attempt at repairs:

• changed the fuel filter thinking its clogged and starving for fuel
  
• changed spark plugs
  
• oil change for good measure

Noticeable improvements to the stuttering idle, gas mileage still bad. Cleared the codes. Next few days it stuttered intermittently and check engine light came back on.  Took it to Ford Dealer for professional diagnostic check just for some real answers. They said the following was bad: *Spark Plugs (that I just changed GRR), *spark plug wires, *PCV tube (not valve), *air filter, *air by pass valve, *carbon canister solanoid (CCS), *purge flow sensor (PFS),  *EGR pressure sensor
 
We replaced everything but the PCV tube-I replaced the valve, tube not available-and the CCS/PFS.  As stated we noticed the line going to the CCS/PFS was dry rotted and not attached so line was replaced. We figured they came up bad on diagnostics because of the tube not being attached. Cleared codes again.
 
NOW, few days later, there's a slight knocking sound in the engine. The first few days the driveability was back to normal but now its having the intermitent sputtering idle again not too bad yet though.  No codes yet. The gas mileage doesn't seem better.
 
Any advice of what could be the problem?

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 I have a Ford Escort 1997 LX and am having the exact same symptons aquakittie described.  Did anyone find a solution to this problem?