Glad you feel that way!.

We are all here to help!

 

JMO!

All this discussion about what to do and what not to do (coolant,coolant filter, oil cooler, head studs,egr cooler, ect, ect) all outstanding advise by very respectable people and we haven't even got to the FICM yet.

I love my 05 in sig don't get me wrong, for what you are doing with the truck and the info we have about what you would do with the truck, I would stick with the 96 7.3. IMO

 

Now that you have mentioned it what is the on going problems with the FICM (Fuel Injection Control Module)? What are the signs of your FICM going bad and are there any simple repairs to it?

Charlie

 

There are simple repairs to the FICM - and about $200 to $250 in cost if you remove it yourself and send it in to have the repair/upgrades done. Some folks re-flow solder themselves. Sometines this works and sometimes it doesn't. It is easy to mess things up if you are not good at soldering circuit boeards (and there are internal components that are marginal in their specs - these need to be changed).

Simply put, the FICM doesn't have to be an issue for anyione that has found forums like this (because people that come here can do many of theiir own repairs) - especially the simple ones like FICM removal.

 

Not sure how much you were messing w/ the OP on this Benny, but there sure are a lot of threads surfacing on failures of Victor Reinz / Black Onyx head gaskets. At first I ignored most of these types of threads, until repair shops that do a lot of stud installations start talking about repeat work - only on the ones w/ VR / BO gaskets. Lots of this kind of talk going on - not so much here on FTE, but on other forums it is frequent.

 

Be sure to check the degas bottle for coolant level and residue. It is an indicator of either a failed/failing egr cooler or head gasket. If it looks like mine then you will know!

You can look and see if the egr cooler is still in place as well as factory exhaust and air box. Most people won't do tune upgrades without doing at least the exhaust and I can almost guarantee you that no one is going to put their factory exhaust back on.

P.S. I have black onyx gaskets, these were taken last week. Use OEM gaskets if you replace them or get studs.

 

The reason I ask about the FICM is that I'm taking my 2005 F250 6.0L Powerstroke in on Monday to repair my FICM. I'm taking it to a local Ford dealership to rebuild and replace it. They quoted to rebuild mine or if it’s not rebuildable to replace it with a rebuild would run $250-$300.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o></o>
I'm a new owner of this vehicle and so that I understand what's been written on this Thread I should:<o></o>
1- Get Oasis report (I did get a Carfax prior to my purchase and talked to the Ford mechanics that have done all of the repairs, warrantee work and oil changes etc. The EGR was replaced, exhaust and oil coolers replaced- pretty much all known issues were dealt with and repairs a few years ago. Mechanics all said that the previous owner took care of it. Previous owner used Rotella T oil and rotated the tires on schedule (Discount Tires will continue to rotate them for the life of the tires).<o></o>
2- Consider an external gauges (e.g. Scangauge II or similar)...which I have considered but haven’t decided on one.<o></o>
3- Consider upgrading coolant to ELC coolant (current color appears yellow/gold).<o></o>
4- Not even considering any aftermarket items like exhaust or heads etc. I’m happy with the way it is.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Any thing else I should consider or do?

Thanks,<o></o>
Charlie

 

My only issues would be: "What happened for the original owner to need an oil cooler and did they change out the EGR cooler also (you said the EGR was replaced, but was it the valve, the cooler, or both)?"

What I mean is - did the oil cooler plug (coolant side) and show a high temperature or did it actually fail and get oil into the coolant and get it all gelled up? If it was the later, then the questions are - how long was it driven that way and how well was it repaired?

I am an advocate of buying used 6.0's because there are good deals out ther on them. I am not sure if I wouldn't keep looking until I found one that didn't have an oil cooler / EGR cooler failure in its history though.

 

Sorry, yes the EGR cooler was replaced and I believe that it was both.

 

I think that I've read enough to keep my 1996 7.3, for now. I was only thinking about upgrading because I wanted a Lariat model with leather interior. Unfortunately, i havent been able to locate any leather seats, bolt in, or even leather shops with patterns. I located a shop that does OEM leather, but only has patterns for 1997 & up. Just my luck...............

 

Might check the date of the EGR cooler repair. If I remember right, the TSB for replacing the oil cooler when replacing the EGR cooler came out in Sept. 09. I wouldn't trust that the Oil cooler was replaced prior to this time.

 

Ok Ill check that out. I appreciate all of the information.

Charlie

 

I went back through some emails and the EGR and oil cooler were replaced but, I don't any other specifics like "did the oil cooler plug (coolant side) and show a high temperature or did it actually fail and get oil into the coolant and get it all gelled up". The work was completed at Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor, MI.

 

Bismic I would be interested in seeing "your Excel spreadsheets" you made. My email addy is coliervile@hotmail.com

Thanks,
Charlie

 

Check Coverking - Custom Seat Covers

They have nice stuff. I did a leather set for my Dakota and it was OEM fit and quality.