Hello All,


Well, coming home from work Friday and my truck turned on the check engine light. I did not notice any loss of power or other driveability issues. When I got home I pulled the DTC's. I got P0264, P0273, P0276, P0279, P0611, and U0306. The first four being low voltages. The Second FICM. And the last cylinder 6 misfire.


I sent a message to Ed at FICM Repair asking if there was anything to check before I pulled the beast. He said no it needed service no matter what at this point. BUT, I needed to test batteries and alternator. So I spent some time today pulling off my FICM.


I went ahead and pulled the EBP sensor and tube off from the exhaust manifold. The manifold end was very clean. BUT, the sensor end had a noticeable restriction. I would guess a 40% restriction. I cleaned the tube and the sensor and put it back on.


Next I moved to the EGR. I pulled it off and it was dirty but not what I would call restricted. The valve moved freely. I cleaned it anyway and blew out the manifold before I reinstalled it.


I have the batteries on a charger right now. Once they each charge for 12 hours each I will let them sit a day or two before I load test them. They are about four years old, AC Delco 60 month 875CCA batteries. I have had problems the last 6-8 months with staring the truck. If she sits for more than 3-4 weeks without being run she turns over slow and won't start. So I have had to jump start her a few times. And before you ask I have done a parasitic check and only have .05amp draw. So maybe the alternator is getting weak.


On that note I pulled the alternator and will get it bench tested this week. While I was there I noticed the top grooved and smooth idler pullies were a little "wobbly" so I yanked them too and will replace. Might as well do the belt while I'm at it (LOL). Boy this is going to get expensive real fast.


So, I decided to go ahead and replace the bottom coolant recovery hose and the long hose/pipe heater hose too. Boy it never ends. Oh well. I would rather do it now while I have stuff pulled off and it is easier to get to. Ordered those parts from RockAuto to the tune of 219 dollars. OUCH!!!


Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I accidentaly broke my new engine oil dipstick while I was trying to get to the FICM!!!! CRAP!!!! More money. Sooooo......... Is there anything else I might want to look at while I am there?


Oh yeah, the truck is 2006 F250 6.0 PSD CC SB 4x4 mid optioned XLT with 108,000+ miles. I have a 4" turbo back exhaust, AFE Cold Air Intake, Blue Spring, Hypertec Power Program 3 on the lowest setting, and an after market intake elbow at the intake manifold and an engine oil bypass filter. Turbo was pulled and de-coked about 18,000 miles back. Otherwise no issues. The 90,000 mile service was done about 10,000 miles ago. She gets regular services.


How about methanol injection? Will that help keep the intake clean from the EGR sludge? I'm not thinking about added power, just keeping things cleaner? I plan to do the Atlas 40 when the FICM gets repaired.


Thanks, Bruce

 

EBP sensor and tube




EBP tube at manifold




EGR




Intake at EGR




Turbo tube at intake elbow.


Is the oil at the bottom of the turbo tube at the intake manifold elbow normal?

 

Some oil is normal if useing the stock ccv system.

 

Yes it is the factory CCV system. I saw post on modding that system, but for some reason the pics would not open up for me? Bruce

 

Any battery that sits 3-4 weeks is going to discharge. I would suggest investing $50 in a good battery maintainer (not a charger) that will desulfate the batteries. Since the batteries are 4 years old, and appear to have had deep discharges and likely have sulfate build up (3-4 weeks sitting) they are probably weak.

I have resurrected weak batteries with the BatteryMinder 1500 in the past....and my current batteries are 3-4 years old and if the truck isn't running, the 1500 is on the batteries doing it's thing. My truck has sat since Dec 27 until today. Batteries had 13.3 volts when I cranked it this afternoon.

Most likely, the weak batteries are the cause of your FICM failure.

 

I agree the batts prolly killed the FICM. I bought a NOCO Genius G3500 smart charger yesterday that will de-sulfate batteries. This may sound stupid, but how do you charge two batteries with one charger at the same time? Do you have to keep moving the leads to the other battery every few days?


G3500 | Genius Battery Chargers


Bruce

 

That looks like a good unit. It will charge/maintain both batteries if only hooked to one.

Some people doubted that a while back so I made a video to prove it.

 

It will? Freaking awesome!!!! Where's the video? Bruce

 

Took me a while to find it....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iElU...ature=youtu.be

 

Thank you.

 

I got an e-mail from Noco today. They told me the G3500 charger will indeed charge and maintain/desulfate TWO batteries at the same time no problem. So that is cool to know.


Also, had the alternator bench tested at O'Reilly's and it passed their machine's tests. Voltage were 14.9 and 15.2 for each test. BUT, they could not tell me amperage output? Bummer, so I don't know what to do about that. Also, tested the driver's side battery with my snap on load tester. Beginning voltage was 12.8 and it held 750cca for the ten second load test and voltage during the load test was 11 volts. Recovery voltage was 12.4. This was after being off a charger for 12 hours. I will do the same for the passenger battery tomorrow after it has been off a charger for at least 12 hours.


Bruce

 

Well, got more bad news several days ago. FICMrepair called and told me my logic board was toast. That would explain the communication error DTC code. It's going to be an additional 300 bucks for the repair. Boy, right now, I need a battery, a set of jumper cables and some wet sponges to jump start my heart!!!


I have been trying to locate another used FICM, but the yards have been heavily picked clean it appears. And the only thing on ebay are people offering repair services. Bummer. B.

 

I have a FICM I am selling for a Tech friend. PM me if you are interested.

I have two NOCO chargers - I really like them.

 

I would get Ed to send you a new FICM power relay also.


OEM alternators and weak batteries are FICM killers. You might want to consider at least an alternator upgrade. I would venture to guess that 90% of FICM failures happen in cold weather, when batteries are at their weakest.


I just went through a FICM power relay issue. But I upgraded my alternator to 250 amps and added Ed's high end battery cables.



Ed

 

Yes, I will most likely get the relay as well. I am upgrading the alternator to passenger side battery cable as well. I have another thread about alternators in the superduty forum. But since the rebuild is going to be nearly double, I may not be able to afford an alternator right now.


I have discussed my truck with Ed at length. We are pretty sure the fact the truck will sit for 3-4 weeks at a time and be nearly dead by then, that is most likely what killed the FICM trying to start it with weak batteries. But I am still going to make some upgrades. B.