Got a call from a friend with a broken 6.0. His truck stalled in the middle of the road and won't start. His Bulletproof FICM showed 11v main power so we removed it. It stunk like burnt electrical when I opened it up. Not sure which half burned up. I decided to put his original half shell FICM back in.

I turn the key on and the logic power starts off at 11.5v and bleeds down to 0. The main power does the same, starts at 48v and bleeds down to 0. Also I get no FICM Sync. I swapped FICM relays with the one from my truck, same thing. I also checked all fuses.

You guys think its Ok to condemn the FICM or am I forgetting something?

 

Burnt inside says it all


your ontrack


put your ficm in it if you want to be sure

 

Thanks Benny, I thought about putting mine in it, just a little nervous to, mines good and I'm not sure why his burned up but I'd hate for mine to do the same.

 

I know I hear ya


I wouldn't do it with out some DVM testing first


What was his FVP 12volts+

 

i agree with benny.. sounds toast... of what ive read on other forums if the logic side goes itll do about what youve been describing.. and the main board supposedly cant operate without the logic one.. if you can figure out which pin going into the ficm carries the power for the logic you can try testing it with a multimeter to be sure its not else where in the harness first..

but i also agree with you justin.. i would be nervous as well about plugging mine into it without knowing what caused it to burn out in the first place..

 

I'm not sure on the FVP Benny, I don't have that PID programmed.

He did just tell me that his battery light has came on a couple times briefly. Maybe that explains it.

Sparky, I'll try to figure out which pin carries the power to the logic side.

 

if the battery light came on may want to check the battery's charge and get the alternator checked.. either one by itself can kill the ficms running on inconsistent or insufficient supply if ran long enough.. dead batteries/failing alternators seem to go hand in hand with FICM's dieing shortly after...

 

That's what I told him. And another reason I don't want my FICM in his truck until at least the batteries and alternator are tested. I saw somewhere that a compromised charging system can hurt a FICM in 15 seconds.

 

Yep - 15 seconds is the shortest period of time that we've seen. You likely saw a reference to that on our home page. Chances are good that the logic board is fine and that only the power board is game over.

FICM's don't kill trucks though, trucks kill FICM's.

So...if you have his original power board still, I'd go ahead and mate it to his original logic board and install it in ANOTHER truck. That's a down and dirty way to tell if its good (any Powerstroke-programmed FICM will start and run any other Powerstroke regardless of model year). If you aren't comfortable doing that, I completely understand. If the FICM is sent over to us, we can positively test it on our bench, put it through the paces and let you know where things stand.

Before I'd install another FICM in the truck where the damage occurred, I'd ABSOLUTELY have the alternator(s) and batteries yanked and bench/load tested. If nothing is found there, I'd next thoroughly inspect all wiring harnesses.

Hope this helps!

 

BTW, you SURE you checked all the fuses? Depending on the model year of the truck, there is either a 30 amp or 50 amp MAXI fuse either under the steering column or in the fuse box under the hood by the driver's side fender at the firewall. This fuse is referred to in the owners manual as the IDM fuse (a holdover from the 7.3).

There is also a 10 amp mini spade fuse in the fuse box under the hood that handles the logic board.

 

Thanks for chiming in Ed. Yes, I checked the Maxi fuses and the 10a under the hood.

He's removing the batteries and alternator tomorrow and having them tested.

So, the original power board he had was showing low voltage about 3 years ago, that's the reason he went with the Bulletproof half shell. I mated the original power board to the logic board and installed it in his truck and it produced the symptoms stated.

I will try putting his FICM in my truck to see if it shows the same.

BTW, I believe you will be servicing the FICM for him. He's not too happy with the Bulletproof unit right now (even though we know it's not at fault).

Oh, forgot to mention his truck is an 03 with the 7 pin FICM

 

Just how were the fuses checked? I lost the 50A fuse and the FMP would start
high and bleed down to 0. Turned out that the fuse was blown and I had been
lazy and not dug out the DMM to check it the right way. New fuse and repaired
FICM and problem went away.



Sean <BR>

6.0L Tech Folder

 

All I had at the time was my Fluke T5 1000. I'll double check it.

 

Well, Ed and Sean, you nailed it. I must have missed the 50A Maxi fuse that was blown. Replaced it and truck fired right up. FLP was 12v and FMP was 48v.
After about a mile of driving the truck died throwing a U0105. No blown fuses this time.

Made sure all the PCM plugs and the FICM plugs were firmly seated and again checked fuses.

Any other suggestions before sending this FICM out?

 

Glad you found the fuse!

If you are losing communication now, though, you either have a wiring harness issue or a FICM issue. So...step one would be to seriously review the harness. If that comes back clean, step two would be to send the FICM on in.

Hope this helps!