Sure no problem… After testing my voltage at 48.4 v with the key on and 18 v when trying to crank, I felt comfortable in knowing it was the FICM, well that and the previous year I dump major $$ for new injectors. Anyway I took the FICM apart according to the direction in this post and inspected each solder joint. While I do not have an extensive electronics background, this was not the first set of solder joints I have looked at, and to the untrained naked eye I could not visually identify a bad one. Now that being said with magnification and a trained eye I am sure one could spot the problem. So without knowing for sure I decided to hit them all. I first started with the back of the power board and took a tooth pick to brush a little resin flux on each joint. I then hit each joint one by one reflowing as much silver solder as I felt the joint would take without damage. I then turned to the front side and put small amounts of resin on each end of the resistors. While applying pressure on top on the resistor I heated and reflowed small amounts of solder to each side. Finally I hit the 4 pass through connections with lite sandpaper on both sides and put it all back together. I will echo what others have said on here about getting the connections back locked into the FICM, they are a bear. But the final result was well worth it. Once again I could not have done it without this forum and Dr.Quad, THANK YOU.

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer back in such detail.

There is a chance I will lose my job in June (funding running out for government research project) and I was thinking I would like to put my 30+ years of electronics experience to use by repairing FICM's. The catch 22 is that I would think no one would want to send their FICM to someone who has never repaired one yet I can't get any experience unless someone is willing to send me one. I put an ad on Craigslist saying I would do a couple for free and had 1 reply but his ended up being a different problem.

Anyway, that is why I asked. Sorry to go off topic (sort of).

 

2006 was having bad cold starts and finally she would not start. I came across this post and repair fix and it worked perfectly. Thank you so much. Dealer wanted about $1000. I am stoked. Thank god for the internet.

 

Well my 06 started giving me trouble starting the other morning so I found this thread and decided to test and repair my ficm. It worked just as others said and I am very thankful. Im glad there are guys out there who would rather take the time and post about problems and ways to fix them instead of the stealership taking money out of our pockets... I owe you guys

 

Well guys, you's all have great info, I would like to do the ficm mod but I am worried I will bug it up. So I will call around to see if anybody can do it. I hope it fixes my cold start problem, I can not test it because I have taken my whole truck apart. Started with a crapped out egr and decide to redu a bunch of other stuff. I will get back to you's once truck is back together. Thanks for all the great info.
mach123

 

Drop me a line if we can help!

That said, if by 'FICM mod', you mean any voltage upgrade, we'll have to pass on your business. In my experience, the reliability of the module takes a hit when the voltage is upgraded. It's just not worth it, IMHO, and I won't take the chance on it - not for my truck, not for any of my customer's trucks.

Ed
Ed@ficmrepair.com

 

Well guys I spoke to soon. My check engine light just came back on so I have to check the ficm voltage again and get back to the drawing board. :/

 

Hey Ed @ ficmrepair.com and everyone on FTE:

First off, excuse me for not knowing all the correct terminology, but I should be able to explain it enough for you to understand what I'm getting at.

I just got a 2005 250 CC PS with 64k miles and I had a P0261 code pop up on injector #1. Since I have a 30 day warranty I took it to the place I bought it and went to their mechanic. They ran a full test with the scanner and all the injectors came back good. As soon as she was done running the injector test, P0261 popped up for all 8 injectors.

The truck had 2 small batteries like you would find in a Honda civic or some other tinker toy car. I replaced them to the 65 series.

The truck doesn't have any hard starts and sounds fine starting cold. My fuel mileage is utter crap (6-7 on the hwy). I haven't ran the diagnostic test on the ficm like you have described yet. The shop is going to run a full battery of pinpoint tests to diagnose the problem.

Based on the info at hand, does it sound like the ficm is going bad and needs to be repaired? Will it slowly progress into the hard start situations I've heard about from many people that have posted on here.

I also got a P0299 code which I know is under boost. I'm sure because the truck only has 64k miles, rust has built up on the vanes. Have you ever seen these two codes being connected. Knowing how everything works to a point, I can't see a connection, but this is my first PS so I'm still learning the intricacies of the engine.

 

Hey fellas-
Just tried reflowing the solder on my FICM according to DrQuad's instructions. When I put the soldering iron/pencil on the joint the factory solder would not flow or melt. What the hell did/didn't I do? Tried switching tips and kept pumping up the heat... nothing worked. Am I missing something here? If I'm an idiot, please tell me. Thanks!

 

If you've got circuit low codes for all eight injectors, there is no doubt that the FICM is the culprit.

Let me know if we can help! We'd love to have your (your dealer's really) business!

Ed
Ed@ficmrepair.com

 

I sent my ficm in to be repaired by notebook mechanix. He charged me 70 bucks and he had a great turn around. He was listed on eBay so I gave it a shot and I can say I was pleased with his repair and the same day service. I would recommend him to anyone having this issue.

 

Does he upgrade any components? What warranty does he have?

 

Lifetime limited warranty. You pay for shipping to him he pays for shipping back. I don't believe he does the upgrades though.... Best price I have seen around.

 

I highly recommend upgrading the weak components in the unit itself - not just reflowing solder. Lots and lots of old threads on this.

Glad you are happy w/ the work and it has resolved your issues!

 

I thought about the higher voltage upgrade and I didn't want other things to mess up in the ficm.