04 6.0L F350 dies while driving: throws codes U0105 and C1185
 

Hello Everyone, I was hoping I got get some advice or guidance with my issue.

I have a 2004 F350 XLT 4x4 drw with a 6.0L 2004 engine, 146K miles and completely stock. While going down the road, the engine just stops, like someone hit a switch. I will roll to the side of the road, turn the ignition off, and it will restart right away, with no problems or hesitation. If I take off again, it will stop just after a few minutes. Also, at intermittent times, seemingly unrelated to this issue, the ABS light will come on.

It may be my imagination, but it seems that when if I left for work in the morning, and it was much cooler, I was able to drive without it dying (I drove 18 miles to work with no problem). In the afternoon, when it is warmer, it will die 3 to 4 times before I can get back home. The longer I let it sit (and thus cool down) the farther I can seem to go before it dies again.

I am definitely not a mechanic, and I just moved to the area (southern Michigan, southeast of Flint) so I don’t know who I can trust to work on the old girl. I did find a shop that supposedly has a lot of experience on the Ford 6.0L engines. They took the truck out, and found it was throwing a U0105 – Lost Comm with FIC Module, and a C1185 – ABS Power Relay Output Circuit Fault. The Mechanic came out to talk to me (and being able to speak directly with the Mechanic really raises my trust level with the place) and said it is most like one of three things 1) the FICM relay, 2) the wiring harness or 3) a bad FICM.

I went and purchased a relay, hoping that a quick, easy, cheap fix would take care of me. I put it in (I’m embarrassed to say it like this, but I believe I swapped out the correct relay; it was on the driver's side, towards the back of the engine compartment in a box with a total of three relays and a fuse. I replaced the relay closer to the firewall), ran the engine for a few minutes, and then rev it up. After about 5 seconds of high rev'ing (about 2100 rpms), the engine dies, so I’m guessing it’s not the relay.

With both the FICM comm code and the ABS comm code, and the fact that it seems to react differently to a hotter engine, I’m hoping it’s a wiring connection issue. I’m going do my best to go through the harnesses to look for any chafing or loose plugs. Is there any place specific I should concentrate first? Is there anything else I should be looking for?

I’ve been reading around in the forums, and though I found similar issues, I wasn’t able to find anything specifically like mine. Like I mentioned, I just moved here, bringing my trailer with my household goods (meaning I couldn’t bring my other vehicle), and I obviously can’t be driving around with my poor girl in this condition (which may cause an accident or cause more harm to my truck). I’m hoping for an easy, inexpensive fix (yea, I know, easy, inexpensive, and Ford’s 6.0L engine don’t normally go together).

And as a side note, I know there has been a lot of issues with the 6.0L engine, but to be honest, this truck has been pretty good to me (I’m knocking on wood right now) with no major problems beside having to replace the HPOP at 120K.

Any information or guidance would be much appreciated. Thanks

Moved to the 6.0L Power Stroke Diesel forum.

a ABS light usually Pops on from a LOW POWER Condition

Hows your Batterys and alternator????

Clean ALL Connections Battery terminals and also follow them to where they mount on truck Frame and engine (Grounds)

And if you keep driving it on a low power condition it will take FICM Out you want good power supply for that FICM

I did just kinda skim threw your post so if I missed anything

U0105 PCED Lost Communication With FICM Communication error

and check the plugs going into FICM
And check the FICM Power
FMP=48volts
FVP=12.6volts or higher
FLP=12.6volts or higher
and also check FICM Sync IIRC it only has to Sync to start

I never found a DTC Definition for your other Code so verify that DTC

It's always so easy to tell other people what they should buy, but there are two common electronic gauges that an owner of the 6.0 should own one of.
Either the Scangauge II or the Edge Insight (CS or CTS model).

Scangauge strong points are it's price ($160) and it can be programmed to read a vast number of items off the engines computer.
The downside is the number of gauges you can read while driving without having to push buttons is half of the Edge CTS (4 vs 8) and you cannot add other gauge attachments. Some also say the appearance is very 1980's and possibly cheap.

Edge strong point is it can display 8 gauges at one time on the screen (CTS model). Additional sensors can be added. A rear view camera can be added and displayed on the touchscreen.
The downside is the cost. The device itself is expensive, as are the sensors if you want to add more (although not much more or less than having to add stand alone gauges anyway for EGT's and Fuel Pressure).
Also the list of things it can read is less than the scangauge, but still decent.


Either of these devices will let you see you the battery voltage, the FICM voltage and the oil and coolant temps (so you can calculate the spread between them). You can also read codes on the fly and this will allow you to post them on here and get additional help.

By the way, welcome to FTE :-X22

Moderator (and everyone else), my apologies for posting in the wrong forum, and thank you for putting it in the correct place.

Sorry I haven’t gotten back sooner. I got called into the office, and had to travel. I’m on the road right now (in a company vehicle), but before I left, I did check the batteries. Just sitting, the batteries read 12.4 and 12.5 volts, and running, I see 14.11 and 14.16 respectively. The batteries appear to be at the correct voltage, so I am assuming the alternator is alright. There was some corrosion build up on the passenger side battery (negative terminal), and I cleaned it off with a wire brush.

Like I said, I don’t know a lot about these things (yet), and this may be normal: When I test the battery on the driver’s side, I placed the red probe on the positive post of the battery and the black probe on a bolt attached to the frame and read the reading. When I did that to the passenger side, I couldn’t get a reading. I tried several locations on the vehicle trying to find a good ground, and nothing would come up. I finally place the black probe on the negative terminal on the battery and I got my reading (12.5 off, and 14.16 idling). It could be just me, but I thought I would throw it out there anyway.

As for the ABS code of C1185, that's what I got from the shop, but I will ask them to verify it (who knows, it could have just been a typo when he wrote up the paperwork).

And thanks Colm. I was thinking I needed some gauges after my HPOP went out. As I have read many times since, the stock gauges are pretty much useless. With your info, I now have a good place to start looking.

Once I get back, I start following the grounds, probably just remove the FICM and start checking the connectors and look for any chaffing along the harness. I’ll let you all know what I find.

No apology needed my friend.:-X22

Welcome to FTE too. I moved your thread to the 6.0 forum to get you better assistance. The 6.0 guys are a great bunch and you'll generally get quicker and better assistance with a 6.0 issue here than in the Super Duty forum.;)

Clean ALL Battery conections positives and grounds and follow the wires cleean everything

the issue you had with the DVM reading makes me think Charging system connection is Dirty IDK free and easy so far

Hello Everyone,

I will be heading home tomorrow (Saturday) and I will probably take the Old Girl to the Ford Dealer. I was doing some more research, and I found there is a voluntary Ford safety recall covering the wiring harness for the FICM on the 2004 F350 SD (Safety recall 05s34, NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 05V270000, found at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...ls/results.cfm) :

Summary:
CERTAIN PICKUP TRUCKS, SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND VANS EQUIPPED WITH 6.0L DIESEL ENGINES MAY EXPERIENCE STALLING WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING AND MAY OR MAY NOT RESTART.
Consequence:
SHOULD THE ENGINE STALL, A VEHICLE CRASH COULD OCCUR.
Remedy:
DEALERS WILL UPGRADE THE FUEL INJECTION CONTROL MODULE (FICM) WIRE HARNESS OR REPLACED, AND/OR HAVE A NEW INJECTION CONTROL PRESSURE (ICP)) SENSOR CONNECTOR INSTALLED FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JULY 22, 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT FORD AT 1-800-392-3673.

The summary fits my symptoms, but I never received the safety recall notice. I’m hoping they will take care of it with no issues, even though it has been so long. I’ll let you all know what happens.

Keep us posted. I am currently sitting in my 05 F350 on a flatbed tow truck on the highway because mine just died at 75 MPH. Motor just died completely. Electrical system seems strong, cranking easily. Just died and will not restart.

SOunds like you may either have some of the wire chaffing that occured on the '03 and '04 trucks (2004 most were fixed before they left the dealer) or you have a FICM that may need to be replaced.

I remember a post similar to yours and the problem was the pcm if i remember correctly. It would lose comm with the ficm and the abs light would come on. Please update when you get it running again. Welcome, and good luck with it.

When checking the batteries remember they are wired in series. Disconnect one of the cables (doesn't matter which) before checking voltage or a good battery will be applying power to the bad one and make it seem ok. Also a load test is a better indicator of battery health than reading voltage. Most auto parts stores will test for free. Better to replace in pairs if you have the $$.

An 05 if I had to take a Stab in the Dark Id say STC Fitting gave out

A High Pressure Oil Issue


you can check everything mentioned with a ScanGaugeII ie...FICM,HPO,Batterys,Alternator

Thanks for the input. I'll start another thread tomorrow. Still on cellphone on flatbed on highway. What a pisser.