My 2004 F350 has a miss in it for about the first few miles or so when I start it in the morning. Starts fine but runs bad until it gets up to temperature. It has been doing this all summer. Temps around here only going down into the 70's or so at night. I decided to run a test last night and plugged my truck in. When I fired it up this morning, it ran like a champ right off the bat. no miss at all. any ideas?


Also, I recently decided to install a straight pipe kit. Its a little louder than I expected but I like it. The turbo is really loud through the exaust now.
I noticed that when it idles, you can hear the turbo spin up and down.
Is that normal?


Thanks!

 

As far as the turbo. That's normal, certain strategies cycle the turbo at idle to prevent vains from sticking.

As far your miss. It could be either FICM or injector sticktion. There are a few more things possible, but those two are the most common.


Here is the post taking strait from bismic (mark)*about injector sticktion.
FYI -

Typically when one injector fails, we find that the engine is hard to start and is low on power. If two injectors fail starting will be very hard or the engine will not start at all. If you do manage to start the engine, it will be very low on power.*

You also need to use synthetic oil (5W40), change the oil often, and get the latest flash -

The main reason why the 6.0 is so picky about oil is because it is totally reliant on two electromagnets to shuttle the spool and control the oil to the injectors. The 7.3`s use a electromagnet also but a spring to return the poppet to the closed position. Obviously the spring will work much better to "cut" through the thick oil and close the oil flow.

Not only will running oil with too thick of a viscosity cause rough starts. But this also will interrupt the shuttle action of the spool causing injection timing to be retarded causing poor performance and decreased mileage until the oil is up to full operating temperature.

There is a small spool valve in the top of the injector that controls the flow of high oil pressure fed to the intensifier piston in the fuel injector. That spool valve only moves .017", back and forth, on and off every time the injector fires.*

Many factors play in to how well that valve works such as, oil temp, oil quality, normal wear, ambient temp, and many others. As this valve ages it polishes itself inside the bore of the spool valve and as the spool valve slams back and forth it can set up the condition like a suction cup, hanging the valve to one side or the other.*

This uncommanded uncontrollable condition is called stiction (or oil latching). Mostly its a rough run cold condition but in severe cases it can be a no start or pretty harsh misfire condition. Oil that stays inside the valve on a hot engine shutdown and is allowed to cool slowly in the injector can aggravate the condition on restart, so the newest reflash uses inductive heat after shutdown to keep the oil warm, keep its viscosity low, and maximize the oil flowability to purge the oil from them. It has worked fantastic. It is an excellent preventative measure.

 

Thats why I love this forum. Always great information!

I have never ran synthetic oil. I am due for fuel filters and an oil change very soon so I guess I'll give the synthetic a shot.

Thanks for the quick response!

 

It has helped a lot of people with sticktion. 5w40 is not a have to run oil, but is recommended by many on this forum. I really like it, and it doesn't cost that much more than Dino 15w40.

 

update. Took the advice on the forum and changed to full synthetic 5W40 and changed the fuel filters. No improvement on cold running. When I say cold running, I do not mean really cold, I mean it runs bad until the truck gets up to operating temp. It starts right up with no hesitation at all but misses really bad until it warms up. Usually takes a couple miles then its fine. Problem is, I live in KY and its all hills. My truck struggles to go up steep inclines when its running like this.


Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

 

My 2005 F250 6.0L had those same symptoms of rough running and no power right after a cold/cool start. A few minutes would warm it up and run fine. Dealer diagnosed EGR cooler leakage clogging up the EGR valve. Combined with low voltage on the FICM. I am out of pocket for nearly $3400 in repairs but it runs right now.

 

Ouch!!!

To the OP: I'm wondering if you ever checked the FICM voltage?

 

You need to check the FICM voltage, or get it checked. There is a procedure in the tech folder at the top of the page.

 

Ok im starting to sound like a rep for the company but, I had the exact same problem, I searched FTE and heard about Rev x oil additive, I put it in on friday and sat morning my truck started quicker like when its warm and ran with full power before it was up to temp. It not only fixed the running like crap when cold it also gave me more HP and less turbo lag. I live in AZ so when I say cold I mean just started. I would definitely try it.

 

First off Welcome to FTE

sucks it cost that much

And IMHO you didnt need EGR Cooler

and if it was Truely Bad they should have changed the oil cooler to
about 95% of the time a plugged oil cooler takes OUT the Egr cooler

Stick around and study up the more you learn the better off you will be

 

Ive seen quite a few people talk about Rev X and how well it works. I may give it a shot, but for now it looks like I have a nice little electronics project to do this weekend. I'll test the voltage and if its bad I will try to repair the solder. I'll keep you all posted

Thanks again for all the fast replies.

 

Also another quick and easy idea is the "High Idle Mod". It does not cure stiction, but it is very easy to do and will have your truck at a decent operating temp in a couple mins. Also can be found in the tech folder.

 

Got the FICM out and apart. Looks like its burned up. the small board looks charred and even has a little broken plastic on one of the connections. Id say I am screwed.
Is there programming involved if I just buy the replacement?

 

IDK what is considered a good core but you might want to contact this guy he has fixed alot of folks up on here the replacement unit wont need to be programmed as far as I know

www.ficmrepair.com

If you get a new one from Ford yes it will need programmed

 

I contacted him and described my current FICM. He told me that he could not take it as a good core. I found a guy on EBAY that has some rebuilt ones for $200.00 with a $150.00 core charge. He also told me that if he could not rebuild my old core that it would not come back on me and I would still get the $150.00 return. Thats way lower than any other place I have found. Ford wants $716.00 for the part plus the programming. I think the programming is around a hundred bucks. This guy apparently installs the rebuilt FICM's on a truck and programs to the latest Ford flash according to the year of the truck.
For the price, I guess its worth the risk. Hopefully I can swap this out and be ready to roll. I'll keep you all updated. Should be receiving it early next week. Truck will run like crap until then but at least its still getting me to work every day. (For now)
If anyone is interested, this is the guy:
6.0 DIESEL POWERSTROKE FORD FUEL INJECTOR CONTROL MODULE FICM F250-550 ECONOLINE | eBay