My Dad has a 2006 F550 6.0l Powerstroke, and this morning and really for the past two weeks or so it has been having some hard starts. But this morning was definitely the worst. It seems to for the most part, start fine during the week when he's driving to and using it at work all day. But on the weekends when it sits for a while, is when it has the hard starts. I know last week on Monday morning, after not really driving it all weekend, it had a really hard start and took about 10 minutes or so to start. It got really smoky with white smoke I think, I wasn't there just going off of what he told me, and just wouldn't start. It would start to turn over and run for a few seconds but then shut off.

Then it did it again. He drove it yesterday morning, but that was it, and it wasn't a long drive. So when he went to start it did the same thing again. It was very very smoky with white and gray smoke. When he turned it over it would just crank and pour out white smoke. Even after he stopped cranking it, it would pour out white smoke for a few seconds afterwards. A few times it did turn over and run for a few seconds but then it would shut off, and when it did run for a little bit the smoke would turn to more of a grey color. It sounded pretty weird to, almost like it was something or not getting something, whether it be the glow plugs, fuel, or charge from the batteries. Of course after all that it did wear down the batteries and we eventually had to jump it. This was after about 10 or 15 mins of trying to start it with no luck. Even after we hooked up my moms car to it, it still took a couple cranks to get it to start. And when it did start the smoke was a dark grey almost black smoke, and then my Dad reved it a few times and when he did it blew dark grey/black smoke almost like it had a tuner on it or something, which it doesn't, even though I wish it did.

After it started it seemed to run fine, and my Dad drove it said it drove fine, nothing different than usual. And he just left again and it started up just fine. So it was sort of a cold start this morning since it had been sitting for a little bit, but its not like its cold out, its only 50 or 60 out, maybe dropping into the 40's at night. So not really a "cold" start, exactly. I'm not really sure what it is, glow plugs, injectors, EGR maybe. My Dad thinks, somehow its not getting fuel properly, or not enough. I wish I would of recorded it so you guys could see and hear what it did, if it does it again I will. What do you guys think? Thanks for any help in advance.

 

I would start by checking the FICM voltage, there is a write up on how to check it with a DVM in the tech folder at the top of this forum, the voltage needs to stay above 45 volts from KOEO, cranking, idling and WOT and anytime in between. He should also get a set of gauges that read live data like scan gauge II or one of the smartphone apps like dashboss for IOS devices or torque pro for android as they are absolutely necessary in diagnosing problems with these trucks and also help you spot problems before they leave you sitting on the side of the road.

 

[/B]Thanks. We'll have to try and check it. And I've been telling him for a while now he needs to get gauges, at least a scan gauge. And he just won't do it. I'll have to try and talk him into it some more.

The truck took a while to starts again this morning, but only took about 2 minutes this time within about the samehing happening as before. He just started it last night too to try and prevent it from not starting again, but only helped a little. It seems to do it most after its been sitting over night, and not having been driven the day before at all or just a little...

 

Also check the batteries and charging system.
Bad batteries will kill a FICM and you get bad
batteries from age and undercharging.
Bad batteries will also take a charging system down.
Bad FICM will eat injectors all day for lunch and ask for seconds.

So all three points need to be checked
Batteries - Charge and load test
Alternator - Bench test
FICM - Voltage check

Sean

 

Well it didn't start again this morning. All smoky again and everything, and he ended up having to jump start it again. So I would definitely have to say its getting worse. But I guess they put a new/rebuilt FICM they had sitting around at the shop, into the truck, so we'll see how it does tomorrow morning. Hopefully that fixed it.

Thanks! I told my Dad he had to check all that, but I'm not sure if they did that before they threw the FICM in there or not. Like I said hopefully that fixed it. And I hope none of that has taken out anything major, especially the injectors.

 

FICM is too expensive to replace without diagnosing first.

 

Oh yeah, I know it is. The one they put in was just one they had sitting around, and like I said I'm not sure what they did before they decided to put it in. It was my Uncles old one that used to be in his truck, that he had rebuilt when he got a 58v FICM.

And, I forgot to say that I think yesterday, my Uncle plugged a scanner into my Dad's truck, and it was apparently throwing all kinds of codes, so they just cleared them all. I'm not sure which ones or how many, since I'm just going off of what my Dad said. Just telling you guys that too. Like I said we'll see how it does tomorrow morning.

 

Throwing parts at a problem = MONEY & you may still have problems.

Sean

 

Yeah, yeah I know. It wasn't my decision. Like I said who knows what made them decide to do that. I just asked my Dad when he got if they did anything, and he said they put a new FICM in, so that's all I know. We'll see how it does in the morning.

Thanks for your help so far guys, even though I'm not sure if anybody's taking it. Sorry, lol. At least they didn't buy a whole new part without doing anything. I hope it doesn't backfire on them (meaning my Dad's mechanic and my Uncle).

 

Glow plugs are working right? Thses are cold blooded engines... my frikken 1978 White 105 tractor starts better than my 6.0 without using the gp.

 

Well some good news.. With the new FICM the truck starts good now. It started right up this morning I think, and yesterday my Dad said that he had to turn it over for like 20 seconds, but other than that it started normally. And yes they did check the voltage before they put the FICM in there, and it was low and jumping all over the place. So that's good.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm hoping its good for now and that nothing else is wrong. I'll keep you guys updated if anything changes.

 

Good deal, that is good the FICM took care of it. It would be a good idea to send the faulty FICM to Ed at FICMrepair.com and have it serviced, it will come back and last better than a new one. Now tell your dad he needs gauges, had he had them he would have saw the low FICM voltage and known what the problem was. Since the FICM was having issues make sure to get the batteries load tested separately ( completely disconnected from one another) and if one battery is bad replace them both, also have the alternator tested as low voltage is probably what took the FICM out.

 

If all they did was to replace the FICM I don't understand about the 20 second cold start. That normally only happens due to a previously opened HPO system or an HPO leak.

 

Yeah its starting good now. Yeah I started thinking about doing something like that once I figured out the FICM was bad and then started looking into FICM upgrades. Ed's seems like a good place, and a good idea since the FICM has already gone bad. I'll have to talk to my Dad about it and see what he wants to do. And yeah I've told him like na million times to get gauges, and he just doesn't get it. He's not much of a mechanic really, lol. And I'll definitely tell em to check the batteries and alternator, who knows maybe they already did. Thanks for your help.

Yeah as far as a I know all they did was replace the FICM. I'm not sure what was up with that 20 second start the first day, but It started right up yesterday and today. So I think everything's good to go, I hope.

 

i wasn't aware you could just swap a FICM.. thought they had to be calibrated to individual truck?