Wow, that looks like "FUN" !!!!!
(Do you guys use that word down there??)

 

Idling isn't that much of an issue. I idled my 2005 4+ hours at a time in sub zero temps. No High-Idle mod either.

Josh

 

We did that the other day. I had a guy turn the engine with a BF Ratchet while I watched the valves and pushrods. I had the oiling tube assembly off. All looked good there.

 

From the sounds of it everything has been ruled out with the exception of the ficm. Curious to see what you find.

 

No, we don't really do anything to them to make them more reliable. That is why they are all falling apart. About the only modifications to the engines is heaters on the oil pan and trans pan. The best way to make ours more reliable would be to take the firemen out of them.

The fire trucks idle pretty much all day when it's really cold. Right now it is +30F and daylight 24 hours.

 

I just read that a record was set down there

"A new look at NASA satellite data revealed that Earth set a new record for coldest temperature recorded. It happened in August 2010 when it hit -135.8 degrees. Then on July 31 of this year, it came close again: -135.3 degrees."

Cold dis-comfort: Antarctica set record of -135.8

"However, it won't be in the Guinness Book of World Records because these were satellite measured, not from thermometers, Scambos said."


Now can you go out next august and verify this temp? Lmfao could not imagine what -135 would feel like. Instant Popsicle!

 

I have a quik question, what engine oil type and wt do you run in that environment?

I have nothing to add to advise listed above, sorry!

 

Where was the noise coming from? Intake? Or somewhere else? Could be a lifter if it set that long. Hydraulic roller. Could need time to pump up or has collapsed.

 

@raptor. It reaches -100F all the time at the South Pole. We are at McMurdo Station which is 850 miles north. There are times when people actually have to work outside in -100F. It rarely gets above 0 at the pole.

@jdw, we use 0W30 here. We also use special JP8 diesel fuel and special gasoline called mogas. We have low pour special blend hydraulic fluid and all kind of other crazy fluids for the vehicles here. Everything has a 110V heater, batteries, glycol (block heater), oil pan, trans pan, hydraulic tanks, etc. Right now it is pretty nice out with temps around +30F and lots of sunshine. You can walk around with just a long sleeve shirt on and be comfortable, you just can't do that for long periods. You still need a coat or light jacket if you are gonna be out in it for a while.

 

Ole JP-8 and MOGAS. We use that in the military, don't know much about the additives in the MOGAS. JP-8 is pretty much an all around diesel fuel designed to be utilized by the military as a "use all" fuel for the numerous vehicles we have. Pretty sweet trucks by the way. You stay at the pole year round?

 

There's your problem. Mogas is just gas.. the jp8 is your ploblem. Jp8 is diesel its just not clean... your filters are probably clogged... using jp8 you will need to change your filters twice as often. Also make sure your fuel hasn't gelled at all.. you may need to add some type of fuel additive. Have you checked your in tank filter/pick up. They have a tendency to break into a million pieces.

 

Well guys, Me again. I am still pulling my hair out with this F550. I will try to remember all the things we have done to it to make it run right. I am still getting the same P0284 Cylinder 8 contribution/balance code.

The day shift guy used to work at a Ford dealer and is good with the Ford IDS scan tool. He did the injector cut out test and numerous other tests and came to the conclusion that the FICM and wiring along with the injectors were all good. I am not sure of every test he ran because he does not leave good notes. He did say that the FICM voltage is 48 which from what I have read is correct for the vehicle.

I did have a chance to work on one of the other F550's for a PM (Preventative Maintenance) Service. It is a 2006, but from what I read on here, the FICM is the same and does not have to be flash-coded. So, while it was here, I pulled the FICM and plugged it into the problem child, absolutely no change whatsoever. That ruled out the FICM as AKPOWERSTROKE suggested.

USMCVeteran suggested that the JP8 fuel we use might be a problem. That is not the case. The fuel we use is very clean and we have already tried another set of fuel filters just in case. The guys that have several seasons down here said they have never had a problem with clogged filters due to JP8, only lubrication issues in the injection pumps etc.

I checked compression on all cylinders with cold engine and they were all similar, highest being 340psi and lowest being 325psi. I checked crankcase pressure, ok. We have swapped injectors around. I inspected the Injector wiring harness very carefully for problems. All wires had good continuity with no resistance variation. I read on the forums that the injector wiring harnesses can be a problem but ours seems to be ok. We have tried an new IPR, no change.

We borrowed a very high quality bore scope from the snow mobile shop. I removed the injectors and glow plugs to have a look into the cylinder. The #8 cylinder looked very wet while the others looked dry. We have suspected a flooded cylinder due to the excessive amount of whitish colored smoke bellowing out of the exhaust. I went so far as to pull the intake to look down by the intake valves, thinking maybe a problem with not enough air and too much fuel as if the intake valves on that cylinder were not opening all the way or something. I could see what appeared to be cracks at the valve seat area on #8 cylinder, so the head honchoes decided I should pull the head and have a look. After magnafluxing the cylinder head, no cracks were found. I made some adapters to pressure test the fuel rail in the head with the injectors installed, no leaks found. I checked the crankshaft position sensor and even used the bore scope to inspect the teeth on the reluctor (sp?) wheel. The night foreman suspected maybe one had nicks in it that could cause the contribution/balance code and throw the injector timing or fuel delivery off. All checked ok. I even checked the base height of the pistons thinking possibly a bent rod from when the engine was knocking like hell from the bottom end on initial start up with new engine. All checked the same.

While reinstalling the head I noticed 2 of the valve bridges on the new engine were different than the others. I got 2 off the old engine and installed them. I wasn't sure if it would make any difference and as it turned out today, it did not. I finally got everything back together and prepared for the moment of truth. The engine took a while to crank just like when I originally got it together. I guess these things take a while to bleed air out of the fuel system. It ran rough for quite a while and had what appeared to be an injector knock from air in the system. It did sound better than before though. It finally cleared up and went right back to the way it was running before. The funny thing is that now it is not bellowing out the whitish smoke for some reason. I am still getting the same P0284 code though and it idles rough and the tach fluctuates up and down like before. I am about to the point of taking it outside for a full throttle check to see if it clears up or blows up, either one would be fine with me at this point. The other thought I had was to let it slip through the ice in the bay, ooops. Did I say that out loud?

I don't know where to go next. Maybe I am missing something here. Any ideas would be appreciated. I am sure I forgot to mention some of the things we have done to this beast. I have over 220 hours in it right now. Good thing I am not on commission. I would be a broker than a broke d!@# dog right now.

 

Only other thing I can think of right now is a cracked head. Sorry boss.

Sent from my iPhone using IB AutoGroup

 

Thanks Snuggyworm, that's what we thought too, but after what seems like an eternity worth of work, we ruled that out too. I was so hoping it would miraculously be fixed after reinstalling the head. No such luck.

 

Ur welcome. Sorry to hear about the mysterious problem. Did u get all new injectors?

I'm starting to wonder if u may have a faulty fuel line going into number 8 injector since tat seems to be the problem.

Sent from my iPhone using IB AutoGroup