This only happens in cold weather and is a late '03 motor. I have had this problem for the past 3 years and am still trying to find a solution. After the engine warms up, it does not happen again all day no matter what the outside temp is. Tried to start my X Saturday. First real cold day. All indications normal. Just did an oil change the week before. 35°F outside. Started and ran for 10 seconds and shutoff. Started again but longer crank and shutoff 10 seconds later. Started again with much longer crank time and, you guessed it, 10 seconds later, it died. FICM volts were bouncing between 48.0 and 48.5. So I connected my SCT scan tool and found two codes. 2614 & 2617. Have had them in the past. Cam and crank sensor open. Did not open the hood to check any wiring. Cleared the codes. It started right up, went to high idle and continued to run. Did not quit.

So yesterday it was 52°F outside. Checked for any codes prior to start and there were none. Started right up and continued to run. Fuel pressure was about 45 PSI until the GP cycle completed and then went to normal 63PSI run pressure. I have an AD2 fuel pump. After start, FICM was bouncing between 48.0 and 48.5. Never went below 48.0. The system voltage while the GPs were on was 11.2 to 11.7. After the GP cycle completed system voltage went 14.0. I just replaced the alternator and the batteries are 1 year old Duralast top shelf high capacity batteries.

Looking for any help to solve this long time issue.

Ed

 

Ok lets break this down into parts. First it is cold a number of things are affected by the cold.
Oil gets thicker and harder to flow. But we have no actual values to go by.
Electrical- Cold will find any weakness in a electrical system, even solid state components
PCM; FICM take a few extra seconds to warm up and function correctly.
The only thing we have to go on there random minor fluctuations of FICM voltages, possibly due to cold because they are still in acceptable operateing range.

We do have a couple of codes, cam and crank sensor codes but he has had them before and he has had a lot of failed starts. Cam and crank codes are often thrown because of the starts and stops. Interruption of signal.

The code is for a open circuit useually a broken wire, a interupted circuit pathway of signal. This however the PCM might throw because of a loss of signal, a open pathway

So we still got a little more diagnostics to do. Just insufficent data to do it well.

 

Check fuses #15 and #18, Make sure they are installed right.

No other codes with these?

 

How do you measure your fuel pressure? At 45psi...I would be quite concerned. Sense it jumps as soon as the glow plugs cycle off...I wonder if you've got a bad ground somewhere?

 

What oil weight?

Also have you tried to preheat the
FICM with a heat gun?



Sean

 

When it dies does the glowplug light come on?

 

cheezit.......thanks for the reply. Yes the GP light does come on when it dies. If it just loses power and does not die, the GP light comes on. That is the only consistent thing it does.

I replaced the GP controller/relay about 2 years ago.

This is not a hit against Ed's FICM repair. He does great work, but it started after I had my FICM updated, not repaired. Thought I would get ahead of the failure mode. Never had temperature problem before that upgrade. I had a 2 year warranty on the FICM update but it only happened in cold weather, so I lived with. My bad. Now it has become worse with having to restart 2-3 times after initial start with longer crank cycles. Final solution will probably be to send it back to Ed after Thanksgiving. Again, it is not Ed's fault. What I don't get is the cold weather thing and then after the motor warms up just a little bit, it starts and runs fine the rest of the day no matter the outside temperature. I suspect a temperature sensitive module in the FICM. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Ed

 

Sean.......I have run Royal Purple 20W-50 synthetic in it for 9 years and 121,000 miles with never replacing a turbo, injector or HPOP. I don't really baby it as you can see from my sig.

Ed

 

I have electric pillar mounted gauges that measure Boost, EGT and Fuel Pressure. My fuel pressure is 45 psi at start because the GPs draw approximately 100 amps when the key is turned on and for about 20 to 30 seconds after engine start. The OEM alternator cannot keep up with the power draw, so the voltage drops and I get less pressure. After the GP cycle completes it goes up to 60 psi.

Not sure what the start up pressure is with the OEM fuel pump but I would suspect it is below 45 psi since that is normal OEM fuel pressure. maybe someone who has that setup can chime in.

Ed

 

Thanks for the reply. Will do.

Ed

 

I've got EV2 (measuring the same things as you)...and when I turn the key on for the glow plugs as well as after the gauges do a full sweep; mine will show approximately 60-63 psi. Even after start up and the glow plugs are still on, it's showing the same 60-63 psi on the A-pillar. I'm running the OEM fuel pump with the blue spring in the pressure regulator. Like I said in my last post, 45psi is very dangerous. I wonder if you've got an electrical issue, like a bad ground some where; or if the two are even related. Either way, I'd figure out (with a mechanical gauge if need be) if your really having that low of fuel pressure.

 

20w50 is way too thick for less than 50 degrees. Cut off for 15w40 IMHO is 40 degrees. Less than that 10w30 or 5w40 is needed.

The low fuel pressure is from lack of voltage. Need a minimum 140 amp with small pulley to bump the idle amps.

Josh

 

Glowplug light comming on means you have a pcm reseting power. Suspect vref or shorted injector causing your concern.

 

Just because it's been going on so long and it's intermittent, try it for a while with the EBP sensor unplugged. The turbo may not "act right" with it unplugged but it should run well enough to drive it a few days.

If you have the inferred EBP strategy it may run just fine. Put some tape or something on the connector (harness side) to protect it from moving around and shorting to ground.

 

Thanks for the reply. Actually looked at it yesterday. KOEO the fuel pressure is 52psi. At start it stays at 52psi until GP cycle completes. It then went to 78psi because it was cold and the AD2 does not have an internal fuel heater. After it ran and warmed up, it settled back to 65psi. I have the AD2 with an internal regulator and max pressure is 85psi. The AD2 has a higher pressure drop, due to the design and fuel air removal function, then the OEM pump and fuel system. When I had the OEM pump in, I installed the GDS regulator spring. That boosted the OEM system fuel pressure to 105 psi. When I posted that, people screamed at me and said I was going to have all kinds of injector problems. None to date and 121K on the clock. I ran the 105psi setup for 6 months before I installed the AD2. I was advised that Ford recommended not exceeding 80psi. However, GDS told me that NAVASTAR told them the 6.0 system was designed to operate at a maximum fuel pressure of 120psi. I will tell you with 105psi fuel system pressure, the X was really fun to drive. Tons of throttle response and acceleration. It felt like afterburners. Fuel mileage suffered. A lower fuel pressure will get you better fuel mileage then higher pressure. I just might scrap the AD2 and go back to the 105psi with the OEM fuel system.

Ed