Hello guys,
Mike here, yes a newbie to the board however not afraid to turn wrenches as a former mechanic of sorts.
A little intro to the problem if you would entertain me and short history of my problem.
Truck is an '03, 130k miles. I bought this four hours from home, scanguage during the test drive things looked good. 10 degree delta while towing my car back home and the last few weeks of regular driving 7 or 8 degree delta. She popped right off every time I started it. The only smoke was a few seconds after cold start, good power, smooth shifting. FICM never below 48 usually around 49, 49.5. Also note this is a salvage title(ugh) but bought her right.

Fast foward to last week. I loaded up the skidloader on a small trailer to do some work at home. Started for home from work(10 mile drive) and running smooth, EOT/ECT fine, FICM fine, no idea what the ICP or IPR was since those PIDS were not showing.
I got four miles down the road and slowed down for a car turning, started up a small hill and crested the hill, began to lose power. She didn't die right away, just acting sluggish. I backed off and let her coast, then tried a little more pedal, no change. Slowed to an idle and stayed there for about 1/4 mile.
At this point I am thinking like a pilot with an engine out, I needed to find a spot to pull over with the trailer in tow off the busy black top. Thankfully was close to a gravel road, so slowed down and she died. Coasted off the road and tried a few brief restart attempts.....nada.

Towed her work. After doing some digging, found the ICP was leaking quite bad, soaked the pigtail and even managed to crawl up the loom towards the IPR plug. After the fun of removing the heat shield and getting the old one out(it's an 03, below the turbo) I ordered a new one and got it put back in along with the pigtail.
In the meantime had changed fuel filters, although the present ones were ok from the looks of things.
No start. No injector buzz, ICP voltage on the PID is telling me 1.8V?!
If I unplug the ICP, still no start but injector clatter, 0V of course on the PID.
It seems like it wants to start, and I swear I can smell just faintly the smell of fuel when I crank it with the ICP unplugged, however I am not cranking long, maybe 10 seconds max. I don't want to mess something up worse.
I should add here that while cranking with the ICP plugged in I am getting around 1300 psi and 45% IPR, but not sure I can trust those numbers with the ICP voltage so high.
I have not pulled the IPR to check the screen but am guessing someone will advise me to do so? The local parts store carries the socket.

FICM reads 49V KOEO, 48 precrank, and 47.5 to 48 cranking. I can't trust the ICP readings plugged in I am thinking because the voltage reads so darn high. Checked for loose plugs on the FICM, took it off and undid the three plugs, plugged back in. I worked the three plugs on the PCM several times, checked for chaffing, checked the crank and cam sensor plugs.
Keep in mind there are no codes unless I unplug the ICP. What stumps me is the lack of injector clatter with the ICP plugged in, you would think it would plugged or unplugged. Is the ICP telling the FICM it does not need to preclatter because it thinks it has that much pressure?

I have not checked fuel pressure, or actual HPOP pressure. I plan to do that soon, hoping I can rig up something to turn into the ICP port with a guage that goes that high.

Any direction from anyone would be very much appreciated. It's the boys truck, first vehicle. I bought it going against my better judgement because he wants to be a diesel tech after he is done with high school and just LOVES any size Ford PS, but the 6.0 in particular. I did not go into this blind, lol. I know this engine can be a fickle lover, but I don't mind a challenge. With that said, with the Mrs. still recovering from recent bought of cancer funds are a bit tight and I want to do what I can before I send to a shop or dealer. I feel really bad he's already spending money on a truck he has driven for only two weeks.

Appreciate any and all feedback gang. I know I will have my hands full with this one.

 

Pull the IPR and check the screen. If the ICP is showing pressure, get that number and post up cranking pressure , voltage is good and should be around 1500 psi at 1.8 v, but check it. Needs 500+ ICP. If the truck has enough pressure, ICP working or not, it will start. Sounds like your getting HPO if the IPR is only getting to 45%, if it wanted more it would ask for 85%.

Take the cap off the fuel filter and see if your getting fuel to the upper bowl. Have someone sit in the truck, you look and it should fill fast, fast enough that by the time you yell stop it should have overflowed... get a few rags to clean up the mess ready..

 

Thanks Watson, will try that for sure.

I probably should have specified in the first post that I get 1.8V before even cranking, that is the part that has me stumped.
Reads 1.8 the second I turn the key on if the ICP is plugged in when it should be reading zero.

 

IMO you have an issue w/ the wiring to the ICP sensor. Change out the ICP sensor harness and check for harness chaffing.

 

The thought had crossed my mind. When you say change out the harness are you talking the pigtail? I did do that but wonder if something else further down the line is causing issues.

Any idea where those three wires end up? I don't know if they go to the FICM or the PCM.
I will double check the main harness again.
I also noticed tonight that the middle plug on the FICM has both lock tabs missing. It was a bugger to get out but I can tell they have been gone for some time. Not sure what option I would have there.
Thanks

 

.85 volts to start, wondering did you splice wire for wire on the pigtail? and did a pull test before taping all back up, How far on the Harness did you make the splice?

 

missed one add some zip ties on the FICM connections

 

I got the pigtail from Ford, used the butt splices. I went up as far as I could with the wires, however I will say that this thing was so oil soaked I am wondering if I should have gone farther. I hate to add TWO splices but may have to do that since this is the second pigtail this truck has had. I did do the pull test before putting the heat shrinks back on, yes. I am going to go back and redo the splices and go further up the loom with another splice to get past the oily wires.

The old ICP was leaking really bad, bad enough that it was leaving a stain on the driveway.

 

Is the ICP sensor a Ford sensor or aftermarket?

 

It's the real McCoy bismic, as is the pigtail. Got them from Tousley.
That said it's possible it was bad new. Is there a way a guy can test it?

I thought I did wire for wire the other day but may have got one mixed up.
I will have to check the old one, there is enough difference with the wire lengths I should be able to tell since I cut them all in the same spot on each wire.

 

Low chance of the OEM one being bad from the box IMO.

 

The good news is I got the high V readings fixed and the injector buzz is back, makes sense now that I think about it. I took the battery box out and removed the middle plug on the PCM, double checked the loom, checked continuity on the three wires which were all good. With that said I have a feeling the DB/LG was bad near the spot I spliced in.


The bad news is I think I am looking at the HPOP or something else.
Here is what I came up with.

KOEO
ICP is 20(seems odd to me it's not zero but have seen other vids where it was not)
ICV .19
IPR 14.9
FICM 49.0

Cranking the IPR spikes to 85% within a few seconds.
IVC flirts around .6 to .7 but never hits .85 as mentioned that I need.
ICP will flirt over 500 a little bit but hangs around 350 to 450.
She is so close to starting but I don't want to fry a starter or worse.

I did not check fuel pressures yet but after pulling the bowl lid, with an empty bowl it fills within a matter of a few seconds, good call!
It's worth mentioning before I bought the truck the FICM was replaced but also some of the injectors. I was told they were all done but I know for a fact they were not, in fact I think just one of them was as I found out about after I bought it. The truck was highly misrepresented so the price was dropped quite a bit.

It's also worth mentioning that this thing has a NAPA oil filter on it and the last service was done at a Valvoline drive thru as I call them. Lord knows what oil they use but the filter is a silverline. I cringed when I saw that.
The reason I have not changed the oil yet is I have only put around 100 miles on it since it came home, it was going to be done last weekend already then she died.

So..........pull the IPR and check the screen? Any other thoughts?
I saw a vid by dieseltechron that almost mimics what I am seeing, so maybe I answered my own question about checking the IPR before I start to tear into it much deeper.
One more thing I would add, is there any harm in getting that crap oil and filter out of there without the thing running?

 

OEM cap and filter always, especially with these trucks. Won't hurt but probably not the real issue.
Pull the IPR and check that.
Run an air test to verify no leaks since you can't build any pressure BEFORE assuming the HPOP. Stand pipe, dummy plugs could be the issue but not likely as the 03-04' is know to loose HPOP more than the 05' and up. STC fitting are not an issue for 03'04' trucks like the 05' up is.

The kicker is that it won't start with ICP unplugged. Even if it was bad and you are making enough pressure, it would fire. If the IPR screen was clogged, that could contribute to the issue, check that first. You'll need to command the IPR shut during the air test, if it's not leaking air, you'll hear it, then suspect HPOP. I believe there is a deadhead test for it.

The spike to 85% is IPR asking for pressure, does it move from 85%?

You could have injector leaks as well, maybe a look under the valve covers could show that. But if its struggling to even get to 500, a smaller leak is probably not the culprit.

 

To add to the other suggestions, It could of blown out the BB port plug on the hpop.

 

Well folks, it would appear I am digging deeper into this engine. Pulled the IPR which was not that hard really with the correct socket.
The screen had very little debris, perhaps six smallish specs. Sooooo.......must be a leak somewhere.

My next question is this. Is it worth doing the air leak test? The odds are the hpop cover has to come off anyway? I am not well versed up to this point so don't be afraid to lay things out for me.
I know there is a ton of info on the hpop and dummy plugs, etc. but any other advice from the gang would be really great.
I'm not scared to pull this thing apart and don't want to go hog wild with parts, but realize there are some things I need to check while I have it torn down that far already. I don't want to have to take something apart again if I can prevent it now and save a few bucks and hours.

Thanks