Hi,

Decided to tackle my stiction problem that started about 2 years ago. Up until about a month ago the problem has been addressed by HotShot treatment. Initially is was a miracle cure, but over time the effectiveness decreased to the point that a stumble was present at full warm up temperature.

Pulled all 4 injectors for the passenger side:
1) Replaced all o-rings including the nipple cup ring at the top of the injector
2) Replaced the nipple cup o-rings in the oil rail
3) Ohmed out the coils on every injector (all were between .6-.7, except one that was 1.8)
4) Removed all the spool valves for inspection, did an 800grit sanding on them. Note, the spool valves were bright and shiny and under 10x magnification looked in great shape before I touched them. 3 of the 4 spool valves moved freely without resistance before removal and cleaning.
5) Cylinder 7 spool valve still had slight drag even after cleaning.
6) New injector for #7
7) All injectors were in good shape including o-rings, very little staining or signs of blow-by
8) New standpipes and dummy plug
9) Changed glow plugs (2 of the 4 bad based on resistance)
10) New glow plug harness (major fight removing that)

Reassembled, passenger side. Went through the key on/off 5 times to prime the system. Vehicle started after about 25 seconds (I was surprised how quickly). Idled smoothly even without time for air to purge. Went for a 30 minute drive, within 2-3 minutes things didn't run well.

Current Fault: Using AE scanner P0275 Cylinder 5 injector circuit control – module fuel and air metering
The injector it not working.
Turning it off/on no change in running condition. (other cylinders noticeable change)
ICP and IPR values in spec.
FICM consistent 48.5 volts.
Injector buzz test all good.

Strange issue: When the vehicle is cold, everything runs great including cylinder 5. After 5 minutes, cylinder 5 is running rough.

New approach: going back in and replacing #5 and most likely #1 and #3 too. Since #7 was already replaced, i'm going to tackle the entire bank and quit being frugal.

Welcome any other thoughts, testing procedures, etc.

 

It is possible that you damaged the logic side of your FICM with the restart procedure you mentioned. If you have another 6.0 to test with, I'd try popping this module into another truck to see if the issue follows the module.

Alternatively, we can put your module through a quite-extensive stress test here to see if it is behaving correctly.

Hope this helps!

 

Hi Ed,

Could you elaborate on your explanation please...thanks

 

IIRC that code is caused either by a bad connection at the harness, or the harness itself, or as Ed mentioned the logic side on the FICM.
Did you pull the FICM relay with all that cranking? Or do the cranking off the wire going to the solenoid?

Cranking that much at the key tends to be a no no, hurts other things.
Not sure replacing the injectors will cure your problems.

 

Hi KCExcursion,
Thought that I would chime in on this, I have an 04 250 that did similar, ended up being the top electrical harness. Can't recall code on it but I do believe that it was a 0275 code as well, but can't totally recall... sorry.

Check harness going to injectors and look for any bare wires.

If it turns out to be harness, on mine years 04 and up they split the harness, upper, and a lower. Upper was $375, lower ran about $800, 03 and earlier I believe it is all one harness.

Repair wasn't too bad though came off and went on pretty easy.

Good luck

 

Thanks everyone,

1. Replacing injector 5 solved the problem. (Actually went ahead and did 1,3,5 and 7 was done last week)
2. The truck is running overall better than before any of the repairs.
3. Leaving it outside tonight for a cold start and morning drive - that usually brings out the worse problems and as it warms it runs better.
4. Based on the morning drive I will consider replacing the injectors on the drivers side - I've been fighting the cold weather hesitation for 2 years until the truck was above 160F. Finally in Dec/Jan the problem just never really went away between 1500-2000rpm. Very annoying.

Based on some multi-meter testing I didn't believe the problem to be harness related...so I went down replacing the injector. Additional factors was a from a cold start a 3-5 minutes window of the injector working before stopping wouldn't be mechanical/tolerance issues in my mind; but very likely one of the solenoids was weak and the temperature rise caused failure. (I could understand the argument the FICM was experience a hot/cold solder issue but didn't seem likely to me just based on observation and a gut feeling with experience on electrical boards).



It's an interesting comment that the truck cannot crank for 20 seconds without potentially damaging the FICM. Reading many of the threads on various sites, people are cranking to the point there batteries go down (recharging and trying again) and talking minutes of crank time before starting. I timed the 2nd start at 14 seconds before the engine started, obviously I built oil pressure above 500psi relatively quickly.



For the people experience prolonged starting they may have other problems within the oil pressure system. I've tried to keep current with the upgrades and preventative maintenance as time warrants. I'm just tad over 300,000 miles on the engine - so injector replacement doesn't seem excessive. I also run synthetic oil every 5,000 miles - the truck has always run better with it. My 2 times trying conventional over the last 100,000 miles was harder starting and rougher engine until full operating temperatures.


Right now I'm really enjoying the AE code reader, I bought it this week after the dealership quoted me $255.00 for diagnostics - I should have purchased this long ago. I'm still learning the options but up until now I've always used my scan gauge with a bunch programmed x-gauges.


As always, something new to learn on the engine and take my time away from other things.

 

Final Wrap-up:

The next day test run at 25 degrees outside still resulted in a noticeable stumble between 1600-1900 RPM. It was better since all 4 injectors were replaced on the Passenger side. During the test run, made several stops and played with turning off injectors 2,4,6,8 - injector 4 didn't change on/off, 6 was a small difference, 2 and 8 were noticeable. At least 2 of the 4 injectors had issues - went ahead and did all 4 on the drivers side.

Test run after drivers side replacement. It was like a NEW TRUCK. No cold start issues or stumbling, full power at all temperatures. Ran extremely smooth without hesitation.

All monitored conditions (scan gauge and AE software) look good so far, feel better after 500-1000 miles.

Final items changed:

• 8 new injectors (tried cleaning 4 of the spool valves from passenger side, no difference)
• Nipple Cup O-rings
• 8 new glow plugs
• 2 new glow plug harnesses
• New Stand and Dummy Pipes

 

That's good news and not too shabby at 300,000 miles. Good to see these 6.0's racking up those miles