Vehicle info: 2003 F350 193k miles, SCT Livewire TS for monitoring, no mechanical failures in 4 years of owning it. No aftermarket turbo, injectors, etc. Full egr delete, T6 oil, only Motorcraft oil and fuel filters, 15k fuel filter changes, 7500 oil changes, occasional light towing.

Truck first had no start last month, would crank and try to fire but would not fire up. I noticed an oil leak that ended up being the ICP. I replaced the ICP and wiring pigtail and checked the IPR (screen was clean minus a couple tiny specks of something stuck to it so I replaced the screen) and the truck fired right up and all parameters were normal range, KOER for the following: 49v FICM main & 13.50v FICM logic & ignition, ICP ~900psi, IPR 0.28, EOT 77F, ECT 92F, IPW 1.27. Truck ran great as it always did, I let it run up to operating temp a couple times before road testing. The day I road tested I did change the tune on the SCT. I drove appr. 10 miles and shut it off. Upon restart it did crank a second or two longer than normal, and didn’t sound quite right when running. I shut it off and restarted and now it really didn’t sound right, it had a somewhat rough idle and sounded like injectors were all of a sudden louder and acted like it wanted to die. I took it straight home and parked it, seemed to run fine cruising down the highway, not so much when I was off the throttle.

I was gone for a week or so before getting around to the truck, it took a lot of cranking cycles to get it to start, it was appr. 30F OAT and the truck wasn’t plugged in. It had a rough idle, sounded like a 7.3L, died multiple times, and would not move in D or R, and would not build boost. KOER 48.5, 12, 12.5 FICM values, 1130psi ICP, 0.32 IPR, 46.5F EOT, 68F ECT. Only DCT was P0281 Cylinder #7 Contribution. I couldn’t get the truck to move to get it into the shop so I shut it down and it hasn’t started since.

Truck is in my shop now after pushing it in. I have AE and Forscan, I’ve checked everything that I know how to check, and I’ve gotten no where. It cranks strong but does not try to fire, at all, it just cranks and all cylinders sound consistent. Here’s what I’ve checked and what I have for #’s or results:

Bubble test - passed 3x
GP ohm test - 0.5-0.8 each GP testing at GPCM plugs and 4 wire connectors w/red clips
injector buzz test - pass per AE (injectors are barely audible most of the time)
FICM test (check v on screw under FICM cover) - KOEO 48.4, Cranking 48.1 lowest value (Jan 2016 build date, it’s also a 4 screw)
Fuel - 58psi KOEO, 55psi cranking

Following logged on AE:
FICM SYNC - YES
CMP/CKP SYNC - YES
FICM MAIN - 48.T
FICM L - 11 to 12.5
FICM IGN - 11 to 12.5
Reference V - 5v
ICP - 0.2V KOEO, 2.2V cranking
ICP - ~1900psi cranking
IPR - 14.24% KOEO, ~50% cranking (goes to 84% when cranking starts and drops to ~50 as cranking continues)

Oil pressure gauge on dash comes up during cranking

What am I missing, what should I look at next?

 

Still getting an injector pulse width signal (cranking)?

Edit - I guess regardless of that, my next step would be trying a known good FICM.

 

AE and Forscan have fuel pulse width, I couldn’t log any readings?? I’ll try again. My SCT has IPW and I had 2.16 KOEO and 1.27 running after the ICP replacement, that was right after replacement when my truck was running again. I can’t remember what it was after the no start happened. Also, cranking RPM is >150, and batteries charge to 12.7 and I don’t run them below 10 when running tests.

*edited*

 

EDIT (greater than 150 rpm cranking should be good). I'd still try a known good FICM. No way to know what the logic side is doing with the 48V plulses.

 

Should I be concerned about the injectors actuating quietly during the buzz test, I’ve never had a stiction issue with this truck, ever. Another observation, I have no smoke of any color during cranking.

 

I assumed that you didn't have any smoke since you posted earlier that it didn't even try to fire. Says to me that you have a fueling issue.

Quiet "buzzing" is one indication of stiction.

 

With the FICM readings I’m getting could I still have a bad FICM?

 

Yes, that is why I suggested what I did. There is no good test for the logic board. Logic voltage and a pulse width command is far from a complete test.

 

Gotcha. Well I’ll have to find a known good FICM and do the swap. Anything else I should look into in the mean time?

 

I know a very well respected tech or two that would say spray a bit of Blake Kleen in the intake and crank to see if it will start. If it does start, but then quickly dies, you have pretty much shown it is a fueling issue. I personally won't use it in my 6.0L, but the Techs do occasionally. That said, they know how not to over-do it.

I know a few cases where all 8 injectors were bad (stuck spool valves). That is highly unusual and involved getting 8 new injectors from a questionable source and the owners had just finished installing them. Another case involved highly contaminated oil.

EDIT - the Tech also stated ....... do NOT use ether or starting fluid.

 

If you do decide to go the ether/ brake clean route a little easier way to control it would be to turn the key on, take the air cleaner off, and stay from there. Then take the little hot start plug or whatever it’s called on the passenger side and touch it to the positive side of the battery. Makes it easier to control the starter.

 

I should have results from the FICM swap later tonight, just waiting for my batteries to charge back up,. My dad has the same MY truck and we pulled his ficm. While waiting for my batteries to recharge we did plug my ficm into his truck and it did start and idle fine. Also, I did a quick KOEO with his ficm in my truck and I could easily hear the injectors, not sure if it’s ficm-related or due to my block heater bringing the EOT up over the last several hours.

 

Ok, quick update, attempted to start the truck with the “known good ficm” and it sounds like it’s trying to fire now, not just cranking. No smoke, faint diesel smell from exhaust pipe. All parameters still reading the same (ficm main is 47.5) and IPW was around 1.5 or so, cranking rpm was around 250, fuel pressure 60psi, and I had a few dtc’s pop up that I’ve never had before, P0046, P0273 injector 5 circuit low, P2617. This ficm cycles the injectors more at KOEO and it cycles the injectors after turning the key off, which my truck never did before.

One more thing I was thinking about, I do have this SCT livewire ts and the pcm is currently on a performance tune, should I revert back to stock? Would this make any difference? I’m just out of ideas at this point. Tomorrow I’m going to take a thorough look at the wire harnesses to see if I missed anything.

Thanks for all the input so far.

 

I would return the PCM to stock and try to start. If no joy, then attach your tuner to your laptop and check for updates and verify the X4 tunes are good. If ok, suggest you reload the STREET tune to the PCM. Suggest you attach battery charger to insure constant voltage while tune is installing. Low battery charge plus stuff running (fuel pump, radio, HVAC, etc.) while installing tune can cause low voltage fluctuations during install and affect tune upload. Ask me how I know,

Ed

 

Always return to stock for troubleshooting IMO.

I'm not sure I would update the tuner. Certain regulations might cause issues.

Sounds like your FICM isn't exactly healthy, but it isn't the main issue since it starts your dads truck.

I think you have injector issues based on the troubleshooting process/results.

It is important now to pay attention to the codes.

Code P0046 is set when a short to ground, open, or short to power is identified in the VGTCV or wiring between the PCM and VGTCV. This circuit is a continuously monitored circuit that takes less than 1 second to set. First thing to do is to verify that the VGT actuator is fully plugged in and that the connector and wiring are not damaged.

CKP - poor connection or electrical noise: Check CMP+/- or CKP+/- and CKPO or CMPO circuits. Can be generated by excessive cranks or or after a stall event. Could also be caused with a shorted out injector coil.

You know what P0273 is - you need to address it. It is the harness or the injector, and I would bet the injector.