This post is alot of help. I wish I would have found this a couple of days ago. I just got mine back from the dealer the bill was 989.00 to replace the ficm.I had all the same problems truck wouldn't start when it was cold an I live in fl.and it put out alot of black smoke when I tried to start it. I even burned my starter up cranking on it so I would try all the thing on here befor I go to the dealer.

 

Thanks for the update King of Bass and sorry that it cost so much. It's a shame that Ford did such a poor job on the FICM which costs all of us lots of $$$. This along with the infamous EGR issues.....well............argggggggggg! Enough said. Did the $989 include a new starter? I've heard that a starter replacement runs around $1,500 due to the engine having to be "pulled". I wonder if this is true.

 

teddysmith1952...

did you pull the GPCM wire from the primary (passenger side) battery...like Dr Quad described first. You may be seeing the initial draw from the glow plugs or inductive heat flash (depending on which flash you have). If you hadn't, disconnect and test it again. Let us know the results.

 

don't have to pull the motor. It is on the passenger side of truck at the back of the motor. You can access it under the truck or through the fenderwell. The bottom 2 bolts are easy to get at but the top one is tough

 

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Hi Moyock,

Is this in regards to the 20V reading I received for a couple of seconds after turning the key to the on postion? I'm not seeing a Dr Quad post on this thread that discusses that part of the procedure.

Thanks

 

I had the same test results as you on my '03 this morning. Everything looks ok except for a couple of seconds mine drops to 20-24 volts when key is first turned on. But then I hear some kind of relay sound and the voltage immediately goes up to 48V. I have the inductive flash so I don't have any buzz sound to listen to.

 

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Your right. I have the identical readings. I cannot distinguish any different sounds from when the key is first turned to on, until the the glow plug light goes off in about 7 seconds, then cranking. Just the 20V reading for a moment when first turned to on. I'm not convinved that this is not normal.

I would love to hear more regarding the previous post about disconnecting a wire (GPCM?)from the common battery.

Would disconnecting this wire bypass the glow plugs and heat flash units? In other words, if the issue was related to either of these systems should the readings be around 48V from the get go?

Thanks

 

The other piece of info I forgot to share/ask is that even though I had 48v during cranking, once the engine started the voltage was then at a steady 31v. I didn't see this number in the test procedure. Is this normal or is it supposed to remain at 48 while running?

 

Mine stayed at 48V while cranking and after start. I'm not sure of what the acceptable tolerance is.

 

Oh crap......I hope that doesn't mean I have to spend a grand on this thing. I was really hoping that I was having a glow plug issue.

 

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I'd wait for the pros to chime in. It might be the FICM circuit board that has the cracked or poor solder contacts that need a little solder touch up. I'm still not sure where I stand in terms of what to do. The weather here in northern Utah has warmed up to about 25 degrees in the early morning and my Truck is starting up fairly quickly without using the block heater. It's when it get's to around 10-15 degrees or lower that I have the issue.

 

I was speaking with the fellow from Swamps Diesel today as I am also having some engine difficulties. I any case, anything below 46volts seems to be a problem, 46 is acceptable but as he said, he wouldn't send a FICM with even that voltage out the door. Seems to me, you have a FICM issue. I would solder the joints, all 16 of them ( as I recall ). It's super easy to do. Just remember you have to pull the 4 or 7 screws from behind the little plate as well as the case screws to open it up. The other thing you will likely find is that the "caramilk secret " glue is all over the screws you need to undo to get the power supply off the case. It doesn't take that long to get that stuff off the screws with a sharp scalpel but be careful not to cut into the board. I did mine and also found that one of the induction coils, the 4 units with white mesh around them , to have been fried. They sit along the capacitors on either side of the board. Depending on your model year, you'll either have 4x35volt caps and 4 x 50 volts caps or 8x63 volt capacitors. Well anyway, those 4 white things is what you should also look at to make sure they don't look burnt. I hear it's rare but mine was fried and I pulled one from a spare FICM and installed it. Still having issues though. Anyway, if you don't understand something, feel free to message me and I will try to help. One very important thing to remember, you need ELECTRICAL SOLDER, not plumbing solder and same goes for the FLUX, acid based stuff is from all I have read a big no no.. Good luck !

 

anything below 45 volts is bad Ford spec.
This test is not fail proof by the way. its a great home test. the fault is that if you have a driver issue wich is on the same pc board you can not test for that. just a little thought that I ran into yesterday on a truck.

 

Lost me on that one..

 

what part ill gladly tell more and maybe give a better explaination.