hey everybody, every since i put my superchips tuner in my truck and roll on it the check engine light comes on and the tuner reads -PO603-Internal Ctrl Mod Kam Error and P1211- ICP Not Controllable-press. above/desired. can i fix this?? i'm sick of seeing that light come on when i get on it to pass somebody and is the first one serious? i believe the second one is because the turbo's putting out more pressure then it thinks it should. i'm not sure..and while i'm telling you the bad stuff, i might as well tell you that i've found oil in the valley between the valve covers. about two tablespoons worth. just under the intake manifold. i can't be sure where it's coming from yet, but i'm putting on my 6637 filter kit and doing the .50 cent mod shortly. when the filter kit gets here, but i know this is kind of common, does anybody have any suggestions of what i should be looking for when i get in there?

 

The P0603 code you can flat out ignore. That code is set when you install a tuner. Perfectly normal. In fact, that code does not trip the check engine light.

The P1211 code is "Injection pressure higher/lower than expected". This is also common when installing a chip or tuner. It's caused by a drop in high oil pressure that feeds the injectors. The 7.3L PSD is an HEUI injection system, meaning it uses high oil pressure to fire the injectors. The high pressure oil pump (HPOP) is a fixed-displacment pump that can pressurize oil at close to 3000 psi in stock form at WOT.

What happens when you install a chip or tuner is that the fuel pulsewidth is increased for longer injection times and additional fuel for more power. The downside is that it requires more oil volume in order to flow that extra amount of fuel. Since the HPOP is a fixed-displacment pump, it can only provide a fixed volume of oil per revolution. With the additional fueling that the tuner is commanding, the amount of oil needed exceeds the amount that the HPOP can supply. As a result, the pressure drops. So instead of reaching around 2900 psi of oil pressure on a stock tune at WOT, you would expect to see anywhere from 2000-2400 psi at WOT when running a higher horsepower tune. However, the PCM still expects to see closer to 2900 psi, and when it doesn't, it sets a code and trips the check engine light.

It's not harming anything. The only side effects are the obvious check engine light, as well as you not getting the full performance that the tune is calling for. This is where the aftermarket comes into play. Some folks choose to upgrade to "big oil", meaning they purchase a modified HPOP system to deal with the additional oil volume needed to meet the greater fueling requirements. These HPOP systems can run anywhere from close to $600 on up to $2500... with the more expensive setups capable of supplying a very large volume of oil that can feed very large injectors with extremely high oil demands.

 

Okay, perfect. I knew it had something to do with the high pressure oil pump and it's supply Thank you so much for the information and the quality of information. Now, would this amount of pressure supplied from the oil pump to the injectors cause a clamp to come loose or something like? i believe that's where my oil in the valley is coming from. and it seems that the oil may be coming from the left bank (when facing the engine) entering the valve cover. I suppose the best way to find out is to dig into it though. I was just wondering if anybody else had had this problem. again, thank you for your information and how in depth it was. The light does go out a few minutes after i let her go into lock up and simmer.

 

How bad is the leak? Is it dripping from underneath the truck every now and then? Or are you leaving puddles behind?

If it's a very slow leak, I would say the most likely culprit would be the turbo pedestal o-rings are leaking. It's a very common problem, and it's a very slow leak. If you have a flashlight and a mechanic's mirror, you can look at the turbo pedestal directly under the turbo. If it's covered in oil, you've found your leak.

If you're leaving puddles everywhere you go, it may be a line off the HPOP leaking, or the HPOP leaking itself. Inspect the lines coming off the pump and look at the back of the pump. If oil is dripping off those lines or the pump, you've found your leak.

Neither leak would be related to your tuner. These are common leaks that happen even on bone stock truck.