Well, the truck was running fine until this morning. Driving to a friends house I come up to an intersection and the engine started to shutter. I gave it a little juice and it died on me. I tried restarting it and as fast as it fired, it died. Got under the hood and pulled the ICP plug (see... I'm learning something ) and it fired right up! Cool, I thought - the ICP's still under warranty. I found a big parking lot and played around with it - plug it in, crappy running; unplugged runs great. So, I left it unplugged and brought it back to the shop that put the ICP in.
They agreed that the ICP was probably faulty and set out to replace it. After replacing it, the engine still had a rough idle. Raise the RPM's and everything is good. Unplugging it smooths the idle out. The mechanic ran all the tests and everything seems to check out. He says it doesn't seem like injectors or PCM. He's leaning toward one of the sensors. So, here's where he's at now. He checked the fuel heater and he says it's a complete open circuit. He says it may or may not be the issue, but he wanted to replace it and see if it's the problem. Now, I thought you could just unplug it and the engine would run fine. He also talked about a "bridge connector" to the heater. Any ideas on this?
I'm not opposed to replacing faulty parts but, right now, I just want the truck to run right. Could a faulty IDM cause this?

 

I learned my lesson when I replaced my ICP last year. I didnt do the pig tail{wire harness} and about two months later it had very similar issues that you are decribing. I replaced my pig tail and that fixed me up. Might give that a shot.

 

I thought about that. Where do you get the pigtail? Dealer?

 

Riffraff is generally cheapest on this stuff. He has the kit in stock.

Riffraff Diesel: Ford ICP Pigtail Harness

I dont see the heater causing any problems. Be aware that it does share the same fuse as the PCM, so if it shorts, so does the PCM. I would just leave it unplugged for now.
Also, go back to something I mentioned last time.. Check your other sensors. They share a +5V reference signal and a bias can affect all of them.

 

OK, say I need it by Monday morning - where's the best place to grab one?

By the way - nice IPR video, Trey.

 

When I did my IPR I had a time crunch also. I went to a local dealer, bought the IPR (or in your case the ICP Pigtail) and also bought one from Riffraff. When the one came in the mail I drove over to the dealer 'returned' it. May or may not be worth it for the pigtail, but it was a $200 difference for me.

I would try your local dealer. They will have it as it is a Ford item.
Part number: 5C3Z12224A

 

Sorry, I didn't read the rest of your post, Trey. So, it should run fine unplugged. He was telling me about the shorting issue, but he said this was an open. Wouldn't that be the same as being unplugged? In which case it should run OK.

What other sensors should I be looking at?

 

I would still unplug it so it doesnt cause problems.

Other sensors are... Lets see, EBP, IAT, ICP, EOT, EOP, and ECT. Not sure if they all use the same +5v reference signal, but worth checking.

I know someone here knows which ones use it because this is where I learned about it

 

Alright. EBP was changed last month and the ICP was swapped again today. Isn't the fuel heater just for colder climates? In which case it's almost useless in this 90* weather here. I just don't want them throwing parts at it unless it's going to fix the problem. I'll worry about faulty parts later. I do think this guy does know the engines. He just thinks a little different than I do.

 

The fuel heater is pretty much useless everywhere. Especially here.

 

Your fuel heater also sences "water in fuel" so to me that would be good to have.

 

The wire for the fuel bowl heater can be disconnected inside from the "pass thru connection" in the bowl wall and leave the WIF sensor probe intact while leaving the outside plug connected. They are two separate circuits that share one outside plug.

 

Well I stand corrected, thanks for setting me straight Roland.

 

Thats how mine is. Works great.

 

The shop called and the mechanic had prices for the fuel heater/WIF sensor/pass through connector. $450 No way!

I told him I didn't think that was the problem and he agreed that it may not be the problem, but that it was a problem. I talked him into looking at the ICP pigtail and the IDM. If it turns out to be the IDM, how long can I run the truck with the ICP disconnected without hurting anything? I would more than likely order the IDM and install it when it gets here. But, I would need the truck in the mean time to get to work.