FICM SOLUTION BROKEN PLUGS
 

Hello everyone. I would like to share a simple solution to a common problem. I brought my 6.0 in to the dealer to fix my heads ( ever heard that before ). In any case, having spoken to a few mechanics over the years, I hear it's quite common for people to break the retaining tabs off of the 3 plugs that enter the FICM. You will see several pictures of people ZIP tying them in place if you do some searching. The wonderful Ford Tech that worked on mine didn't tell me he did break them nor did he take responsibility for doing such. Fast forward a bit, had a lot of problems with intermittent starts and weird things happening with my truck, ie, cylinder contribution codes from my AE scanner. Anyway, at 220,000 I finally had to replace injectors and while I was there, I did the oil cooler ( A MUST if you are going to get deep into the engine ) and that is when I discovered the plugs were broken, all three of them no less. So there are 3 solutions to this problem. #1 is to pay a LOT of money to have the harness replaced, my dealer wouldn't take responsibility even though they were the only ones to ever take the FICM off ( until I had too much later ). #2 you can buy the plug ends from Allied ( yes you can for sure in case anyone wants to argue ) #3 IS THE EASIEST SOLUTION - I cut a section of heater core hose (or fuel line), I think it was 5/8" diameter stuff about a foot long down the length so that it was no longer a tube so to speak. It still looks round of course. The slit allowed the tube to crush easier because I didn't want to put too much pressure on the plugs or the FICM. This piece is obviously able to withstand high temperatures so it's perfectly suited for this purpose. When you put the FICM back in, slip the hose directly behind the plugs lengthwise and gently snug the FICM down tight. This is a perfect fix, it will not back out and you won't have the zip ties rubbing into the wires. Plus it doesn't look like a "farm" fix as it's invisible. I hope this helps anyone with this same problem. REMEMBER, if your PLUGS DON'T CLICK, you most likely have a problem. Hope this saves you guys some money and time !

Humm, That is a good idea.

pictures would help me comprehend what exactly you did with the hose piece. as in how it is placed. I'm kind of dumb that way:)

Hose placement..
 

Sorry, I didn't take pictures but I thought I would share it with people just the same. I am not sure how I can better explain it but I will try again. The FICM plugs are aligned in a row parallel ( same direction ) as the valve cover on the drivers side. The space between the back of the plugs and the valve cover is probably around 3/8". By placing the hose behind the plugs before you tighten the FICM down, it acts as a shim so the plugs have no space to back out. Since the rubber is squished from round to an oval shape from the pressure between the FICM plug and the valve cover, it acts kind of like a self adjusting spring shim. The slit cut lengthwise and straight down the hose just makes the hose more compliant and essentially a softer spring so it exerts less force on the plug heads and FICM. What you are really trying to do is fill the space/void between the back of the plug and the valve cover with something that won't melt, slip out or be so hard as to break the plugs or FICM. Even a flat piece of heat resistant but compressible rubber would work but the hose was at hand and probably the best solution possible. Zip ties are in my opinion a very bad solution as they have to be put between the wires to hold them in place but there is almost no space between the wires to do so. This means the zap strap/zip tie will exert a cutting action against the wires opposing either side of the tie and may eventually wear through. That and they don't push or in their case, pull the plugs in nearly as well as the hose...

Hope that helps.

Very interesting, Thanks for the idea.

how difficult is it to just replace the connector ends?
this is a good idea though... have you checked to make sure the heat isnt getting to the hose?

Wow, great idea. Thank you very much.

This is now done to mine. Lol. Thank you very much for the idea.

UPDATE FROM AUTHOR ON HOSE__STILL WORKING GREAT
 

Hi, the hose continues to work perfectly and has permanently and safely resolved this problem for me. The hose is made to withstand pretty high temperatures as it's the same type of hosed used in that engine already. Connectors are available from Allied, FOR SURE, I checked but they would be a huge PIA to install. This is really a better solution because the next time you need to take the FICM off for whatever reason, you won't have to struggle with the stupid little locks and probably break them off again.

This is a great idea. Mine has a broken clip on the FICM side and this will fix it!!

I broke one side of the middle connector when I pulled my FICM out a couple of weeks ago... I put it back in and basically crossed my fingers that it wouldn't cause an issue. This is an EXCELLENT way to fix the broken plug issue and I will definitely use it if I ever have to pull it out again.

i had all 3 broken, tied this and its a great solution. Saved me allot of time and money. Thank you!!!!!!

I registered specifically to say thanks for such a simple, amazing solution. This thread needs to be seen and I hope my post helps make it so!

You're welcome..
 

It's been several years and it still works perfectly.. Glad I could help.

Michael Ronneseth

Thanks for the great tip. I just had my first experience with the FICM connectors/fustration removing them and broke 2 of the 3 connectors. FICM going out for repairs tomorrow and when it's back I will be using this solution when it goes back in.

Just love the unique solutions you guys come up with for us 6.0 rookies.

Nice to see my simple solution still making a difference
 

I just saw a post from a guy who's spent $5000.00 to repeatedly replace injector #2, replace his FICM, and so forth only to have the same stealership install zip ties to repair the loose plugs ( which failed again). He finally ordered a new harness and spent 90 minutes installing it himself to solve the issue. Too bad he didn't see my post. Feel bad for the guy and all his lost time and money the stealership will definitely not pay him back for ( for misdiagnosis).

This is what I did. Its never given any problems since. I guess this could fall under the farm fix though. LOL https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post11405989

Wow Great post. I have an 03 6.0 that i bought from another owner and currently have it in the shop for a crank no start. besides that fact that i may have a HPOP issue, when the mechanic went in to remove the FICM, low and behold he send my pics of the connectors with broken tabs, and seperating from the connector housing. and to top it off the connectors were siliconed into place making it impossible to remove without breaking the connectors off. This truck must have been working on by the same mechanic you had. So long story even longer, i ordered the connectors from online and will arrive this friday. Ford Dealer mechanic will remove the harness for me since he is pulling the engine to Bulletproof it for me anyways, and will attempt to replace the connectors my self. I am going to video this process and post when i finish. stay tuned and thanks for the crazy story. Its hard to trust these mechanics these days.

Awesome idea. As an above poster mentioned, I have a middle plug tab broken, and while it's really snug it's just a matter of time before it will want to back out. Will put this on the bucket list for sure!

If you are pulling the whole harness off you would be money ahead to just replace the complete harness. When I changed mine I found several bad places that were not visible when it was installed as well as some butchered repairs.

Your absolutely right about replacing the harness with a new one while I have it off anyways. But there are a few obstacles in my way with that option; one being that if I do order the new harness they can't seem to find any and they aren't being made anymore, Secondly, if I go with aftermarket ford won't warrantee it, and Lastly it hella expensive($1200) for both harnesses. If ford won't warrantee the harness then I'll do the connectors myself. I am taking a gamble but nothing was wrong with my harness other than the connectors. Hope that makes sense.

I bought one for my 03 from Autonation Ford White Bear, 3C3Z-12B637-AB in Jan, for $560, just checked and it is still listed.

KIT - WIRING | Genuine Ford | 3C3Z-12B637-AB

Well I will at least give this connector solution a try and see how it comes out. If it doesn't work out then I thank you for a much better deal from autonation. Way better than the dealer. So I take it you have been using this new harness since Jan. any issues and does the harness look brand new or a used item. I can't believe Ford can't even find one and has to special order it. As far as my connectors go, I think it would be benificial for someone to see more photos and even a video for other DIYers. But than you much for the link on the new harness. Might just buy it anyway and replace later on. Thanks

It's a brand new Ford part from one of the most reputable Ford dealers in the US. They also had to special order it at the time, it took 4 days to my door instead of the normal 3.

At the risk of sounding like a complete dumb@@s, does this only work on certain years?
Reason I ask is I tried this on my 03, and the only plug I can see this working on would be the FICM power supply plug as it's the only one with the 90 degree end on it. I can see where the heater hose will bridge the gap quite well for that plug but the other two plugs are straight ends. I tried about everything, finally ended up cutting two pieces and installing them up and down, instead of laying them flat. I did cut a slit down the chunk of hose for both looms, so it more or less straddles the wires without putting too much pressure on the wires.

It's not a permanent fix but seems to be nice and snug for now, time will tell.
Amazon has the whole FICM/injector loom for $200, I might be tempted to go that route, I am guessing that would be an hour or so to swap out.

All 3 plugs should be 90º to the FICM and no straight ones.
Sounds like you missing the caps for the plugs. They just snap into place.
and then they have tape on them to hold them onto the harness and tail of the cap.

When I did my FICM work after it blew up I replaced the injector harness (2 small plugs)
and vleaned up the main engine harness I used small zip ties in place of the tape wrap on
the tales of the caps. I then used tape on top to seal things up. I did more work on the
center section of the engine harness along with new tape and fresh corrugated plastic wire loom.
I had some very crushed sections but no chaffed wire under that. The only bad spot was at
the EBP sensor. The reason for most of the weirdness.

The back covers that your missing are there to keep the tight bends in the harness where it enters the
plug from chaffing or cracking and shorting out on something. Any time you close to a pin with a over sharp
bend radius you run the risk of the pin pulling out if the wire it's self does not chafe or crack.




Sean https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...455b8d603e.gif

6.0L Tech Folder :oval

Check this out Sean

My ends look identical to the ends in that pic, and I don't know that you could put 90 degree caps on those ends if you wanted to. I certainly would if I could but there is not enough slack in my harness if I wanted to.

Well I can see that one is missing the caps.
The one I just got from WhiteBear had the caps on it.

Here are some shots of the old one. The clips that hold it in place are part of the
body and not the caps. You can see this in the photo. No idea why they would
not be the same.

I went out and took some photos of the stuff I have in my junk bin.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...26a68f9765.jpghttps://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...bf241b99a6.jpghttps://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...c0f2acdb01.jpghttps://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6898e97814.jpghttps://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ebe42aec8b.jpghttps://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...3839c53f36.jpghttps://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...891082b8af.jpghttps://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...7f46245ba7.jpghttps://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...5ed2e4c58e.jpghttps://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...afba6d2b36.jpg





Sean https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...455b8d603e.gif

6.0L Tech Folder :oval

03's have a different Ficm harness than the 04 n up. If you have an aluminum Ficm bracket,, you have the non 90 Ficm harness. The Ficm harnesses are 200 btw. The price listed above is for the main engine harness (this is the front plug on the Ficm).

Forgot to say that about the price. I got mine from FICM Repair and
it was less than $200. I did have them check on the main for me and
it was just under $700. that main harness is wild how much a local dealer
wants to hit you for.

Anthony how much are you getting the main engine harness for if you
don't mind sharing that info?



Sean https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...455b8d603e.gif

6.0L Tech Folder :oval

It's about the price listed in one of the posts above Sean.