Common questions

What causes the FICM to fail on a PowerStroke?

What causes the FICM to fail on a PowerStroke?

Excessive heat from the engine and vibration can cause the FICM to overheat or fail. This occurs because the FICM is located on the side valve cover of the Powerstroke engine.

Where is the FICM located on a 6.0L diesel engine?

Excessive heat from the engine and vibration can cause the FICM to overheat or fail. This occurs because the FICM is located on the side valve cover of the Powerstroke engine. Cold starts impact the FICM negatively by causing excess voltage to be drawn. This can damage the capacitors in the fuel injection control module.

How is FICM calculated in a power stroke engine?

FICM SYNC is calculated by the FICM and is the correlation between the camshaft pin and the crankshaft triggers. Once FICM SYNC is achieved, the FICM uses engine speed, MFDES (Mass Fuel Desired), EOT, and ICP to calculate fuel timing, pulse width, and pilot injection usage.

What does it mean when your truck won’t start?

So your truck won’t start because it doesn’t have enough power to fully energize the electromagnet inside the starter solenoid. The magnetic field keeps on failing, so the solenoid spring keeps on snapping back. That’s what is making the click-click-click noise you hear.

What should my FICM reading be for my car?

Next start the engine and measure the voltage with the engine running. If voltage stays at or above 45-46 volts, the FICM is fine. Abnormally low battery voltage can give a false low FICM voltage reading, so make sure your batteries are good.

How does inductive heating work on Ford FICM?

A few years ago, Ford came out with a new program referred to as inductive heating for the FICM, intended to combat issues with missing and rough-running during cold startup due to sticking spool valves in the injectors. This program works by running “extra” current through the close coil to generate heat and warm up the spool.

What are the codes for shorted coils in FICM?

Open coils produce low current which sets the injector circuit low codes (ie. P0261, P0264, … , P0282). Shorted coils (side shorts) or short to grounds produce high current which sets the injector circuit high codes (ie. P0262, P0265, …, P0283).

How does the FICM work with the ignition switch?

It uses engine speed and position signals (*CKPO, *CMPO) to determine when the injectors need to be activated. The ignition switch provides *KEYPWR to the FICM. Once this signal is detected by the FICM, the *MPR output of the FICM will engage the FICM relay. This in turn provides the *FICM PWR and *FICM Logic PWR voltages to the FICM.

Why does my injector not open when FICM is used?

When the FICM commands the injector to open, there can be a delay in the spool valve movement, usually from the spool valve sticking in the bore. There are several things that can cause stiction of the spool valve. One of the biggest culprits is the type of oil being used along with the viscosity. These engines can be very picky about oil.

When does the FICM cycle through the injector?

The FICM will cycle through the injector outputs when the key is placed in the ON position. This is called pre-cycle and the time of pre-cycle varies with engine temperature. The pre-cycle is done as a self test of the injector circuits. The FICM internally generates 48V used to drive the injector solenoids.

FICM SYNC is calculated by the FICM and is the correlation between the camshaft pin and the crankshaft triggers. Once FICM SYNC is achieved, the FICM uses engine speed, MFDES (Mass Fuel Desired), EOT, and ICP to calculate fuel timing, pulse width, and pilot injection usage.

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Ruth Doyle