choppy, erratic idle

[6point0damn2004]

Ok, so about 2 weeks ago my truck developed this problem. When the truck sits for an extended time, when ya start it the buzz test is erratic and its starts lopey acted like the ficm was going.bad. but it'd only start rough after sitting. Also after longer highway trips when you'd get off the highway or come to a light it'd have a choppy erratic idle. Didn't act like it wanted to die or anything just not a smooth idle. When it was warm it'd start fine. Tested ficm with multimeter after sitting it read 23.xx volts during buzz test. I replaced the ficm. I replaced the icp sensor last year. Went for a test drive tonight, test the new ficm. I went fr a 20 mile ighway drive when i got off the highway he idle was choppy once again. Could this be an ipr issue? What do you think it could be?

[6point0damn2004]

Also, when ur driving it doesn't seem to lack any power and runs smooth

[DesertSmoker]

It took me a long time to fix the same problem. This is what I changed. I do not know which one of these fixed the issue or if it was a combination.
1. Installed the BLUE spring in the updated FPR kit
2. Running a 10w-30 diesel oil
3. Running 2 cycle TWC3 oil 1 oz per gallon of fuel.

[6point0damn2004]

Well, i did the blue spring. I've been looking at going to the synthetic rotella, may have to be on my list to do sooner cause its not like it wants to die or runs badly. Its just aggrivating have a weird idle

[handymanmikesf]

6.0, try the Rotella t-5 10w30, as this corrected my problem along with the Lucas Diesel Injector cleaner. Luckily I didn't get taken by Ford young techs for alot of money. Luckily I found some real diesel mechanics at a 24 hour diesel shop. But the oil change is worth it to me.

[dfuzz78]

My truck is doing the same thing now. I just did the blue spring replacement, did an oil change (motorcraft 15w40), and have a thing of diesel kleen in this tank. Now, i have cruddy fuel in there now (mistake, won't happen again. just got excited at $4.14 a gal) but shouldn't the diesel kleen help or should I just run down this tank-o-crap then see how she runs? I know, could be the ficm or a bad injector, but shouldn't I wait and see? Thanks.

[handymanmikesf]

dfuzz, I had the Ford diesel techs guessing on mine seeing how their testing showed no results. I had actually did the following: Pulled and cleaned the egr, changed both fuel filters, changed my oil & filter to Rotella 15w40, tested my FICM, put the Power Services diesel kleen in fuel, checked the turbo, replaced the batteries, and even took it to Ford who told me that due to them not showing anything on their computers that the minimum bill would be $1400 but that it could could as high as $6000. At that point, I dropped by an 18 wheeler tractor shop that is open 24 hours and talked to the diesel techs there. These diesel techs advised me to change my oil to Rotella T-5 10w30 and also use the Lucas Diesel fuel injector cleaner that looks like oil and this comes in either a 32 oz bottle or 128 oz bottle and the 32 oz cost $12 and treats 100 gallons or the 128 oz was $28 and treats 400 gallons of diesel. The techs there told me to do the oil change and to add 3 oz per 10 gallons and head to Texas. He said I should be feeling a big difference within a couple of hundred miles and he was right. By 500 miles the truck was running totally smooth, so the injector or injectors that was sticking is now good again. He told me to use this stuff once a month as it keeps the injectors lubed and clean. They also told me the PowerServices was junk but that I could add the Lucas stuff to the fuel with the already PowerServices in there. These guys know what they were talking about and my truck runs alot better. Just give it a try, you might be surprised.

[6point0damn2004]

Awesome. Gonna have to give the lucas a try

[dfuzz78]

Originally Posted by handymanmikesf

dfuzz, I had the Ford diesel techs guessing on mine seeing how their testing showed no results. I had actually did the following: Pulled and cleaned the egr, changed both fuel filters, changed my oil & filter to Rotella 15w40, tested my FICM, put the Power Services diesel kleen in fuel, checked the turbo, replaced the batteries, and even took it to Ford who told me that due to them not showing anything on their computers that the minimum bill would be $1400 but that it could could as high as $6000. At that point, I dropped by an 18 wheeler tractor shop that is open 24 hours and talked to the diesel techs there. These diesel techs advised me to change my oil to Rotella T-5 10w30 and also use the Lucas Diesel fuel injector cleaner that looks like oil and this comes in either a 32 oz bottle or 128 oz bottle and the 32 oz cost $12 and treats 100 gallons or the 128 oz was $28 and treats 400 gallons of diesel. The techs there told me to do the oil change and to add 3 oz per 10 gallons and head to Texas. He said I should be feeling a big difference within a couple of hundred miles and he was right. By 500 miles the truck was running totally smooth, so the injector or injectors that was sticking is now good again. He told me to use this stuff once a month as it keeps the injectors lubed and clean. They also told me the PowerServices was junk but that I could add the Lucas stuff to the fuel with the already PowerServices in there. These guys know what they were talking about and my truck runs alot better. Just give it a try, you might be surprised.

I had a bad injector (#6) Replaced it and it's good as new.

[bbc621]

I had the same problem and was told to do the egr delete witch made the my truck run alot smoother. I still had the choopy idle sometimes and pulled a dtc p0269, replaced #3 injector and choppy idle is gone. Im still having an issue whenever truck is in park and I hold throttle at about 2000 rpms I have a vibration or miss. Any suggestions?