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ficm

3K views 25 replies 6 participants last post by  Evil Eye 
#1 ·
howdy
just put in a new powersupply (bpd) for the ficm. The truck turned over and idled real rough then died , would not start. I did check ficm with the key in the on position and had 48 v. Now battery is dead. Is it normal to start real hard after changing ficm? When I swapped out some injectors it was the same story...hard to start , which I know is normal.

I am a little worried because one of the ends of the injector harness will not "snap" into the bottom of the ficm , so i will probably be buying a ficm for the logic board from ford.

Any advice?

merry x mas
 
#3 ·
I actually took the harness of so I could really get some pressure to snap it in. IT WOULD NOT SNAP / "CLICK" in...pissed , easy job turns into a drag. Can you buy just the logic board half of the ficm? If I have to get a whole new ficm from ford should I still use the bullet proof power supply? I was thinking yes because it is non returnable anyways. 500 dollars tuns into 1000 wtf ha ha ha.

thanks
 
#4 ·
Take all of the connections out of the FICM and try again. They can be a pain to get seated in but just get at it. It will click in and should fire right up. If your batteries are dead than that could be a major problem as well.
 
#6 ·
i tried like 10 times. like i said i even took off a few of the connectors to the injectors so i could reef down on the middle connector to the ficm. It will just not "snap" Don't know if it is the harness or the ficm. some of the gray insulation on the inside where the connecter goes is worn away but other than that , everything looks okj?

thanks
 
#10 ·
I hear what you are saying, i had the ficm totally out and the harness unhooked from the injectors so i could line it up perfect and squeeze the sh1t out of it , it looked to be home, it just would not snap. i will try tomorrow. but first i will get a new ficm and an injector harness and leave them in the bag.

thanks much.
 
#11 ·
Did you check to make sure you didn't bend a pin?
 
#12 ·
that's what I was going to suggest. look hard for a bent pin in the logic board first.

then if it comes down to it you may need to get a new FICM harness. the connector locking tabs get brittle over time and are very easy to break. each side of the connector has a lock so usually if one is broke the other will still hold the connector in. once they are both broke however you may need to string together a couple zip-ties and cinch the ficm/connector together
 
#13 ·
I just took the ficm out , no bent pins and the connectors actually look fine (two tabs on both sides) The one thing is on the inside of the ficm where the connector goes the gray rubber(?) insulation is chewed up. I know they snap in really hard but something is not correct. So tomorrow I will take the ficm with me to ford and see if they have a connector and i can check to see if a different connector will SNAP in. If it doesn't then new ficm , if it does then new connector. kinda pissed.

thanks fellows and happy holidays
 
#15 ·
yes i guess that's what it would be. gray rubber to keep out water etc. i would think. it cannot be removed without tearing it all up. the middle opening for the injector connector is chewed up a bit, don't see why it would cause the connector not to snap in though.

thanks
 
#17 ·
i appreciate the help. just at a loss and can't really see why it won't work. i'll fix it tomorrow. not really crazy about buying any parts and don't feel like messing around with it either...but oh well, what are you going to do. see i bought a new woodworking tool sat. so of course replacing the ficm will cost 2x as much as it should...whatever.

thanks.
 
#18 ·
One more thing you should try is put a little lubricant on the rubber seal and the plug end. I would use di-electric grease which is designed for electrical connections.
 
#23 · (Edited)
it's actually kind of hard to tell if the locking tabs are broken unless you really know what you're looking at. The part you depress to release the tab will still be there, but the very ends that snap over the ficm end will be broken off. I wish I had a pic to show you. It is very common for at least one of these to be broken but even with both broken it will not keep the connector from fully seating, it will just keep it from staying in place.

I actually had a surging problem on my truck a few years ago that I eventually diagnosed as a loose FICM connector. I bought a new harness incase the connector wouldn't stay seated but I never installed it because I haven't had any issues since then.
 
#24 ·
It did turn out to be the connector. The tabs did not look broken, but the would not hold / snap in. I bought a new connector with the pigtails and soldered them all together and put it back in. Fired right up. So all is well.

Thanks to all of you for the input and happy new year!
 
#26 ·
Glad to hear you got it figured out! :thumb:
 
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