New '05 Excursion Owner

[Brando B]

Hi everyone, I just purchased my very first diesel vehicle and it's a big one. I was surprised how easy it was to drive considering its size. My truck is a 2005 Excursion PSD Limited with 148000 miles. Joined the site to help me better understand diesels and make my new vehicle more reliable. When I purchased the truck it came with a few mods like MBRP turbo back exhaust, six inch lift with 35-inch tall tires, and tuned with an SCT 3015 tuner. The truck runs great once it is started. My issue is it takes 10-20 seconds to start and sometimes It requires two to three tries. Both batteries are less than a week old. Is this start up time normal for my 8 year old truck with 148000 miles or do I need to get it serviced? Also, does anyone know where I can get an owners/instruction manual for an SCT 3015 tuner?

Thanks,
Brando

[dhanna6powerstroke]

FICM is most likely causing your issue. You need to check the FICM voltage while cranking. If it drops below 45 volts, then you'll have to have yours repaired or get a new one.

[Heathrm]

Originally Posted by dhanna6powerstroke

FICM is most likely causing your issue. You need to check the FICM voltage while cranking. If it drops below 45 volts, then you'll have to have yours repaired or get a new one.

What he said, and . Congratulations on your new rig.

[Term3]

Great time to put in a Bullet Proof 58 volt FICM the difference in starting and idle noise is AMAZING.


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[moleary]

Hey Brando! I just got my Ex about 8 months ago. Love it!! I agree about the FICM being a potential problem, I used FICMRepair.com and was very happy with the results.

I would recommend getting the CTS monitor and checking the trouble codes. You'll be able to monitor the FICM voltage with it as well and confirm that you need a new one. You can also monitor your EOT and ECT temps to avoid head troubles and a blown engine.

If you are handy with electronics you might be able to repair the FICM yourself. There is a how-to guide on the web somewhere, it might actually be on powerstroke.org.

Best of luck!

[Term3]

Unless your use to soldering micro components it a job best left to someone that knows what they are doing as it's VERY easy to fry a component by using too much heat.

http://www.bscustoms.net/diesel/FICM.pdf


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[moleary]

Thanks for throwing that link up - I got my beefed up FICM from ficmrepair but if I had the time and inclination I think the repair difficulty would have been best described as "moderate" - as far as electronics repairs go.

That being said, the ease of going with one of the vendors made spending the money well worth it. I also don't have to worry about the repair failing due to my own inexperience with working on the specific module.

When your compass / mileage computer goes out you can fix that one yourself! That one qualifies as "easy". ;-)

[Brando B]

Originally Posted by dhanna6powerstroke

FICM is most likely causing your issue. You need to check the FICM voltage while cranking. If it drops below 45 volts, then you'll have to have yours repaired or get a new one.

Checked voltage of the FICM using a volt meter and it was 48.8v when ignition is in the 'on' position. Voltage drops to 48.6v when cranking and fluctuates between 48.6v-48.7v when idling.

Update: Since installing new batteries, it starts within 5-6 seconds when truck is cold. When it is warmed up, it takes 15-20 seconds to start-up. After doing some searches in the forum, it might be caused by a leaky STC fitting in the high pressure oil pump(HPOP). I will check ICP reading when my Edge Insight CTS arrives sometime this week.

If it turns out to be the STC fitting, anyone have any idea what I might expect to pay to repair it?

Thanks,
Brando

[jasonreinig]

glad to have another Excursion owner !!

[Fishermedic]

Welcome to the ORG!

It definitely sounds like a HPO issue and would most likely be the STC or standpipes/dummy plugs. Idk how much a shop would charge for it but like anything on these trucks it won't be cheap if you're paying someone else. If you have someone digging in that far, or even if you're doing it yourself, you should really look at replacing/upgrading any of the parts touched on the way in. Oil lines on the turbo, EGR and oil cooler(if it needs to be done) at a minimum if you're digging all the way down to the HPOP. I'd also switch to synthetic oil if you aren't already running it and do fuel filters as well.

If you were to do the STC, standpipes, dummy plugs, oil line, EGR delete(if it's not already done), and oil cooler(if it's needed) without looking anything up I'd guess around $800 in parts and under $2000 to pay a shop to do the work but this is a full on guess.

If you have the time and can hold onto a wrench you could do the work yourself and save a bunch of cash while gaining a great deal of confidence in yourself and your truck!