FICM repair/upgrade

[npccpartsman]

I have recently obtained a FICM repair/upgrade procedure put together by Pstrang from FTE. It was too big to post as an attachment so EvilEye is going to add it to the tech folder. It covers basic FICM failure repair and what to do to raise the voltage. NOTE: THE UPGRADES ARE NOT FOR THE NOVICE ELECTRONICS REPAIRMAN WANT TO BE!!!!! It will allow you to take your FICM to a good local electronics repair shop and get you back going without having to spend some major coin with Ford.

For the electronic's experts here: There are some parts listed in the upgrade section of the manual that I feel like could be upgraded or fine tuned even further. I'm sure that those better parts are probably at a much higher price, but please remember that keeping costs in control is a big thing for a lot of us.

Find the upgrade procedure here: http://www.bscustoms.net/diesel/FICM.pdf

[npccpartsman]

I should have bumped this instead of just adding a link to it. Back to the top

[Evil Eye]

Copied to the 6.0L tech files and stuck... Thanks, Tim.

[npccpartsman]

Thanks Shawn. Working on some upgrades to the upgrades as we speak.

[yosh30]

What sifference did you notice in your truck when you did these upgrades? How much do you think it would run me if I brought it to a electronics proffesional? Or could I send it to you?

[npccpartsman]

I haven't done it. Swamps Diesel will do a 58V upgrade for a little more when you purchase one of their remaned FICM's. I was just passing along information. Eric @ ID told me a long time ago that the higher "powered" FICM's made a little more HP. Read it very carefully and take all the warnings to heart. It's still in the experimental stages and hoping some electronic guru's will chime in here.

[F250RBP]

looking to do this mod, anyone point me in the right direction for the parts?

[bakantor]

There is a very long thread over at thedieselgarage on the subject. I would suggest making a trip over there and reading through the many pages of comments.

FYI, there are not only two different versions of FICMs (4-screw and 7-screw) but there are also different parts on different revisions. My early revision 7-screw FICM does not have many of the issues outlined in the upgrade manual. For example, my power MOS devices have plenty of headroom and my capacitors are rated for a higher voltage... and this is how it came from Ford.

Long story short, the mods/repairs tend to help with injector issues caused by a weak FICM but they tend not to increase power on an already properly running truck.

I am also convinced ALL FICMs will eventually start to fail due to two mechanisms:
1) Vibrations from the engine will loosen heavier components such as the inductors, capacitors, etc.
2) The electrolytic capacitors are not ideal for this environment and will degrade.

The end result is one or more of the parallel boost conversion channels will falter and not contribute to the output. When this happens the power supply cannot provide enough current to the system in cold conditions and thus the output voltage droops.

Best of luck!
Brad

[bakantor]

... and for an electronics professional doing it for you, your best bet is probably Swamps or a friend who will do it for peanuts. He's been doing it for awhile and I haven't seen any complaints. He may also be your cheapest option.

I can see a local guru charging anywhere from $75/hr up to $125/hr. If you bring the parts and have them replace all necessary components for piece of mind the job could easily take a half day, quicker if they've done it before. You could hit $350 or more before you know it!

If you decide to have someone local do it they also need access to a high power DC source and an equally suited electronic load to test the board. A thermal camera is also very useful and will help track down poor connections and stressed components under load.

[F250RBP]

so can anyone point me in the direction on where i can buy all the needed parts? i have been searching and can not find anything. mine has taken a crap and is in a no start condition now, so i need to get back on the road