6.0 with cylinder contribution codes, white smoke and no power when cold

[jph]

Hey all, thanks in advance for checking out this thread and offering any advice.

In early January I bought a 2005 F250 PSD with 101K miles on it. I was nervous about buying a 6.0 but it came with a 3 month/3000 mile powertrain warranty from the dealer so I figured if anything went wrong I'd be ok.

Well, I already had to replace the FICM, which wasn't covered because it's not a "lubricated part." It was reading 35 volts running, now it reads 48 at the OBD and with a multimeter under the hood.

I have an Edge Insight CTS and I've never seen an EOT/ECT delta over a few degrees in either direction once the engine is warm. My EOT is usually around 176 and ECT right around 174.

Before FICM replacement, the Edge read DTCs p0611, the FICM death code, and 2 cylinder contribution codes (I think it was #4 and #6...I might have seen #8 too, I can't remember but they were all even numbered cylinders).

After FICM replacement, I'm still getting P0272 for cylinder #4.

The truck starts right up but has a miss when it's cold. There's NO excess of smoke at startup, but if I try to drive at all before the EOT is above 125, the truck feels like it has no power (like it's running on 4 cylinders), it dumps white smoke out of the tailpipe, and it does not want to shift out of first gear unless I back off the gas pedal.

The smoke smells like diesel, not coolant, and I'm not losing any coolant. There is a pretty strong diesel smell in the cab, although that seems like it may be an exhaust leak unrelated to the other issues.

Once the truck is warm, the smoke goes away and it has plenty of power. I haven't noticed the fuel economy to be that bad...it's doing a heck of a lot better than the V10 I had before this.

Around the time that I replaced the FICM I changed the oil, oil filter, and fuel filters. All filters are Motorcraft and for oil I switched to synthetic, Mobil 1 5W40 Turbo Diesel Truck, and added two bottles of Rev-X. I've been running that for several hundred miles with no improvement.

Any ideas? The only code I'm getting now is p0272, cylinder #4 contribution and balance, although I have definitely seen the code for cylinder #6 at some point. Can the Edge Insight read fuel pressure?

Could some of the injectors have fried when the FICM voltage was low? I should be able to get the injectors replaced under warranty, but I think I'll have to pay the diagnostic fee and I'd rather not do that until I've checked all the simple stuff myself.

[dannyboy950]

I suggest you check the wireing harness for that bank for chafes or a loose connection.
As for the delayed shift check your tps is good. Tranny reads a signal from the tps compared to the vss to know when to shift.

[jph]

Originally Posted by dannyboy950

I suggest you check the wireing harness for that bank for chafes or a loose connection.
As for the delayed shift check your tps is good. Tranny reads a signal from the tps compared to the vss to know when to shift.

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing on the harness. Glad to hear about the tps.

[NYC F-350]

Originally Posted by jph

Hey all, thanks in advance for checking out this thread and offering any advice.

In early January I bought a 2005 F250 PSD with 101K miles on it. I was nervous about buying a 6.0 but it came with a 3 month/3000 mile powertrain warranty from the dealer so I figured if anything went wrong I'd be ok.

Well, I already had to replace the FICM, which wasn't covered because it's not a "lubricated part." It was reading 35 volts running, now it reads 48 at the OBD and with a multimeter under the hood.

I have an Edge Insight CTS and I've never seen an EOT/ECT delta over a few degrees in either direction once the engine is warm. My EOT is usually around 176 and ECT right around 174.

Your first problem is that your thermostat needs to be replaced. Your ECT should be in the 190°F range. Use a Motorcraft replacement for this. As you just learned, they fail in the open position, any other brand may not...

Originally Posted by jph

Before FICM replacement, the Edge read DTCs p0611, the FICM death code, and 2 cylinder contribution codes (I think it was #4 and #6...I might have seen #8 too, I can't remember but they were all even numbered cylinders).

After FICM replacement, I'm still getting P0272 for cylinder #4.

The truck starts right up but has a miss when it's cold. There's NO excess of smoke at startup, but if I try to drive at all before the EOT is above 125, the truck feels like it has no power (like it's running on 4 cylinders), it dumps white smoke out of the tailpipe, and it does not want to shift out of first gear unless I back off the gas pedal.

The smoke smells like diesel, not coolant, and I'm not losing any coolant. There is a pretty strong diesel smell in the cab, although that seems like it may be an exhaust leak unrelated to the other issues.

Once the truck is warm, the smoke goes away and it has plenty of power. I haven't noticed the fuel economy to be that bad...it's doing a heck of a lot better than the V10 I had before this.

Around the time that I replaced the FICM I changed the oil, oil filter, and fuel filters. All filters are Motorcraft and for oil I switched to synthetic, Mobil 1 5W40 Turbo Diesel Truck, and added two bottles of Rev-X. I've been running that for several hundred miles with no improvement.

Any ideas? The only code I'm getting now is p0272, cylinder #4 contribution and balance, although I have definitely seen the code for cylinder #6 at some point.

Typically the contribution codes mean the injector is dead. It may have had the last nail in its coffin when your FICM went out.
Double check the injector harness for chafing as mentioned earlier first.

Originally Posted by jph

Can the Edge Insight read fuel pressure?

Depends on the model. If it can, you will need to purchase the right sending unit for it, since there is no stock sensor for the Insight to access.

Originally Posted by jph

Could some of the injectors have fried when the FICM voltage was low? I should be able to get the injectors replaced under warranty, but I think I'll have to pay the diagnostic fee and I'd rather not do that until I've checked all the simple stuff myself.

Yes. A dead FICM can harm the injectors on the electrical side of things.
If I was in your shoes, I would pay the diagnostic fee before that warranty runs out.

[pistolpete70]

I had a VERY similar problem happen to me yesterday. I have an 05 F250 with the 6.0. It started (but was rough), I let it warm up for about 5 minutes. Soon as I put it in drive it got a LOT rougher and did not want to accelerate no matter how much pedal I gave it. I pushed the pedal down hard and got a lot of black smoke. It barely wanted to move. I keep moving and when I got to the first stop light it idled down and stalled. I tried to restart 5 times with no luck. Then I held the key in start for about 30 seconds until it finally fired up but I had to keep a lot of pedal down to keep it running. I limped it home and it stalled in the driveway.
I changed the fuel filters (they needed changing) but that didn't change the way it was running.
I put my programmer on it today and it was showing the following codes:
P0266 - Cyliner #2 Contribution/Balance
P0269 - Cyliner #3 Contribution/Balance
P0278 - Cyliner #6 Contribution/Balance
I had the Ford dealer complete the FICM mod in 2006.
I am reading everything I can about this but haven't got too far yet.
I will check the harnesses next.
A friend said I need to clean the EGR. I will try that too.
How can you tell if an injector is bad?
How can you tell if your FICM is bad?