expensive lesson

[rooster-tail]

My truck did not seem to start quite right all summer. As the temperature got a little cooler, it aquired a slight miss. I figured an injector was starting to stick since it would clear up after the engine warmed up. I did an oil change and all filters to see if that would help with the stiction problem. Finally the weather turned cold and my truck was getting pretty hard to start so I kept it plugged in so it would start easier in the mornings for work. A few days went by and the truck got a pretty bad miss and would not clear up. I had to use it to get to work and didn't get a chance to start it during the day to keep heat in the block so [long story short] 10:30 PM finally had it towed home. Plugged it in that night and the next morning, drove it straight to the shop to have it checked out. Had 2 injectors installed,new glow plugs and one side harness. He told me that the FICM was still not as it should be. Knowing that Ford wanted $1200. for a new FICM, I told him that I wanted it back for the hollidays. I ended up getting stranded that night at my sons house. Plugged it in and changed out a battery that went down too fast. Took it back the next morning and ran it through the mill with tests to make sure something wasn't unplugged. Said the only thing coming up is the FICM. Took it home and I did the volt test and it was bad! Sent it to FICMrepair.com and had it rebuilt. Got it back yesterday, installed it and it fired right up.This morning it was 31 out so it was time for the true test. Fired right up!woot
I got to thinking after about a thousand dollars and came to a conclusion. My bad battery was the start of all my problems which in turn, took out my FICM, which took out my injectors.

So= CHECK YOUR BATTERIES!

And by the way, FICMrepair.com is a good company to deal with and fast also. "Thanks Ed Stefans!"

[Evil Eye]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, but it's great advice for folks. Hopefully your experience will serve as a warning to others to get it checked out early.

Glad you are back up and running!

[poorboy1964]

hard lesson learned but thanks for sharing might make others think about testing our batteries

[LNS4x4]

Good read, glad your back on the road

[Snake]

I completely agree with your assessment of what happened. In my case, my alternator went ten toes up, which drained my batteries, which in turn caused my FICM to fail, which in turn caused multiple injectors to go.

The good news for those reading this is that it doesn't happen overnight. My situation took a few months to unfold, and it could have been prevented had I acted more quickly. It was an expensive lesson:

~ $300 (?) for a new alternator
~ $300 (?) for two new batteries
~ $700 for a new FICM
~ $2000 for 8 new injectors (I had 4 bad injectors, 2 on each bank)

[emperorjordan]

I just had an alternator go bad 2 weeks ago, I had a miss before for a few weeks before the alt went out, it went away right after I put in the new alt, now its back... maybe batteries now? I should probably send in my FICM too....

[rooster-tail]

One more note of advice!
If you do the FICM volt test, put some duct tape or electricle tape around the hole of the case. I was up in the engine compartment testing mine and it tested out bad. As I tried to get my OLD *** up, I slipped and touched the probe from the screw to the case and sparked it. Good thing it was already toast or I would have been cussing myself.

[JohnO]

That is sort of how my FICM failed. I thought it was stiction, as it was hard to start and would miss a bit until it warmed up. Was like that all winter, finally died the following spring. With the power supply fixed, it fires right up now.

I will say, when the FICM is good, this is the best cold starting diesel engine I've ever had. Wouldn't make a habit if this, but I started it when outside temp was five degrees and I forgot to plug it in.

[texas_psd]

Originally Posted by rooster-tail

My truck did not seem to start quite right all summer. As the temperature got a little cooler, it aquired a slight miss. I figured an injector was starting to stick since it would clear up after the engine warmed up. I did an oil change and all filters to see if that would help with the stiction problem. Finally the weather turned cold and my truck was getting pretty hard to start so I kept it plugged in so it would start easier in the mornings for work. A few days went by and the truck got a pretty bad miss and would not clear up. I had to use it to get to work and didn't get a chance to start it during the day to keep heat in the block so [long story short] 10:30 PM finally had it towed home. Plugged it in that night and the next morning, drove it straight to the shop to have it checked out. Had 2 injectors installed,new glow plugs and one side harness. He told me that the FICM was still not as it should be. Knowing that Ford wanted $1200. for a new FICM, I told him that I wanted it back for the hollidays. I ended up getting stranded that night at my sons house. Plugged it in and changed out a battery that went down too fast. Took it back the next morning and ran it through the mill with tests to make sure something wasn't unplugged. Said the only thing coming up is the FICM. Took it home and I did the volt test and it was bad! Sent it to FICMrepair.com and had it rebuilt. Got it back yesterday, installed it and it fired right up.This morning it was 31 out so it was time for the true test. Fired right up!woot
I got to thinking after about a thousand dollars and came to a conclusion. My bad battery was the start of all my problems which in turn, took out my FICM, which took out my injectors.

So= CHECK YOUR BATTERIES!

And by the way, FICMrepair.com is a good company to deal with and fast also. "Thanks Ed Stefans!"

Originally Posted by JohnO

That is sort of how my FICM failed. I thought it was stiction, as it was hard to start and would miss a bit until it warmed up. Was like that all winter, finally died the following spring. With the power supply fixed, it fires right up now.

I will say, when the FICM is good, this is the best cold starting diesel engine I've ever had. Wouldn't make a habit if this, but I started it when outside temp was five degrees and I forgot to plug it in.

So how long did your trucks take to cold start before the new FICM? The reason I ask is that my truck takes about 4-5 seconds of cranking to start first thing in the morning (ambient temps around 45*), and that's after 10 seconds of waiting on the glow plugs. If I plug in the block heater, crank time is 3-4 seconds. I just recently replaced my batteries, so she cranks plenty fast. She just won't start right up. I haven't checked the FICM cranking voltage, but my Insight shows a steady 48.5 to 49 volts at idle. Is 4-5 seconds of cranking too long for a cold engine?

[Galaxie]

Yes that is what happened IMO. You had a weak battery that took out your FICM then your FICM took out injectors.

Its kind of like how our trucks loose head gaskets.

The coolant takes out the oil cooler, which takes out the EGR cooler, which takes out a HG.

Sorry this happened this way for ya! I just replaced my perfect working 2006 batteries this Fall. My theory is I didn’t want to lose my 58v FICM and I had a classic car and a fox body mustang both with dead cell batteries. Why not kill 3 birds with one stone. The new Ford batteries went into my rig, and the old ones now power the Fairlane and 87 GT. Win, win, and win.