Rough running with updated FICM

[eabrust]

Looking for some help from Bill or anyone else that has done FICM updating on their truck.

I got a spare FICM off Ebay (a model year '04 module) that had the latest Ford flash on it. Had it in my truck ('06 F350) for a little over a week driving around town to check it out prior to sending off for reflashing. Had no issues, it worked great, so I figured the module must be OK and sent it in for FICM reprogram, got it back pretty quick (thanks Bill!).

I finally tried installing the reprogrammed module in my truck this last week. On first start in the morning, and starting up to go home from work in the afternoon, the truck would lope and idle poorly, and in general run rough like one or so injectors weren't quite working right. After a few minutes, the loping idle would cease, but heading out on the road the truck has no power and stumbles, still as if an injector isn't quite doing its thing. Fuel mileage was also suffering. After the truck was up to temp, it would run just great, had great drivability, and seemed to have no issues.

I gave it a few days to see if it would resolve itself or if the PCM had to 'relearn' anything, truck never threw an CEL and continued to run crappy, and finaly removed the reprogrammed FICM and put my original back in. Truck runs great out of the chute every morning with the stock FICM and program, never a stutter, so I know the issue is tied to the FICM, not to individual injector(s).

I pulled apart the reprogrammmed spare FICM, to see if I could find any issue relating to the modules behavior (smoked resistors, cracked solder joints, etc.) and couldn't find any issues. The DC convert coils and caps all looked OK, and the driver side looked OK to. Pics attached if anyone is curious what is in a FICM.

So I guess my questions are:
1) Does the PCM have to relearn anything w/ updated FICM for some length of time (ie, did I pull the module to quick?)
2) Is the updated programming pretty much canned for any and all trucks, or does it depend on what strategy is in the PCM? My truck was in the shop a week or two ago, and I know they reflashed both my PCM and my stock FICM recently. Is it possible a slightly different program would work better on my truck?
3) From what I read, the behavior of the FICM to work better as the truck heats up seems to match what people find as the module is on its way out, is that the case? (would be my luck the FICM would die just after getting a proper program put on it....) I was hoping to find an issue in the FICM, but couldn't see any indication, looking at all components solder joints under magnification.

Thanks for any insight anyone can provide.
Regards
Eric Brust

[lbjailer]

I experienced a similar event the other day with my 08 F150. It was hot outside, (temp registered 115 on the truck dash display) I traveled a short distance, truck seemed like it wasn't firing on one of the cylinders. Drove about 3 miles, stopped and less than 10 minutes later got in the truck started it up and runs fine. There were no diagnostic codes on the Gryphon, and everything seems ok, but will have dealer check my plug wires and check my CAI screws and make sure they aren't loose.

[Jeremy]

Whenever I've had issue with the FICM and it was usally when I had just changed it out, was because I did'nt have the plugs all the way in. I've learned to listen to the two distintive snaps from each plug, to make sure they were in all the way. I also put dielectric grease on the rubber seals on the the FICM, it makes it easier to remove next time it has to come off. I've had then run on 7 cyl, and only 4 at times from the plugs not being in right.

The other reason was I had Innovative's tunes on my SCT X3, and they did'nt like the FICM on cold morning starts(0F-30F. The truck would start, and run rough for about 2 minutes then die. You could restart and it would be fine once it warmed up. Removed the SCT and it was fine.

I'd put it on one more time just to be sure. After all its only a five minute swap.

keep us posted.



Looking for some help from Bill or anyone else that has done FICM updating on their truck.

I got a spare FICM off Ebay (a model year '04 module) that had the latest Ford flash on it. Had it in my truck ('06 F350) for a little over a week driving around town to check it out prior to sending off for reflashing. Had no issues, it worked great, so I figured the module must be OK and sent it in for FICM reprogram, got it back pretty quick (thanks Bill!).

I finally tried installing the reprogrammed module in my truck this last week. On first start in the morning, and starting up to go home from work in the afternoon, the truck would lope and idle poorly, and in general run rough like one or so injectors weren't quite working right. After a few minutes, the loping idle would cease, but heading out on the road the truck has no power and stumbles, still as if an injector isn't quite doing its thing. Fuel mileage was also suffering. After the truck was up to temp, it would run just great, had great drivability, and seemed to have no issues.

I gave it a few days to see if it would resolve itself or if the PCM had to 'relearn' anything, truck never threw an CEL and continued to run crappy, and finaly removed the reprogrammed FICM and put my original back in. Truck runs great out of the chute every morning with the stock FICM and program, never a stutter, so I know the issue is tied to the FICM, not to individual injector(s).

I pulled apart the reprogrammmed spare FICM, to see if I could find any issue relating to the modules behavior (smoked resistors, cracked solder joints, etc.) and couldn't find any issues. The DC convert coils and caps all looked OK, and the driver side looked OK to. Pics attached if anyone is curious what is in a FICM.

So I guess my questions are:
1) Does the PCM have to relearn anything w/ updated FICM for some length of time (ie, did I pull the module to quick?)
2) Is the updated programming pretty much canned for any and all trucks, or does it depend on what strategy is in the PCM? My truck was in the shop a week or two ago, and I know they reflashed both my PCM and my stock FICM recently. Is it possible a slightly different program would work better on my truck?
3) From what I read, the behavior of the FICM to work better as the truck heats up seems to match what people find as the module is on its way out, is that the case? (would be my luck the FICM would die just after getting a proper program put on it....) I was hoping to find an issue in the FICM, but couldn't see any indication, looking at all components solder joints under magnification.

Thanks for any insight anyone can provide.
Regards
Eric Brust

[NHRA6002]

Looking for some help from Bill or anyone else that has done FICM updating on their truck.

I got a spare FICM off Ebay (a model year '04 module) that had the latest Ford flash on it. Had it in my truck ('06 F350) for a little over a week driving around town to check it out prior to sending off for reflashing. Had no issues, it worked great, so I figured the module must be OK and sent it in for FICM reprogram, got it back pretty quick (thanks Bill!).

I finally tried installing the reprogrammed module in my truck this last week. On first start in the morning, and starting up to go home from work in the afternoon, the truck would lope and idle poorly, and in general run rough like one or so injectors weren't quite working right. After a few minutes, the loping idle would cease, but heading out on the road the truck has no power and stumbles, still as if an injector isn't quite doing its thing. Fuel mileage was also suffering. After the truck was up to temp, it would run just great, had great drivability, and seemed to have no issues.

I gave it a few days to see if it would resolve itself or if the PCM had to 'relearn' anything, truck never threw an CEL and continued to run crappy, and finaly removed the reprogrammed FICM and put my original back in. Truck runs great out of the chute every morning with the stock FICM and program, never a stutter, so I know the issue is tied to the FICM, not to individual injector(s).

I pulled apart the reprogrammmed spare FICM, to see if I could find any issue relating to the modules behavior (smoked resistors, cracked solder joints, etc.) and couldn't find any issues. The DC convert coils and caps all looked OK, and the driver side looked OK to. Pics attached if anyone is curious what is in a FICM.

So I guess my questions are:
1) Does the PCM have to relearn anything w/ updated FICM for some length of time (ie, did I pull the module to quick?)
2) Is the updated programming pretty much canned for any and all trucks, or does it depend on what strategy is in the PCM? My truck was in the shop a week or two ago, and I know they reflashed both my PCM and my stock FICM recently. Is it possible a slightly different program would work better on my truck?
3) From what I read, the behavior of the FICM to work better as the truck heats up seems to match what people find as the module is on its way out, is that the case? (would be my luck the FICM would die just after getting a proper program put on it....) I was hoping to find an issue in the FICM, but couldn't see any indication, looking at all components solder joints under magnification.

Thanks for any insight anyone can provide.
Regards
Eric Brust

I'm having the same issue with mine since the new program was installed in Monroe WA.:shrug:

Any thoughts?

[eabrust]

Thanks for the reply Jeremy,

I did give it another try tonight. Today I didn't drive the truck at all to work, so when I got home, it was at ambient temp (~76*F according to the trucks thermometer when I started it). I swapped the FICM without having started the truck at all today. I looked at every pin in all connectors to ensure none are bent or tweaked, and made sure I got the distinct click from every one of the three connectors as they went in. Fired the truck up and it had the distinct lope in the idle. I just backed down the driveway and then drove forward again and parked. Still loping away and can smell extra strong fuel smell in the exhaust. I have a hard time believing that the FICM can't drive the injectors on a day when the truck is sitting at a temp of 76F, and it still has to heat up to run right?!

Shut it off, swapped back to the original FICM w/ Ford program in it, and it starts up idling nice and smooth.

So I guess I'm down to either having a faulty FICM w/ a good updated program on it, or the FICM is good and the program isn't quite playing well with my truck.

Not quite sure how to sort that out. I don't have a scanner that can read the FICM voltages to tell if it is dying (anyone anywhere near Rockford IL that could scan it for those PIDs?). I have a hard time believing that shipping it back and forth for programming would kill it, as it is designed to survive being bolted to the top of an engine for its entire life, and I couldn't find any sort of electrical fault indication internally (but not to say it couldn't be faulted or on its way out).

NHRA6002, are you also swapping between a spare FICM and an original, or did you send your original and you only have one your working with? I guess I'm trying to gauge how well you know the condition of the FICM you sent for programming, since I only ran my FICM for a week before sending it in. Can you expand on your situation, your symptoms, and from what version FICM program you made a jump from?

Thanks all for the help.
Eric Brust

[NHRA6002]

I had a new FICM installed under warranty at the beginning of the year, so it had what ever the latest fords program installed at the dealer. Bill reprogrammed mine in person when he was at Dynomite Diesel in Monroe WA a couple months ago. Same symptoms as you but no loping at idle, definate fealing that at least one injector not firing,sluggish,poor shifting,no power untill ECT reached about 130'F then all seamed OK.
I don't know what the software version was that was in it, Bill might remember.

[88Racing]

Seems like you guys are having issues beyond my knowledge of diesels. I will post a note for Bill to address this.

Lars

[88Racing]

I experienced a similar event the other day with my 08 F150. It was hot outside, (temp registered 115 on the truck dash display) I traveled a short distance, truck seemed like it wasn't firing on one of the cylinders. Drove about 3 miles, stopped and less than 10 minutes later got in the truck started it up and runs fine. There were no diagnostic codes on the Gryphon, and everything seems ok, but will have dealer check my plug wires and check my CAI screws and make sure they aren't loose.

Mine has done this also. Once this spring on a snowy wet slushy day and this summer with the truck being in the garage for 2 weeks, no rain and not humid that day.
No tunes and no cai.

Lars

[Jeremy]

Boy that sucks, I've been leary of used FICMs because of the damn heat inductive flash killing them left and right, you may have bought one that was on its way out. New ones from ford are ~$475 now, i guess with all the failures, ford lowered the price.

[eabrust]

Well, per an email I got from Bill, it was suggested that I could monitor the voltage from the access port directly rather than use a scan tool (why didn't I think of that myself?!). He said he'd get me instructions on what to do, but I know he's busy, and I know electronics enough to just go do it.

So I went ahead and made measurements of both my stock (good working) FICM and my PHP tuned FICM which is giving me some issues. I attached a link to a PDF documenting what I did for reference, should it help anyone else out. I used long enough test lead wire to let me sit in the truck and rev the engine during testing also. As a side note, if any of you want to go testing your FICMs, be very careful, I don't want to hear anyone say they smoked and broke their modules because of me :cursin::cursin:

Long story short, the DC output on both of my FICMs is right at 48+ volts, so it doesn't appear that the FICM is suffering a slow death from the power supply side. It could be a problem on the driver board side, but I wouldn't think that would tend to clear up as the truck warms up, which still leaves me thinking there is some software strategy conflict that may be resolved by another software load.

Still hoping to hear from Bill any further suggestions or if he has any ideas on software conflict possibility. If anyone has any suggestions to the attached PDF let me know, or if anyone finds the attachment useful for future reference, feel free to use it or make it a sticky here on this forum.

The PDF is a 2.3MB file, so I linked to it.
Link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=a8f9bd60bf15d23775a4fc82078ae6c8e04e75f6 e8ebb871

Thanks
Eric

[npccpartsman]

I had my FICM done by Eric at ID since he does my SCT tuning as well and it's exactly as you describe until it warms up. My FICM is a "new" reman from Ford and isn't but a month old, in fact hasn't even run half a tank of fuel yet. I haven't spoken to him about it because it's got "moderate" tuning in it because of my larger injectors. I was told that the hotter FICM files could have some cold start issues. I'm going to send him an email and see if he has a tune adjustment to fix it. I'll check back if anything changes. Thanks for the FICM instructions. It's at least something to be able to check next time mine starts to go south......if there is a next time.

[classic trucks]

I had Bill redo my ficm.The truck runs fine on interstate or 60+mph but I have cold start issues especially with the weather cooling down. I also have the heavy loping on start up and long warm up times. I have noticed a skip at lower speeds (40-50) in traffic especially up hills. I don't have an extra ficm to swap in and didn't have problems before the reprogram.I took my tuner off and the issues are still there. Any suggestions?

[Power Hungry]

We're still trying to figure out what's going on with the new I/H strategy. Most trucks seem to respond favorably with the new hybrid strategies but there are still a few trucks that have a cold start issue. The only conclusion I can come to is that the stiction problem on those few vehicles is so bad that only the aggressive I/H strategy will fix the cold start problems. Unfortunately, we already know that the aggressive I/H strategy will mean the demise of the FICM circuitry so it's an option we reserve for only the most extreme cases. If the cold starts are that bad, that's about all we can do.

[classic trucks]

I may have other issues that are not related to the ficm. My truck has started skipping at all speeds. It has a buck and jerk when climbing hills. I have very poor acceleration. If this is ficm related let me know if its something else let me know what your thoughts are on this.

[NHRA6002]

Truck is an absolute pig when started cold and virtualy undriveable til over 120'F. Any ideas on a solution yet Bill?

Hopefully once this is corrected I will go ahead with the custom tunes we talked about in Monroe.

[eabrust]

Hey classic_trucks, besides a FICM issue, the constant hesitation and bucking all the time could be a bad injector or two. My truck had similar issues a few months back (prior to trying the upgraded FICM at all), and it turned out to be a single bad injector. It happened very suddenly, as the truck ran great and then suddenly on one startup, it was running bad, bucking, and getting poor mileage. I was still under warranty and had it replaced, fixing all hesitation issues. At the same time, Ford dealer also reflashed the PCM and FICM to what ever is current. I don't notice any change due to the new flashes, to me the truck runs the same and gets the same mileage.

Bill,
As far as the injector stiction and need for extreme inductive heat strategy, I can't say I know what my truck had in it for programming prior to my last shop visit, as I'm a recent second owner, and I saw no difference in before and after repprogramming to the latest ford strategies.

When I've started the truck on 80+ degF days and had issues with the tuned FICM, would the heating strategy (aggressive or not) matter that much? I have issues with startup with the PHP tuned FICM on fairly hot ambient temp days (starting in the afternoon), but I can startup in the morning on a 40 degF day with the stock programming and it runs fine from the second it fires. Can the heat strategy make that much difference that fast? I would think on cool mornings, if the injector stiction was an issue due to oil viscosity, even the fairly agressive inductive heat strategy would take some amount of time to heatup the oil in the injectors and the thermal-mass of the injectors themselves?

[Power Hungry]

On some of the documentation I've read from Ford, the previous I/H strategy was so aggressive that it would superheat the injectors in about 10-15 seconds and temperature at the spool valve would be at operating temperatures almost instantly. This explains why FICMs started burning up shortly after the I/H was released and continued for almost two years until the latest strategy came out. The failures seemed to have dropped of a bit since the new reflash, but since it came out in late spring we're not sure how effective the I/H strategy is going to be until we start seeing some really cold ambients.

I'm in the process of redoing the latest strategies since there seems to be a timer issue with some of the code we modified causing the I/H portion of the strategy to either not engage long enough or possibly not at all. I am expecting to get in touch with 2 of our testers this week with new strategies and hope to have this issue resolved for good.

Take care.

[NHRA6002]

On some of the documentation I've read from I'm in the process of redoing the latest strategies since there seems to be a timer issue with some of the code we modified causing the I/H portion of the strategy to either not engage long enough or possibly not at all. I am expecting to get in touch with 2 of our testers this week with new strategies and hope to have this issue resolved for good.[/B]
Take care.

Thanks Bill, keep me posted.

[eabrust]

Thanks Bill! If you make a code tweak and you need someone who is having the issue to be a test case, I'd be more than happy to send my FICM back in to you. Let me know as mine is currently on the shelf, and temps here in Illinois are getting cooler every day.

Eric

[Power Hungry]

Eric,

Will certainly keep you on the list for testing. As soon as it's ready, I'll give you a shout.

[HeavyAssault]

I had mine done quite awhile ago and haven't had the issues described with the newer PHP FICM tuning. Would this third PHP version be something I should get done?

[Power Hungry]

If the version you have now is working, I'd go with that. The latest flash is to specifically address cold starting issues.

[Treb]

eabrust

That "Testing FICM Power" "how to" you made is fantastic:2thumbs:. Thanks. I saved and printed that one. It will come in handy. I have an 04 FICM waiting to be tested and sent to PHP if it checks out okay.

Thanks again,

Treb

[eabrust]

Hey Treb,

Hope it helps, I did a lot of searching on the internet and couldn't find anything that described what to check. Bill gave me the hints to go and do it though.

Bill noted to me that the early '03-04 FICMs are also slightly different hardware wise and have up to 7 terminals under the 'monitor port', not just 4.

also note, this check only verifies the power converter side is working, which I believe is the primary failure point for these modules. If a failure occured on the injector driver side, this check wouldn't find it. You'd have to do a buzz test on the injectors, and even that wouldn't differentiate between the FICM and injector directly. I'm guessing that failures happening on the injector driver side are rare (just a guess).

Eric

[apeelectric]

I was having the same trouble with an 2005 with PHPs tuned FICM put stock one back in now the truck is running fine I think there must be a programming problem I will try to call PHP to get info. Also my truck did not shift right after installing new FICM Bill said it should have nothing to do with FICM but with stock FICM all my troubles went away .

[Power Hungry]

I am still confused as to why the FICM would cause shifting issues. That's a completely new one for me but one I am definitely investigating. It makes no sense since all the FICM does is control the injectors. The only thing I can think of is that it is affecting the torque output of the engine and causing some shifting related oddities.

Anyway, I'm hoping to test a few new code changes this weekend to see if this clears up, but not exactly sure if we'll be able to identify it unless we're experiencing the problem as well.

[k2davis1]

Got my FICM from bill on Thursday and so far I got nothin but good to say. Started it this morning at 20 deg and there was one initial plume of smoke and the exhaust was totally cleared up be the time it went to high idle. Havent driven on the e-way too much yet but on the short trip I did take I was gettin 2 mpg better. Feels alittle stronger down low but kinda hard to tell, my arse dyno might not be calibrated. Quicker therottle response for sure.

[NHRA6002]

Truck is an absolute pig when started cold and virtualy undriveable til over 120'F. Any ideas on a solution yet Bill?

Hopefully once this is corrected I will go ahead with the custom tunes we talked about in Monroe.

Well it got so bad and I haven't heard anything from Bill that I had to take the truck into the dealership and have the FICM reflashed by them. Now I have a truck that is ok in stock mode but can't use any other levels in my Evo as the truck will smoke and high EGT's even in level 1. Have talked to edge via email and tried new files from them but no success.
The exhaust note has also changed as it sounds like the variable vane is cycling unlike befor when I would start the truck it would at first sound open and throughty and then close off to a hiss. I wonder if Ford has a new program that is not compatable with the Evo?

[eabrust]

Well it got so bad and I haven't heard anything from Bill that I had to take the truck into the dealership and have the FICM reflashed by them. Now I have a truck that is ok in stock mode but can't use any other levels in my Evo as the truck will smoke and high EGT's even in level 1. Have talked to edge via email and tried new files from them but no success.
The exhaust note has also changed as it sounds like the variable vane is cycling unlike befor when I would start the truck it would at first sound open and throughty and then close off to a hiss. I wonder if Ford has a new program that is not compatable with the Evo?

Hey NHRA,

did you have your truck put back to stock before you took it in for reflash? Bummer about the tunes not working, but I would guess you need to update your EVO with the Edge fusion software to work with the latest Ford strategy (what is it now, VXCFH9?)

Bummer you sent in your PHP tuned FICM to get put back to stock, but it does prove a point somewhat that the PHP updated FICM has an issue (at least with triggering or keeping inductive heat flash going), where as stock program does not. I haven't been able to prove that out, as I have two FICMs I am swapping between (a stock and a modified), and all I have been able to prove is my bad actor PHP tuned FICM has 48 VDC (hence it seems it is program only, not dying due to power supply or solder joints, etc...)

I am still not running my PHP FICM (for same cold startup issue you had), but am getting closer to hopefully resolving my problem. First, I'm getting my EVO turned into a Gryphon, and following that, what I gather from Bill is that I will then have capability of reprogramming both the FICM and the ECM program via the Gryphon. Second, if I run a custom tune from Bill in the ECM, it will hopefully by default work with the updated FICM program better than the Ford program in the ECM.

I've also been steadily working through the whole 'stiction' issue with these injectors to try to resolve root cause of why it runs like crap cold. Last summer, I was running 15-40 dino oil, my truck would run great on stock FICM & ECM, but putting in the PHP FICM was bad on startup even on 90F days (truck needed warm up time in middle of Summer?...). Put in stock FICM, no problem.... Into winter, I was still running stock, but the truck would run rough for the frist 5+ minutes till EOT came up to ~160F, then it would go good. I got so sick of it needing so much warmup time, that I switched to 5-40 synthetic. That was an improvement, but it still took either some warmup in the driveway, or till engine got to ~120F till it smoothed out and ran good (still about 3-5 miles of driving).

As a side note about my whole injector/crappy startup issue and resolving root cause, about 200 miles ago, I drained 2 qts of the synthetic oil I'm running now (halfway into 5,000 miles service of this change), and added a product that claims to solve the injector stiction issue (I won't name it here yet, I don't want to advertise it, as I haven't had it in there long enough to claim anything as a matter of fact. However, if you do a search via google, you'll most likely find it discussed on most other forums out there, that's how I found it). The only thing I'll say about it is, currently, I hop in the truck, start it and go and it runs fairly well out of the gate with no warmup. I won't claim success until I can either put in the PHP FICM and it runs great cold (would mean injectors aren't sticking anymore even though inductive heat strategy isn't working), or untill truck continues to run great on stock programs after next oil change after this product has been dumped and replaced with all fresh oil. BTW, the product recommends leaving it in for a full 5000 mile change to fully do it's thing of removing oil deposits, etc, so it is definitely to early for me to endorse it at all, but it does seem promising given how my truck runs currently.

regards,
Eric

[NHRA6002]

Yes the truck was put back to stock befor taking it back to the dealer. And yes I have updated the software from Edge 2 or 3 times now as directed by GR at Edge. I have been in contact with Edge trying to remedy this if it is an Edge hardware issue also.
It is frustrating to spend the time and money on a programmer and FICM tuning just to have a stock truck with digital gauges. And now with this latest Ford flash the further worsening fuel milage.

[sonic blue l]

I think you guys need to estabilsh a base line.

To do that you will also need to know what ficm version you had stock. The first inductive heating flash worked well at combating sticktion, however it supposedly causes ficms to fail. (hard to say for certain as i've replaced bad ficms that never had the induction strategy in the first place) Ford then came out with a softer ficm strategy.

Lets say you had a truck that had sticktion so bad it would start and stall, if you updated it with the original ficm inductive heating, it would usually fix the concern. Now lets say you program that truck with the later updated ficm strategy, well now it still starts better then the start/stall, however you will have misfires when cold due to it not combating sticktion aswell as the original inductive heating strategy.

So now if you had the early inductive heating or have a ficm with the original inductive heating and comparing to php ficm with the later inductive heating, then your not comparing apples to apples. Now if your ficm was the later inductive heating and your comparing to the php, now one can do a proper comparison.

BTW personally i feel your truck should run great before you start adding or reprogramming as if it does not, you may just be compounding the problem.

[sonic blue l]

Yes the truck was put back to stock befor taking it back to the dealer. And yes I have updated the software from Edge 2 or 3 times now as directed by GR at Edge. I have been in contact with Edge trying to remedy this if it is an Edge hardware issue also.
It is frustrating to spend the time and money on a programmer and FICM tuning just to have a stock truck with digital gauges. And now with this latest Ford flash the further worsening fuel milage.

The latest flash should not worsen fuel milage at all, infact the truck should be nicer to drive then the other versions and have increased fuel milage.

My truck had the vxcf5, vxcf7 and now the vxcf9, my truck runs perfect on the vxcf9 and has plenty of power. In fact im just running it stock.

I also have an evo and i updated it for the vxcf9, but i have not installed it yet, so i dont know if i would have any issues like yourself.

How does your truck run stock? If it does not run perfect stock, then you should probably address any of the conerns you may have stock before trying to modify anything.

[eabrust]

I think you guys need to estabilsh a base line.

To do that you will also need to know what ficm version you had stock. The first inductive heating flash worked well at combating sticktion, however it supposedly causes ficms to fail. (hard to say for certain as i've replaced bad ficms that never had the induction strategy in the first place) Ford then came out with a softer ficm strategy.

Lets say you had a truck that had sticktion so bad it would start and stall, if you updated it with the original ficm inductive heating, it would usually fix the concern. Now lets say you program that truck with the later updated ficm strategy, well now it still starts better then the start/stall, however you will have misfires when cold due to it not combating sticktion aswell as the original inductive heating strategy.

So now if you had the early inductive heating or have a ficm with the original inductive heating and comparing to php ficm with the later inductive heating, then your not comparing apples to apples. Now if your ficm was the later inductive heating and your comparing to the php, now one can do a proper comparison.

BTW personally i feel your truck should run great before you start adding or reprogramming as if it does not, you may just be compounding the problem.

Hi Sonic,

I couldn't agree with you more about knowing what we have and what we're starting with for comparison purposes. I do have a pretty good handle on what configs have been run in my truck, and what works vs what doesn't. I'll run through quick just for documentations sake, maybe it helps figure out the problem some how in the end.?

I'm the second owner of an '06, I bought it last July, so this is my first winter.
Based on the oasis report I pulled after buying it, the truck had never been in the shop for anything engine related... however I can't confirm what ECM and FICM strategies were when I got the truck. About 1 month after I had the truck, one injector died, and after that warranty work, the truck was returned with the VXCF7 ECM and FICM updated per TSB 9-7-11. Truck ran great, and I must say I could tell no difference in power/driveability from the truck I originally bought. During this period in the summer, I was running 15-40 dino oil, and could take off after startup immediately with no problems anytime (no apparent injector stiction issue).

So then I decided I wanted to try the FICM update, I bought a spare FICM, the seller claimed it had latest update in it per TSB 9-7-11 when I bought it. After getting it, I put in my truck and ran it for a full week plus before sending it into PHP. During this time, the truck ran no different than my stock FICM. All seemed good (no apparent stiction issue), off the FICM went to PHP.

Upon return (with PHP tune), in goes the modified FICM, start up and the truck chugs/lopes and smokes like a pig. Mind you, it's still August and the ambient temps are still in the 80s-90s here. Truck ran great with PHP FICM once hot, but I can't sit and wait 10 minutes everyday for the thing to smooth out, and it was obvious that it chugging on startup was dumping fuel and killing my mileage. Is it purely injector stiction, or something else? I don't know, so... Out with the PHP FICM, in goes stock, no problem, runs great. Out with stock, in with PHP, problem is back. I pull the access covers off both, verify both FICMs have 48VDC output. I give up on the PHP FICM for time being and shelve it (to wait for updated software per messages I've had back and forth with Bill).

So now as winter approaches and temps drop, even running stock starts to show some injector stiction/rough start issues (but not anywhere as bad as the PHP FICM was on hot days in summer...). By this time, I have an Edge Evo, I find that running the truck tuned with the Evo level 4 (with stock FICM) makes the truck start worse than with stock ECM strategy (VCXF7 still). So I revert back and pretty much ran stock all winter. I did switch to 5-40 synthetic in mid winter, and notice an improvement in how much warmup time it takes for truck to run smooth, but it wasn't a complete solution, as I still had a few minutes of warmup or about 1-3 miles of driving before the truck would really settle in to running smooth. That's basically where I'm at now.

So I'm still completely stock tuning wise (my EVO is at PHP to turn into a Gryphon), and I'm running the oil additive 'stuff' which is to clean out and solve injector stiction. For all intensive purposes today I can hop in my truck in the morning (30s-40s), and go immeadiately with no real wait or warmup.

I still haven't gotten back to the PHP FICM, perhaps in another week or two assuming truck continues to start great, or upon return of my Gryphon, I'll give it another whirl. However, I still don't have much hope, I have a gut feel that there is something just wrong with the updated FICM program that just isn't working with what ever strategy I had going. NHRA has basically taken the FICM hardware out of the equation, as he reflashed over the PHP tune with a Ford program to solve his problem. I'm confident on my situation also about the hardware end, as I tested voltage and ran the FICM a week before sending off. Seems it is a software glitch of some sort.

Long winded, I know, just trying to layout the facts as I know them in an effort see if others have the same issue (with same strategies?) and to get a positive resolution (ie, updated FICM tune that solves my startup issues). Maybe in the end it takes the Gryphon, with a custom tune by Bill, working in conjuction with his updated FICM software for the truck to run great. If thats the case, great, I can't wait to try it out !! :thumbs up yellow: I know for some, the issue is a big problem if they only have one FICM. For me, I'm rotating between a stock and tuned FICM, so I'm not hurting to bad. I'd just love to start using the tuned FICM for all the benefits it is supposed to bring!

NHRA, if you have any of the background knowledge of what strategies you had or have been through during the time you had the PHP FICM (and prior), could you share just for comparison sake?

regards,
eric

[sonic blue l]

well thats a pretty good comparo you have then. If you had switched to vxcf7 then you should have had the later ficm program. I cant quite remember when it came out but the best would be to check it with an ids, or something else that can pull that info to be sure.

If your truck ran fine with stock ficm vs php ficm then it does sound like the php tuning is at fault. What im wondering is how your truck runs with ficm correction disabled on the stock ficm. Thus if it was running how the php ficm does, then one may question if the php ficm drops ficm correction, or has a problem with it.

On a truck with no sticktion and good injectors disabling ficm correction should make minimal to no difference in how the engine runs, thus if some have great results with php ficm and others, not so much. Then perhaps there is an issue with their ficm correction portion or their inductive heating portion.

The thing that i also wonder about your truck is that, i've had my evo on my truck in cold weather -30 c, etc and i never had any problems on the vxcf7. Of course i had my truck plugged in when ever it droped below -15c and i run 5w/40 oil.

I'm actually debating about getting a download for the php ficm, my truck has the vxcf9 currently. I also have a ficm out of a 04 truck that i might put in and try first though. It has no inductive heating, but it may also be so early that it may have pilot injection (not sure if thats in the ficm or not). Just need to find someone who knows how to decipher what ficm cal amz2al09 is.

[NHRA6002]

Thanks Cory

I sent a pm to Bill a few days ago, but have not heard anything so far. I hope we can figure this out as I don't even want to drive the truck the way it is.

[eabrust]

I'm in the process of redoing the latest strategies since there seems to be a timer issue with some of the code we modified causing the I/H portion of the strategy to either not engage long enough or possibly not at all. I am expecting to get in touch with 2 of our testers this week with new strategies and hope to have this issue resolved for good.

Take care.

Just wanted to give a bump and pick Bill's brain on if there was ever a bug confirmed in the FICM software that would cause the I/H (inductive heat) strategy to not work right? :shrug: Sorry Bill, I know you're trying to get un-burried, just curious as it's been a while since you said you'd possibly be testing updated FICM programs.

Since weather has been getting nice here, and my truck is currently boring (set to complete stock since the EVO is at PHP to get Gryphon-ized), I put my PHP tuned FICM back in.

After playing with it the last few days over the weekend, and call me crazy, but I'd almost swear that the truck fires up OK and idles for maybe a whole second before it starts loping and smoking (yeah, I know a second is almost to short to actually tell, but....). Almost seems as if I/H works for a second then it quits? Like I said, call me crazy. All I know is this afternoon after leaving from work, I pulled the tuned FICM back out because I can't sit and idle/warm up for 5 minutes on a nice sunny 60degF day, blowing blue smoke and watching the fuel gauge drop.

There's no doubt once the truck is up to temp, it runs super great and I definitely feel a difference over stock FICM, but my truck is one of those that 'needs' the I/H to work :(

I'm hoping that if a new rev of FICM software is ready, when my Gryphon comes back I can try out the remote FICM programming :thumbs up yellow:

regards,
Eric

[NHRA6002]

Thanks Cory

I sent a pm to Bill a few days ago, but have not heard anything so far. I hope we can figure this out as I don't even want to drive the truck the way it is.

Why do I get the feeling of being ignored with the problems I have had with this upgrade, and that I payed for something that has caused more harm/money down the road than good?:thumbsdwn:

[Jeremy]

I'm sorry this has taken so long, I posted a note in the moderators section to get Bills attention, hopefully he can come up with a solution for you and others. I'm sure he did'nt ignore you on purpose.

[Power Hungry]

In order to save retyping, please see this thread...

http://forum.gopowerhungry.com/2003-2007-6-0l-power-stroke-diesel/2634-rouge-idle-when-cold.html

[Power Hungry]

Why do I get the feeling of being ignored with the problems I have had with this upgrade, and that I payed for something that has caused more harm/money down the road than good?:thumbsdwn:

You haven't been ignored, it's just with the everything that has been going on this year and the amount of time we've been out of the office, I just haven't been on the forum very much lately and simply haven't been following many of the threads. When I manage to actually get some time on here, I can only get through maybe 2 or 3 pages of posts so I'm sure there's a bit of stuff I've missed at the moment. The Moderators do a pretty good job of bringing stuff to my attention and we're doing everything we can to make sure everyone's concerns are getting addressed.

Now... to save retyping everything, please see the thread below.

http://forum.gopowerhungry.com/2003-2007-6-0l-power-stroke-diesel/2634-rouge-idle-when-cold.html

Take care.

[Farragher]

I'd like to add my experience to this thread in the hopes of finding a solution. I had my FICM re-flashed to "stock" about 4 months ago or so, and just recently got my truck back on the road after dealing with a number of additional issues and projects. I run a stock truck with out a tuner. The only mod areas are a PCV reroute to a filter and back, an EGR delete, and a K&N filter and intake tube. I am clearly experiencing the same issue a number of customers have, relating to cold running. The one thing my truck does that I haven't seen posted about, is it will not move until it is warm. By warm I mean almost to full operating temperature. if I plug it in it is quicker to warm up, and smooth out, but it still needs to be warm to drive. By the way, I have owned this truck since March of '04, when I purchased it new, and have always warmed it up, but it is now excessive. I've seen mention of a new program or flash, but can't get a response on email, and just get the recording when I call. I'm in a bit of a bind as I need to leave for a 2,000 mile road trip on the 20th, and don't want to hit the road with a sick truck. I've got to tow a vehicle back from Memphis, and being stuck on the road wouldn't be good.

[Farragher]

Update: I did go dig deeper, which I had hoped to avoid, and replaced all of the injectors, and the entire engine wiring harness. Also, cleaned the MAP sensor, replaced the engine coolant sensor, and cleaned the IAT sensor which was just a glob when I removed it. Previously, I had removed the EGR loop and the EGR, but reinstalled the EGR and plugged it in. Last weekend I drove the truck to Memphis and back, and it performed flawlessly. I think better than it had ever run. During the trip out, I got 13 mpg. Not by the lie-o-meter, but doing the math. That is a benchmark for this truck. It weighs just under 10K, and has 4:10s. The long and the short of it is the re-flash was not causing my rough running cold. Oh yeah, I can actually start and drive the truck before it warms up now. Thanks for a great product, and for getting me off my duff to do what needed to be done. it really is a pain in the *** to work on these things.