Rough running with updated FICM

[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]

Originally Posted by Power Hungry

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.