6.0 FICM repair help

skevac · Feb 27, 2017

My 2005 Excursion with 115,000 miles has recently started having issues starting especially when cold. It has the dreaded P0611 code. At this time it will still start and run. Sometimes it starts fine and sometimes it cranks for a while and then runs rough. I live in Michigan so we get some cold temps but it has been on the mild side for temperatures this winter. With that being said sometimes it has started fine at 20 degrees and started harder at 35 degrees. I had Bill at Power Hungry Performance tune the FICM in 2010. I haven't had one FICM issue until now. My batteries are 2 years old and it's parked in a 50 degree garage most of the time. My question is from people who have experience with this is should I just put in a power supply myself (roughly $170) or is it worth the extra money to send it out to FICM repair and get the lifetime upgraded unit installed in my shell (roughly $450). I don't plan on getting rid of the vehicle anytime soon. My thought is to put in the replacement power supply myself and upgrade the charging system to help prevent this problem in the future. If I go with just putting a power supply myself what brand brand is the way to go (Dorman, Alliant)? If this topic is covered somewhere already I apologize. I just don't have a lot of time to sift through all the threads to find the info. So, if I could get some feedback or if someone could include a link to the forum where this has been covered I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

bismic · Feb 28, 2017

The power supply board isn't the only weak link. The logic board is prone to failure also.

03_PSD · Feb 28, 2017

Do you have any idea what your FICM volts are while your experiencing these problems? I just repaired mine (power supply) a month ago with the same one bulletproof sells for a lot less. It wasn't hard at all and only took me maybe an hour to complete. PM me for info.

Zmann · Feb 28, 2017

i wonder what the failure rate if the logic side vs power 10,000 to 1 ?

you almost never hear of a logic side failure

the Dorman board is actually not getting bad reports and your local supply house likely has a decent warranty

I went with the Bulletproof unit

whatever you do do it soon before your buying injectors

your keeping your truck so you should have a basic monitor and that would help you in situations like this

Nick7.3 · Feb 28, 2017

I just replaced a ficm in a customers vehicle because of logic side failure. The power supply was good.

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AirFishAutomotive · Feb 28, 2017

we install a ton of the bd 58v units, have done 2 this week alone. Very nice for the $ vs a ford.

bismic · Mar 1, 2017

Nick7.3 said:
I just replaced a ficm in a customers vehicle because of logic side failure. The power supply was good.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He must be an unlucky person ........... 10,000 : 1, poor guy!

unfortunately seen several myself (I do agree it is less likely, but it also suffers from poor soldering, etc)

IMO simply replacing the power side (especially with junk like Dorman) on a FICM in a primary vehicle that you plan to keep for quite awhile is poor judgement. If you can't afford anything else, then that is another matter.

http://powerstrokearmy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52040

http://www.thedieselgarage.com/foru...107273-reworked-my-ficm;-seems-run-great.html

bismic · Mar 1, 2017

Post #12 here as well .............

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1191430-ficm-symptoms-tests-other-than-48v-check.html

Mdub707 · Mar 1, 2017

I've probably repaired 200 of these on the side and I've seen one single logic board failure and it was from me accidentally shorting the FICM out to the case.

You can buy an entire new half shell from International for $185 or so. I've quit repairing them for this reason. Unless you have a 7 pin, then get it repaired.

bismic · Mar 1, 2017

This is from Ed at FICMrepair.com - when asked how often does he see issues with the FICM logic board:

The answer is 'surprisingly often'.

Logic board issues range from the widely publicized 'no start' with solid voltage, to 'no start' with 0 volts, to missing horribly, to missing sporadically with temperature, to shutting the truck off due to lost communication with FICM (U0105) codes, sure, but...

what is actually FAR more common that people seemingly don't even realize is that low voltage conditions (low FICM Main Power) can also result from logic side issues that may or may not manifest themselves in lower than stellar FICM logic power numbers.

Depending on HOW a logic board fails, in fact, there are even a relative myriad of cases where a damaged logic board can CAUSE a perfectly awesome power board to BECOME bad.

It's kind of crazy, in fact.

Ed sees a lot of boards and no doubt has a good "data set" to speak from. That said, I wouldn't think 100:1 would be too far off either way. Even so, it is too frequent for my comfort level.

Zmann · Mar 1, 2017

I am just going by what I have seen on the forums
i have read about maybe 2 logic side issues until this thread

no one really sells a logic upgrade as far as I have seen ?
does Ed (FICM repair) offer a logic repair upgrade ?

BS Hauler · Mar 1, 2017

ED did mine on my 06 when it had 73,000 miles on it. Mine was the logic side that was bad. Mine started fine but would just go into to fits and then run normal again. I had him go thru it and install the Atlas 80 with the lifetime warranty. Very happy.

bismic · Mar 9, 2017

Another "rare" occurrence ..................

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1479937-missing-injectors-could-be-ficm.html

Mdub707 · Mar 9, 2017

bismic said:
Another "rare" occurrence ..................

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1479937-missing-injectors-could-be-ficm.html

What am I missing there? Sounds like possible FICM failure, but not really sure as there is no resolution yet.

bismic · Mar 9, 2017

Mdub707 said:
What am I missing there? Sounds like possible FICM failure, but not really sure as there is no resolution yet.

Yeah, he edited it after I posted the link. Original post did not indicate any question.

It truly isn't the "rare" failure, especially when Ed stated that he has seen logic issues CAUSE the power side problems. He does repair both sides.

Mdub707 · Mar 9, 2017

bismic said:
Yeah, he edited it after I posted the link. Original post did not indicate any question.

It truly isn't the "rare" failure, especially when Ed stated that he has seen logic issues CAUSE the power side problems. He does repair both sides.

I don't think anyone is saying it can't happen, but from what you can read on the boards and even in my own experience, it's no where near as common as power board failure. I've taken a bunch of these apart and found components tombstoned and connected on one side and not the other etc. They were pretty poorly put together IMO. The 7 pins were even worse, many of the components weren't even properly staked down (but way easier to repair like this).

bismic · Mar 9, 2017

I understand your perspective.

Fact is, I stay in touch with someone heavily into this business and have found him to be totally honest and competent. He and I communicated quite a bit before he started his company. I am more "plugged in" than a single data point 6.0L owner. In addition, I have had it happen to me and one other person locally I have helped (I do not do this as a business, just to get friends back on the road).

That is a larger "sampling" than just casually reading the forums. Even your experience isn't a particularly large sampling base compared to Ed's.

Anyway, the posts here have provided folks with enough information to decide for themselves.

We can definitely agree that the construction leaves a lot to be desired!

Mdub707 · Mar 14, 2017

I'm not really sure what you're even trying to prove. The only thing said was that logic board failures don't seem to happen anywhere near as frequent as power board. Something even you agreed with a few posts back, and something Ed certainly hasn't disagreed with either. We all seem very well aware that logic boards can and do fail, but power boards seem to fail more often.

What is Ed going to do for the logic board if it is bad? Can he repair them? Does he just replace them? How does his repair work hold up to something like a bulletproof diesel FICM?

skevac · Mar 15, 2017

Ok guys. I bit the bullet and sent mine out to get repaired at FICM repair. Got the one with the lifetime warranty. Also upgrading the alternator and wiring. Haven't gotten it back yet. Did talk to them yesterday and they said there were problems on both sides. Whatever the issue was on the logic side they repaired. Will try and get more info and update later.