Tunes after Atlas 40 FICM

drunk on diesel · Jan 14, 2015

the FICM tunes definitely help, but they are hotter for sure.

I run the Eco FICM tune per Matt Robinson's recommendation with his SRL

LiftedBlackHD · Jan 15, 2015

Jarrod B said:
When I ran the Hercules ficm tune with the ecm tuned, I had an issue keeping my egts down. I was able to hit 1800* easily with a hot ecm tune and managed to hit the records of 1900 -2100 on my cts. Even when I was on stock ecm the ficm was too hot for anything. Just driving in town was difficult due to instant heat.

Since then I've went to ford and reflashed my ficm to stock and dropped down to a tow tune. My egts are happy now and near stock.

I wonder what was causing this? Everyone else seems to say they run the tuned FICM with no problems.

Jarrod B · Jan 15, 2015

LiftedBlackHD said:
I wonder what was causing this? Everyone else seems to say they run the tuned FICM with no problems.

Well who ran the Hercules tune? My last 6.0 I had just srl and a idk low end php ficm and didn't have any issues. Idk why this truck likes hot exhaust.

Wait a sec, I know might sound like a dumb question, but if my intake flow into the heads was restricted, could that have caused it?

Dave · Jan 17, 2015

Hercules runs hot Jarrod.

LiftedBlackHD · Jan 17, 2015

Ok. I pulled and cleaned my erg valve. I also scrubbed the intake manifold with a wire brush the best I could. Egr was filthy! Its never been cleaned. Put it back on and test drove. My egt's dropped by 300 degrees! Boost levels were way up!

That solves 1 big problem. I still think I have a leaky egr cooler due to wetness in the valley (that's what she said) and coolant bubbling out of exhaust manifold at cold start.

Parked nose down and will check egr in the morning.

Also lost egr valve bolt.

This engine is like a black hole for lost hardware!

Jeremy @ No Limit · Jan 18, 2015

Better hope its not in the intake....it'll find its way into a cylinder!!

LiftedBlackHD · Jan 18, 2015

No, I saw where it fell. I just can't reach it.

kyle43335 · Jan 18, 2015

Every truck we ever put ficm tunes on, they were noticeably hotter, by 3-400 degrees across the board. And damn sure there was not any leaks. Especially when you take the ficm back out and the heat goes back down. Some trucks i believe just dont like it. hit or miss. We just quit using it. Took it back out more then it stayed in.

Honestly with matt in my corner all these past years, it's just unnecessary...

LiftedBlackHD · Jan 18, 2015

kyle43335 said:
Every truck we ever put ficm tunes on, they were noticeably hotter, by 3-400 degrees across the board. And damn sure there was not any leaks. Especially when you take the ficm back out and the heat goes back down. Some trucks i believe just dont like it. hit or miss. We just quit using it. Took it back out more then it stayed in.

Honestly with matt in my corner all these past years, it's just unnecessary...

I imagine it would probably depend on what strategy your truck is running. I have a really old one because my truck has never been into the shop, therefore Ford never reflashed it. Mine is VXBC7. Not sure if that makes a difference.