Detailed FICM Repair Procedure

[Sotoman]

Thank you for the clarification. I know what I need to do now.

[Sotoman]

I pulled the unit apart and inspected it under a microscope. Sure enough, all four 7.5 mOhm current sense resistors were loose.

On one side they were not soldered down on the pads facing each other. On the opposite side they were not soldered down on their right side pads. This of course isn't apparent by simple looking at it, even under a Leica microscope at 50x. But as soon as you put a little pressure on one side of the resistor with a pair of tweezers, it simply moved back and forth.

Other than that the rest of the PCB looked pretty good. Ford must use some sort of no clean flux since there was a bunch of flux all over the board. I really hate that stuff.

I'll be putting it back in this evening and hope for the best.

Thanks for all the great info and help.

[Paul H]

I have always wondered that even with a good power supply and good 48 volts if some of the control circuts could also be a problen. Mine is a 7 pin FICM and I get a solid 47.8 volts but still having issues and I am going to open it up and see just how many bad joints I find in it other than the normal power supply this weekend.

[mittto]

I am with Paul, I checked my voltage last night "after i got a FICM supply voltage low code" and I have 48.2-48.4 key on engine off and 48.7.-48.8 engine running. Is it possible that there still could be some bad solder joints on the control board?

[Paul H]

Well while I was doing the IPC change I took the FICM appart to check it out.

Never bothered with re-doing it. After removing the two plastic covers off the capasitors on the power supply board I found that one of the FET transistors had exploded and the board was burnt black.

I would say this happende before I replaced the injector harness. The original harness had been repaired by a dealer in West Virginia and the wires just out from the FICM connector wer butt spliced together and rappe with tape befor I bought the truck and I found it while in there fishing a glow plug out of the head. Don't ask, it is a long story too and was a self inflicted oh no.

So Monday I will be getting a new FICM.

[jeff2005]

Does any one know what years come with the 4 pin and 7 pin? Thank you for this info. Great write up and I know what I will be doing in the am.
Thank you

[jeff2005]

Well I couldn’t figure out the problem, tested the FICM a few times and its showing 48.0 volts, I took it down to Ford today and they ran a test on the truck and told me it’s the FICM. So should I still take it off and see if there is any thing burnt in side even if its showing 48 volts?

[Paul H]

Well i bought what I was told was one that was taken off a parted out truck in working order. Put it on and was reading 32 volts. second check was down to 23 volts.

Took it appart and repaired 8 bad connections transferred the 63V capasitors from the burnt up 7 pin to the 4 pin off ebay, checked the data sheets on some of the other devices and did the 10K voltage adjustment and now have 57.2 volts

Fantastic difference

[NotLost]

Originally Posted by Paul H

Took it appart and repaired 8 bad connections transferred the 63V capasitors from the burnt up 7 pin to the 4 pin off ebay, checked the data sheets on some of the other devices and did the 10K voltage adjustment and now have 57.2 volts

Fantastic difference

Can you point to a post that describes the 10K voltage adjustment for the FAQ?

Thanks!

[2005F350Harley]

After several weeks of my 2005 6.0 350 having issues starting in the morning it finally wouldn't start at all. It would race and crank and this morning just cranked and not start. I had a check engine light that said all cylinders weren't getting and voltage or low voltage. After reading your posts on this site I found the document on repairing the FICM. I busted out my soldering iron and had to make a quick stop at the home depot to replace my 20 year old solder that i found. I was done in three ours and she fired right up. I cant tell you how suprised i was. I am hoping that it fires up in the morning but it was a total 180 from before the repair..You guys are life and $$$ savers. Thanks

[StankyHanky]

Hey guys I have a question. I done the FICM Repair per DRQuad's instructions...It seemed to help out a lot, then about a week, week and a half later it seems to be worse than it was! It will start fine when I leave it plugged up over night, but when I get ready to go home from work and try to start it, if it starts, I have a some smoke from the tail pipe a little blue-ish in color, the motor shakes and makes the usual psd clackety sound, but its really loud and it really runs like crap until it warms up. Any info you could give will be greatly appreciated!

[5030tinkerer]

Originally Posted by StankyHanky

Hey guys I have a question. I done the FICM Repair per DRQuad's instructions...It seemed to help out a lot, then about a week, week and a half later it seems to be worse than it was! It will start fine when I leave it plugged up over night, but when I get ready to go home from work and try to start it, if it starts, I have a some smoke from the tail pipe a little blue-ish in color, the motor shakes and makes the usual psd clackety sound, but its really loud and it really runs like crap until it warms up. Any info you could give will be greatly appreciated!

Several have experienced this same thing. Resolder-only repairs are nearly always temporary -whether only for a week, a month, or a year, and don't address the degradation of components (and not just the capacitors) over time.

I don't mean to turn this into an advertisement for services, but I have repaired nearly a hundred of these now and never, ever, just resolder. New components are always better than old ones, even if they do, for now, test out okay. Getting stuck on the side of the road just isn't worth it nor is having to pull the module again.

I do voltage upgrades too, which is much more than simply soldering on a resistor. That, to me, is begging for trouble since you are asking more of the downstream components than they were designed to do.

PM me if I can help you out.

Ed

[StankyHanky]

Thanks for replying Ed, So would a resolder be worth a try, come to think of it I have done it twice now. The first time I done it there were no changes I still had the starting problem so I pulled it back off and done it again and it worked and lasted for a week or two. Should I just go ahead and shell out the money and get a new one?

Hank

[5030tinkerer]

Hi Hank - the issue is not that you need a 'new' FICM, you just need components on your existing one replaced and replaced usin a soldering method that is done at the right temperature with the right solder making sure you don't leave the iron on the part so long that you damage it.

Let me know if I can help you. A simple resolder job isn't, in my opinion, worth the effort considering how long it tends to (not) last.

Ed

[StankyHanky]

What parts do I need to replace? and what solder and temp do I need to use?