6.0 Powerstroke long crank

showcrop

Well-known Member
My '06 6.0 recently started to take longer than normal to start. I have had it since new so I am familiar with how long it cranks up until this time. It cranks at the normal speed so I don't suspect any battery or connection problem. Once started it runs as normal. It started doing it about a week ago and does it about fifty percent of the time. I am suspicious that perhaps the HPOP is going out so that sometimes it takes longer to develop pressure to drive the injectors. The truck has 78,000 miles on the clock.
 
a couple things to check.

1, oil level obviously, and that it is not fuel thinned.

2, cycle the key on and off and let the electric charge pump pump up 2-3 times till it pressureizes/cuts off or times out. then see if it starts .

I had a bad fuel oring and it was causing problems like this. new fitler ( with oring ) solves this.

good luck. mine is an 04 with approaching 140k on it.
 
(quoted from post at 15:32:38 10/09/14) a couple things to check.

1, oil level obviously, and that it is not fuel thinned.

2, cycle the key on and off and let the electric charge pump pump up 2-3 times till it pressureizes/cuts off or times out. then see if it starts .

I had a bad fuel oring and it was causing problems like this. new fitler ( with oring ) solves this.

good luck. mine is an 04 with approaching 140k on it.

Thanks Chris, I'll give that a try.

Colin
 
Sounds like the FICM. That stands for Fuel Ignition Control
Module. Common problem on the 6.0. What happens the
sodder gives on the circuit board. I sent mine out to Circuit
board medics (I think that was the name) and two days later
got it back and away I went. You can find a lot about this
online. Some people claim to fix it themselves but I
ouldn't bother. You can also test them with a meter before
you even pull it out. Hurry though its coming fast the day it
wont start at all. That's what happened to me. Thank
goodness it broke down in the garage. Best place ever to
have a brake down
 
Showcrop,

Here is a video link to what I was talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSQ9lxr2oN4 Not saying this is your problem for sure,but if you test it just like in this video and the voltage is low I'm wiling to bet it is. Good luck
 

I checked the oil. It was down nearly a quart, but not thin so I topped it off. I tried waiting until the pump noise stopped which was about four seconds after the preheat light went out, then cycled it again before cranking. I have tried that about four times and it still cranked longer than normal. I watched a few different videos on FICM. On all of them it runs crappy after starting, where mine runs normal after cranking two extra seconds. It cranks at full normal cranking speed, whereas when a battery was going out a year and a half ago the cranking would slow down after a little bit.
 
sounds like the FICM to me. had mine done by swamps diesel in Tennessee and I would recommend them 100% of the time. had some trouble with mine well after swamps warranty was up and they still made it right no questions asked and even paid the shipping back to me. I would absolutely get the 54 volt upgrade though it make the starts SO MUCH BETTER! that being said it could also be the batteries cause you gotta get juice to FICM. also if you are going to check the FICM get on swamps website and read the directions (their might be a video cant remember) that is a very touchy and delicate module and it cannot be properly checked without going through this procedure. found that out the hard way. bout lost my mind cause it was showing fine through the port under the dash. good luck
 
Jason1Pa,
Thank you for the recommendation!
Showcrop,
We would be happy to rebuild the FICM to eliminate the long crank that you are experiencing. I'm guessing that you have also seen a decline in fuel economy with the weak FICM. We have rebuilt modules ready to ship that come pre-programmed for your vehicle with all of the latest updates. We also offer a 5 year warranty on every FICM. This is a full warranty that covers everything on the FICM except for external damage (fire, water, etc.). Feel free to call us for further troubleshooting. We have a lot of guys that know the 6.0 very well. We even have 2 6.0L test trucks here at our facility. You can find our number on our website that is linked at the bottom of this post.
You can find complete details regarding our service at the following page:

http://circuitboardmedics.com/ford-6-0-ficm-repair/
 
(quoted from post at 05:36:45 10/15/14) Jason1Pa,
Thank you for the recommendation!
Showcrop,
We would be happy to rebuild the FICM to eliminate the long crank that you are experiencing. I'm guessing that you have also seen a decline in fuel economy with the weak FICM. We have rebuilt modules ready to ship that come pre-programmed for your vehicle with all of the latest updates. We also offer a 5 year warranty on every FICM. This is a full warranty that covers everything on the FICM except for external damage (fire, water, etc.). Feel free to call us for further troubleshooting. We have a lot of guys that know the 6.0 very well. We even have 2 6.0L test trucks here at our facility. You can find our number on our website that is linked at the bottom of this post.
You can find complete details regarding our service at the following page:

http://circuitboardmedics.com/ford-6-0-ficm-repair/

Medics; Good to know, I expect that I will be sending it in about two weeks. I have not noticed anything other than the occasional long crank, but I haven't really pad attention to Mileage. I just did a quick mileage calculation and it was 15 over 350 miles half towing a 6,000 gross trailer and half empty.
 
Showcrop, take it to a dealer to hook up and check the FICM. Mine did the same thing as yours, but hardly noticeable when I bought the truck. Previous owner still had a non transferable warranty, so I paid $125 to have every part of the truck scanned for any issues before we exchanged the title. Turns up the FICM was going bad, but not bad enough to really tell it. It was covered under previous owner's warranty. That was $1000 saved. It should be putting out 48 volts at startup. Mine was putting out something like 43.
 
We check each FICM before and after it is rebuilt. If there is nothing wrong with it, then there's only a $50 testing fee. From your description, there's not much more it can be other than the FICM though.
I just wanted to make sure that you know you are not risking paying for an unnecessary rebuild if you send it to us. We will not blindly repair it if it's healthy.
http://circuitboardmedics.com/ford-6-0-ficm-repair/
 
It could be the FICM, but you do need to check a few other things. If you see a p0611, that's the FICM detecting an internal problem and now is the time to replace it. FICM Mpwr is 47.5-48v on a normally functioning unit, 45v is minimum. The other two FICM PIDS are battery voltage. While cranking, observe FICM SYNC. If it does not quickly sync, you could have a CMP sensor problem or worse a tone ring moving on the crank.
High pressure oil leaks are another concern. Depending on the year, there are updated stand pipes with check valves that help them start a little better. Look at the IPR duty cycle. A high pressure oil leak can be spotted by an IPR that is 30% or more to idle a warm engine. A hot engine is usually 20 to 25%. Look at the ICP sensor for oil migrating through it. I have seen plenty of skewed ICP sensors that don't set a code, but don't read accurately. FICM failure is a somewhat common failure, but by far I see more high pressure oil concerns.
Check your fuel pressure. It needs to be a minimum of 45 psi under full power. Low fuel pressure lets the oil plunger and fuel plungers contact eventually causing the injector to fail. There are a couple things you can do, Ford has the "Blue" spring, or the "Purple" spring in the regulator on the side of the upper fuel filter. I always stretch the blue spring a little and usually end up with about 65 psi.
 
(quoted from post at 05:09:58 10/21/14) It could be the FICM, but you do need to check a few other things. If you see a p0611, that's the FICM detecting an internal problem and now is the time to replace it. FICM Mpwr is 47.5-48v on a normally functioning unit, 45v is minimum. The other two FICM PIDS are battery voltage. While cranking, observe FICM SYNC. If it does not quickly sync, you could have a CMP sensor problem or worse a tone ring moving on the crank.
High pressure oil leaks are another concern. Depending on the year, there are updated stand pipes with check valves that help them start a little better. Look at the IPR duty cycle. A high pressure oil leak can be spotted by an IPR that is 30% or more to idle a warm engine. A hot engine is usually 20 to 25%. Look at the ICP sensor for oil migrating through it. I have seen plenty of skewed ICP sensors that don't set a code, but don't read accurately. FICM failure is a somewhat common failure, but by far I see more high pressure oil concerns.
Check your fuel pressure. It needs to be a minimum of 45 psi under full power. Low fuel pressure lets the oil plunger and fuel plungers contact eventually causing the injector to fail. There are a couple things you can do, Ford has the "Blue" spring, or the "Purple" spring in the regulator on the side of the upper fuel filter. I always stretch the blue spring a little and usually end up with about 65 psi.

Thanks Brian, I already have an appointment with the place that replaced my turbo and oil cooler two years ago. I had a hunch from the beginning that the HPOP was a likely culprit.
 
(quoted from post at 20:42:26 10/25/14) Don't just let them toss a pump in without an air test. Need to be sure there are no high pressure oil leaks first.

When I had a problem with it two years ago they spent over an hour diagnosing before doing any work.
 
I have had almost everything that can go wrong
with a 6.0 that can happen. Lickily I have found
a diesel mechanic that knows this and the 7.3s.
My 6.0 had a period where it would always start
first thing in the day but after running it took
longer to start. Outcome was the seals on the
internal fuel lines were of poor design and had to
be updated. when fuel was warm the pressure would
leak off and cause hard starting. Good luck
 

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