Hi Guys great forum just joined up hope you can help me out , ok down to the nitty griity . as said above i have a 350 2004 6.0, 162000 miles in search of brevity i will list what has happened or been done over the last month

Changed ICP to cure sudden dying and rough idle , ran great

Noticed that engine would give a hiccup when i hit brakes in reverse

Last week while on highway going up an incline sudden loss of power
on downside of hill engine picked up speed , seemed ok but a little doggy but no smoke

last Friday same thing but this time total loss of power , floored could only chug along at 5 mph ,no smoke. shut her down called a tow

Pulled fuel filters they are changed frequently , pulled em anyway usually see a few aluminum flakes on main rail filter from fuel tank coating , this time entire underside of micromesh pre filter was coated with aluminum colored articles , engine filter looked fine , few flakes

restarted engine same problem, rough idle , no power
Bought actron diagnostic scanner gave me a icp and egr fault code
Pulled EGR and cleaned [although there was no smoke ] did it anyway , no real change
pulled icp clip reseated , still same faults

Tested both batteries , tested bad [although it had been starting ok] replaced them both,now she idles better smoother still a small hiccup at idle ,rev her up to high idle , after 3 to 5 minutes she just dies out slowly then will not restart for 20 30 minutes , prior faults not present now getting only a PO269 cyl 3 contribution fault , still no smoke
Tried a true cold start this am at 33F outside nothing tried to fire but wont start
My thoughts are i may have a bad fuel pump, bad ficm or wire harness

planning on testing ficm as per your excellent advice , if ok then recheck harness if ok then pull tank check fuel pump and go from there

Sorry this was kinda long but wanted to get as much info in as i could , any help be appreciated

Thanks

 

What is your scanner capable of, does it just read codes or can you datalog? I'd really like to check ICP desired vs ICP actual. You MAY have a high pressure oil leak. hard to tell. Definitely check the FICM out too though, start there.

 

Mdub thanks for replying , i never used a scanner but yes this one can datalog and freeze data even when driving , i will try to bone up on it tomorrow and see if i can check the icp , it is new though but even new can fail thats for sure , gonna check ficm for sure easy fix if thats it , really appreciate your help , awesome ! note ; if it is high pressure oil leak would that be the HPOP under the turbo ?

 

high pressure oil leak would most likely be an o-ring somewhere, or the STC fitting on the HPOP, probably not the HPOP itself, it most likely wouldn't run at all if it was the HPOP going out.

If you can scan, watch ICP desired vs ICP actual. They should almost match. Should be around 575 at idle, and up near 4000 at WOT.

 

Thanks for the additional info , unfortunately i could not find a scan or diagnosis test for the actual icp load when running , but it maybe operator error , not used to using a scanner but i will keep at it , try again tomorrow on icp test --------Did test the ficm , voltage is normal per your instructions , 48.5 at key on , 47.3 at buzz test and never below 46 at anytime . Interesting that today during scan it found no error codes what so ever no cylinders showing an unbalance, egr test fine , no codes whatsoever , so i am beginning to side with you about the high pressure oil leak somewhere i dont think there is a test for that or a code , but makes sense that a leak would show an injector fault , im really learning a lot from you all , just reading all the posts etc , cant tell you enough how much i appreciate it , back to the scanner tomorrow see if i can test that icp loaded , btw what the heck does WOT mean ? wide open throttle ? ha ha ?

Monday i am going to go to the dealer and buy another new icp and harness clip kit , just try it what the heck at least i will have a spare and eliminate that possibility , the truck is kind of acting like it did before i changed the icp last month but much worse , still the symptoms were similar , rough idle low power would keep running then die but always had power and always restarted after a bit but before when icp was failing i never had a total lack of power she would always restart and go , now she wont go anywhere !

 

while you are changing the icp again you might want to remove the IPR valve right next to it on the same cover, if the little screen is blown out or clogged this could be the problem, it bleeds excess presure off the hpop and if it sticks open you lose all your high pressure.

 

Thanks big Bob, kinda looked for theIPR before not really seeing it, must be that little guy sticking out the side of the cover next to the ICP, definately get a grasp on it and check it out. I did get one thing figured out do not buy the Acutron pro elite scanner #9185 ,from autozone, its shipped with logged data only up to 2003 ,that's 8 years ago they want you to update the POS yourself off internet., Does not even list the 7.3 or the 6.0 as an engine ion its internal programming. Tried 7 times to update it off mini USB port, no go,marching up to autozone later and having a lil chit chat with someone. Paid 249.00 for it they can kiss my azz
I LOVE THE SMELL OF DIESEL IN THE MORNING IT SMELLS LIKE VICTORY

 

I wouldn't replace the ICP without knowing more, I doubt it's bad that quick. Though the wire harness for the ICP should be replaced if it wasn't back when the sensor itself was.

I agree with Bob, next step is pull the IPR and see what it looks like. It could be sticking causing these issues. It has happened before. This is where a good scanner would help tremendously. To add to Bob's comments, even if it is sticking and bleeding off pressure it can still sometimes build just enough pressure to start up but run like crap.

Autoenginuity with the enhanced Ford bundle is about $350. Just FYI.

 

Hmmmmm , i think i have been barking up the wrong tree and making a mountain out of a mole hill -----RE Checked engine fuel filter bowl immediately after the engine shut down , removed cap and bowl was empty , now to find out why , i can hear fuel pump come on at key on , and bowl is full at that point . What keeps the pressure up and turns on the fuel pump is there a relay or pressure regulator someplace . have to do some checkin on that one , i think we found the culprit . -------------As i said before the rail filter was probably clogged with about 60% aluminum coating particles from that darned steel tank , maybe its jammmed up the fuel pressure regulator too , and that assembly on the rail for the filter is that the regulator ? ----------BTW i returned that Acutron got a OBD 3120 , i liked the autoenginuity but it wont run without a lap top so thats an additional expense for me , the OBD is fine for now actually it returned no codes at all except for the p1000 but i think thats from changing out the batteries . maybe when im rich and not so famous i can afford that laptop ! Thanks guys ! Gonna see what to do from here ! :jump

Got it regulator is on the side of the filter bowl , so now where is the pump i hope its that filter assembly on the drivers rail and not in the tank !

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Reading up on this , are the lift pump and fuel pump the same or seperate units ? Where are they located one in the tank and the lift pump on the rail ?

 

Regulator is at fuel bowl on top of motor, pump is on the frame rail by the other filter. They do bleed pressure off out of the bowl, it's not uncommon or bad.

Get a fuel pressure gauge and test your fuel pressure at the bowl on top of the motor. Should be around 55psi. Checking with the key off does nothing.

However, the metal shavings are rather alarming. I don't think you'd see "shavings" in the filters from the tank, how would it produce shavings? Do they look like shavings, or chunks of material that "fell off"?