What is the advantage of a 58 volt unit? With the stock system it takes 800 microseconds of on time to shift the spool valve from closed to open, or from open to closed.

Is the 58 volt system for guys running higher than stock redline?

Thanks,

Keith

 

That's why I'm leaning towards the half shell or the power supply, since programming is not required when replacing only that particular part. I think it's rediculous to replace the half that is still working. I confirmed with the Ford dealership that the only repair necessary to my FICM is the power supply.

The Dorman comes with a one year warranty, which I think is pretty decent. I'm just reading so much about the repaired FICMs that are not lasting very long. That's a lot of money to part with for a temporary fix. At least all of the components on the Dorman units are new, whereas the repaired unit's components have already exhausted a major portion of their life. This is based strictly on my opinion, of course.

I'll update the thread with the information I glean from International on Monday.

 

Ed at ficmrepair.com did mine, quick turnaround, upgraded weak internals, 2 yr warranty and added php 40 hp tow tune. . . .AWESOME is all I can say! . My ficm was bad. I have heard upping over 48 volts is bad idea. Unreliable and added heat in sensitive area . . .i heard so much about Ed and like you I usually have bad luck. . .gottavgive him kudos for mine! Good luck. . .

 

We've been installing 58v units since swamps came out with them, 0 failures. After a ficm failure its not uncommon to still have "sticky" injectors for lack of a better term, the 58v units seem to clear this up while we usually have to use some flush and revx with 48v units to make slight misfires disappear. 58v also seem a bit quieter, much more responsive. Seems like we might replace less injectors when 58v units are in use.

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If i get a second to graph the difference with each one day i will. I'd be interested to see the effect on saturation and the time frame.

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Theoretically it only takes 800 microseconds, but those guys with stiction know it doesn't always work like that. The idea of the 58V is to electronically force those injectors open with more current. They say the increased speed will slightly increase timing and add a little power, as well as smoother running when you first fire it up. Has nothing to do with higher redlines, though guys running up to 5k and above have always had fueling issues with these FICM's, that's a separate issue though.

The new half shells are going to do the same thing this one did down the road, might be 1 year, might be 10 years, who knows. They certainly didn't improve the way the components are soldered down to the boards.

Warranties are all good, but what good is the warranty when the FICM fails suddenly at 65mph and you coast to a stop out in the middle of no where with no cell service. Is Dorman going to send a tow truck out to you? Likely not. I know Swamps will if you use one of their units. They stand behind their work. I've heard a lot of naysayers claim the repaired units don't last. I don't buy it. I'm sure some are not repairable, but simply testing it after the repair would let you know this. Repaired units have exhaust a major portion of their life? How so? Do the components have some sort of shelf life I'm not aware of? It's like saying a new hammer is better than a 20 year old hammer. Sure one may be considered "used" but they both still put nails in.

IMO, from your concerns you're voicing it sounds like the BPD unit is right for you. If you've got the coin for it...

Ed does great work, good warranty, relatively cheap. If I didn't know how to fix them myself, he'd be getting my business likely. He's also (or was) a sponsor here.

Swamps has done hundreds of the 58V units. I hear of guys who say they're not necessary etc... most of them have never used one. It's not to say a good 48V unit and some good batteries are really all you need, some guys just want to have a little "more."

You really can't honestly say with 100% certainty that ANY of them will last forever. Even Swamps has had some failures. The key is after the failure what happens. I've heard of swamps paying for tow trucks to the nearest Ford dealer and paying for a brand new FICM for some customers. That's customer service you can't beat. IMO, Dorman replacement would be at the bottom of the list... at least until more people try them out.

Here's a 58V Swamps unit, just to stir the pot a little .




My point is, any of them can fail. The only one I haven't seen failures from (at least yet) are the BPD units. I don't expect any from them. However, even with the swamps units...the failure rate has to be extremely low. Nothing I would even worry about. I'm pretty sure this was an early unit and Swamps wasn't using any staking compound (you would have to remove the compound that Ford put down to do the repairs). So they'd pull off the staking compound there, rework them, and put nothing back down. I would hope they've changed this since then. Even I use staking compound when I do repairs.

 

Why is that a separate issue? Injection timing in a diesel is similar to ignition timing in a gasoline engine isn't it? As RPM's increase in a gasoline engine you advance the timing, wouldn't it be the same with a diesels injection timing?

Sounds like the 58 volt systems are being used as a different method of "sticktion abatement" rather than using oil additives. Do the additives naysayers also say 58 volt systems just mask bad injectors?

So far, if I have any stiction issues at all they are not severe. I now let the truck do a full key on injector sweep before starting and it starts every time first turn of the key no matter how cold it is. I don't think it would want to pull 10K lbs up hill moments after starting in cold weather... but that is the nature of a diesel isn't it?

Keith

 

Hey Keith,

I use oil additives and I see no issues with 58V FICM's, though I haven't tried the FICM yet. I will hopefully be turning my spare 4 pin into a 58V unit sometime in the future (always too many projects going on).

What I meant by separate issue, was high RPM fueling. I don't think the factory hardware/software was up to the task of fueling beyond 5k rpms. That's a separate issue.

 

International has the part ... $167. I have it on will call and will pick it up tomorrow. I need to bring in my core or they'll charge a $338 core charge ... OUCH!

 

Ouch. It seems you've made your mind up, but my last piece of advice is to have that new half shell repaired before you put it on the truck, you're just going to be doing this again at some time...