Broken Down on the 101

[saline]

Any update?

[sdwindansea]

Sorry for the delayed response. We picked up the van yesterday and drove it back home to San Diego (with a stop at the dog beach in Santa Barbara). It turns out the problem was with the FICM (Fuel Injector Control Module). Specifically it had to be reprogrammed per TEB 10-12-06. I have attached a PDF version of this if you care to read all of the gory details. It was strange that I never got a diagnostic code for the problem although the TSB states this is possible. Luckily this was covered by my 5 year/50k mile warranty. I will most likely be purchasing the extended warranty before it is too late.

This was a bit disturbing though for several reasons. First of all, why did it suddenly appear? Secondly, back in September of 2011 my local Ford dealership replaced the FICM half shell according to the TSB I mentioned above. In this case, I was receiving diagnositic codes P0266 and P0611. How/why did it go bad so quickly? I will definitely be contacting my local dealership later this week to learn more.

Everything appears to be back to normal and I was extremely pleased by the service at Jim Vreeland Ford in Buellton. It is definitely a shame that this happened and ruined our planned vacation. With that being said, it also could've been so much worse.

[BroncoHauler]

Interesting. The symptoms described in the TSB don't really match the symptoms you experienced.

Glad you're back rolling under your own power.


Herb

[Jeffrey]

Good for you, Geoff. No not the busted vacation, I mean the fix.

Did you stop at the Douglas Preserve? What dog beach do you mean? Hendry's Beach, maybe. Lot's of pooches there.

[sdwindansea]

Thanks Herb and Jeffrey. I probably didn't describe the symptoms that well. However, I'm not sure the TSB describes it well enough either. I guess the dealership was able to help narrow down the problem by the extreme lack of power (acceleration) along with the white smoke coming from the exhaust.

We stopped at Arroyo Burro Beach, which is off leash and our pup loved it. It is on Cliff Drive, right off Las Positas Rd (exit 100). Allowed us to tire him out enough to go out for New Year's Eve, even after being in a car/SMB for about 9 hours.

[Ford_6L_E350]

Glad to hear you were covered by warranty and had a relatively simple problem.

Nice way to end the year.

Mike

[BillPa1]

Thanks for the PDF on the TSB 10-12-6. A copy will go in my binder.
I live in La Mesa and just took delivery of my SMB a couple of months ago. If you would like to meet and trade ideas I can be reached at "harleyloverinlm@cox.net"
Thanks, BillPa1