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Spy pics of BulletProof Diesel FICM

10K views 47 replies 24 participants last post by  Wheelhop 
#1 ·
So I was at the BulletProof Diesel shop yesterday to have my brakes done and the owners shared a couple ideas that they are working on and I was able to snap a couple of pics of one of their ideas. While their oil cooler and EGR coolers are excellent products, there are still other areas that are CONSTANT problems for 6.0L owners and they want to tackle them. :woot:

BULLETPROOF FICM
As we know the stock Ford FICM has its share of problems and many of us have had them fail at the worst possible time. From the poor solder connections to the substandard choice in semiconductors to the design flaws in the voltage amplifiers, the stock Ford FICM is a problematic part on the 6.0L's and resoldering components only fixes one of the many issues.

Based on my discussion with them, the BPD team has done R&D on their own design of Fuel Injection Control Module! It has redundancy and voltage adjustability built in to the design and replaces the inferior, substandard semiconductors with more readily available and more heat-tolerant components. They are also redesigning the clamshell case to improve heat transfer. Anyway, ON TO THE PICS!!!





While this is only the circuit board, they have shown me drawings and schematics of the new design and I am SUPER excited! I know that despite having them resolder my stock FICM, I still datalog FICM voltages whenever I tow because I'm am worried it will fail again. I simply CANNOT wait for these to be released because I will be running one on my truck. :thumb:
 
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#8 ·
Sounds like it will be adjustable (in some way or another)
 
#16 ·
Running GREAT now! I ended up with a failing turbo, which explains the reason that my intake coupler melted on the turbo housing and the elevated oil temps. My journal bearings were leaking oil which only got worse at higher boost pressures, like pulling a hill. Just before the turbo upgrade, I was running 35 mph up this same hill because any faster and my EGT's would sky rocket. I saw a HUGE improvement in performance going to the PowerMax turbo and custom tunes to match. Here's some comparison numbers from another thread.
I got some updated tunes from Matt @ Gearhead just before the trip in order to match up to the airflow of the PowerMax turbo. I called him at the last minute and not only did he take care of me, but he sent me tunes within the hour. Because I dropped the ball and called him last minute and he agreed to take care of me, I made sure to take care of him as well. ;) I am VERY HAPPY with my current setup. It was good before and now it is GREAT!

BEFORE (DJ Aggressive Tow)
GCVW=18k lbs
Ambient air temp=75*
Vehicle speed was 75mph
Tranny temp was 175*; 185* peak
EGT's were 1200*; 1350* peak
EOT's were 216*; 239* peak
ECT's were 209*; 225* peak
ICP was 2141psi; 4061psi peak

AFTER (Gearhead 8k Tow)
GCVW=20k lbs
Ambient air temp=65*
Vehicle speed was 75mph
Tranny temp was 165*; 185* peak
EGT's were 1050*; 1300* peak
EOT's were 202*; 225* peak
ECT's were 203*; 223* peak
ICP was 1621psi; 4041psi peak

Simple comparison of the before to after, the truck seems to come alive right away. The turbo spools MUCH quicker and it feels like it has more power. I was 2k heavier than before and still had about the same top speed at the top of the hill in Yuma. Not only does it feel like it has more power, it doesn't seem to have to work as hard to maintain the power (look at my average ICP and you can see evidence of that). Another thing is that the shifting was PERFECT! I am a stickler for that since I have spent quite a bit of time working with DJ to get my shifting just right on my old setup. It was awesome that Matt was able to nail it the first time right out of the box. I was a bit concerned that the 8k would run too hot for me (and it will be when we hit summertime temps) but it was perfect for the wintertime towing duty to the sand dunes.
 
#17 ·
Quotes from Ken to questions over on the ORG concerning some of the details of their new FICM's.

As of right now this is only intended as a cure for the FICM power supply issues. Not as a tool to generate more horsepower. We have specified high military grade components and incorporated redundant stages. Basically this means that more than 1/3 of the board could fail and you would never know the difference. Also we made the output voltage user selectable at 48V, 53V, and 58V with the default voltage set to stock 48V. Basically it's designed to be WAY overbuilt for what it needs to do. Pretty much BulletProof... Prototype testing will be starting in the next few weeks. I believe (though not sure) that some of the other vendors, who are more performance oriented, can play with the programming on the FICM logic boards. And time permitting, the design of a user programmable logic board could be a reality some day.
Does anyone make a FICM extension cable?? A 3 foot cable would “fix” a lot of issues.
I'm surpised no one has made one of these yet. Buy the new updated FICM as well but mount it off the motor and away from the heat/vibration.


Bulleproof should take this into account as well.
We did. That was our very first idea. Theoretical models indicated a host of other issues making it impractical and failed to address the complete causes of the FICM power supply failures.
 
#20 ·
well i just went out and warmed up my truck and the code went away. it was throwing a p0611 when i first started it and then it came up to 48 volts. drops under throttle pretty bad though. i think i have a weak one but ive never exactly paid attention to them lol. i bet with a good one on there the truck would go much faster lol
 
#21 ·
Looks like they are making progress faster than I was expecting... Some secret squirrel shenanigans allowed me to end up with a couple more pics... I sure hope nobody gets in trouble for them.... :sofa: These have got me drooling!!!:drool:



 
#26 ·
I know ( sa do you ) they do their oil cooler relocation blocks in billet
but those have so many ports and crevases a cast part would require a lot of machining anyway ,,this is just a shell
I am holding my breath it would be great to have an option to the OEM unit !!
 
#28 ·
Man that looks nice i'd love to have them build me one of them. Let us know when there all good to go because i'd like to get in line for one.

Thanks Matt
 
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