Spinoff: does the FICM need to be cooled, or can it be bypassed?

[MMLMM]

Does it need to be cooled at all?

Does it get cooled enough currently?

Would better cooling help?

I have a thought if it "needs" to be cooled...

 

[TheBac]

http://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12258

Thats what I was thinking about, Mike.

 

[MMLMM]

Im thinking... (just a hair over $100 bucks total too)

plus:

Plus:

:hmm::feedback:

No lift pump pressure against the FICM this way, runs cooler, can be relocated, opens up fuel line for guys running big line to there cp3, you can run whatever fluid (water/meth, coolant, etc.)

 

[DetailsUnlimited]

I maybe wrong but when I was searching about deleting the fuel filter I ran across a tread where Rhall moved it and I think bypassed it to. But to be sure look at his old post about this.

 

[TheBac]

Ah, yup.

 

[x MadMAX DIESEL]

I think the only reason it needs cooling is because its sitting on the valve cover. There have been people run it completely dry without problems, not sure if these were DD trucks though. Yours is built into the ECM though, what truck are you talking about?

 

[MMLMM]

I think the only reason it needs cooling is because its sitting on the valve cover. There have been people run it completely dry without problems, not sure if these were DD trucks though. Yours is built into the ECM though, what truck are you talking about?

Lol, I know I dont have one, its not for my truck, Im thinking out loud for LB7/LLY idea.

 

[GMC_2002_Dmax]

Anyone who is worried about high lift pump pressures hurting the FICM just re-route the fuel from the feed to the return from the rails.

Go from the fuel filter to the CP3, the from the fuel return to the FICM "IN" and then from the "OUT" to the fuel return by the glow plug controller.

You get the cooling and eliminate the problem.

 

[bullfrogjohnson]

Its the voltage drivers inside the FICM that need the cooling. Everytime those drivers discharge they create a ton of heat.

 

[MadMaxx61]

I always thought about using a water cooling system for a PC to cool it they make a lot of them cheap now and I bet it could but made to work.

 

[Rhall]

This will be talked about forever i imagine. If my truck was driven everyday and the ficm was still on the valve cover i would want it cooled. For 2 years mine has been dry, but in a different location, and i doubt it gets very hot at sled pulls. It did see about 2k miles of driving in 09 and it seem to have survived. It looks like a good idea Mike.

 

[MMLMM]

I always thought about using a water cooling system for a PC to cool it they make a lot of them cheap now and I bet it could but made to work.

Good idea, but I dont think your going to find a kit big enough, and able to handle being under the hood in a truck thats going to be cheap. MOst systems are designed to be in the case, so the amount of fluid going thru the system will not be much....

But maybe it would work lol. Could look cool too as most of those systems are designed to also look nice...

 

[DIESELMAFIAPER.LB7]

Anyone who is worried about high lift pump pressures hurting the FICM just re-route the fuel from the feed to the return from the rails.

Go from the fuel filter to the CP3, the from the fuel return to the FICM "IN" and then from the "OUT" to the fuel return by the glow plug controller.

You get the cooling and eliminate the problem.

You mean take the return off the cp3 to the in an back out to the the t fitting were the return off the cp3 would go normally? Isn't the fuel to hot? Or ....

 

[Mike_S]

Anyone who is worried about high lift pump pressures hurting the FICM just re-route the fuel from the feed to the return from the rails.

Go from the fuel filter to the CP3, the from the fuel return to the FICM "IN" and then from the "OUT" to the fuel return by the glow plug controller.

You get the cooling and eliminate the problem.

You mean take the return off the cp3 to the in an back out to the the t fitting were the return off the cp3 would go normally? Isn't the fuel to hot? Or ....

My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't go that route on my truck personally, the fuel returning to the tank is not worthy of being a coolant as it will most likely be as hot or hotter than what the electronics inside the ficm are. Ever wonder why there is a fuel cooler on the RETURN line back by the fuel tank?

 

[ZeroGravity58]

Mine has been dry for little while now. I don't dd mine but it sees mostly street miles with a few times to the track each year. the ficm stays so much cooler off the motor. I've seen fuel temps around140+ degrees in the summer plus the heat of it being on the motor I couldn't touch it it was so hot. now being off the motor with no fuel I can drive my commute to work which is 36 miles and lay my hand on it and it is cool. I would no be afraid to relocate and run it dry as long as you keep it off the motor. mine is mounted on the pass side fender where the battle used to be. like I said I don't dd mine but I still drive it to work here and there and on the weekends. I also still haul stuff with it. right now its loaded up with old carpet from my house

 

[GMC_2002_Dmax]

My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't go that route on my truck personally, the fuel returning to the tank is not worthy of being a coolant as it will most likely be as hot or hotter than what the electronics inside the ficm are. Ever wonder why there is a fuel cooler on the RETURN line back by the fuel tank?

It's not my first rodeo sunshine....................many of my tuned trucks running all over the USA and Canada have been running this way for years.

It works, if you would like, log your fuel temp sometime, it can get as high as 150+ degrees. The factory has a fuel heater in the stock filter head for a reason, to heat the fuel.

Underhood temps routinely reach 220+ degrees, you do realize that transfer of heat from the source to a liquid is more efficient than air cooling. If the liquid is cooler than the source of heat it will absorb the heat.

You guys can run it dry if you want, try that in Texas or LA in the summer.

 

[Mike_S]

It's not my first rodeo sunshine....................many of my tuned trucks running all over the USA and Canada have been running this way for years.

It works, if you would like, log your fuel temp sometime, it can get as high as 150+ degrees. The factory has a fuel heater in the stock filter head for a reason, to heat the fuel.

Underhood temps routinely reach 220+ degrees, you do realize that transfer of heat from the source to a liquid is more efficient than air cooling. If the liquid is cooler than the source of heat it will absorb the heat.

You guys can run it dry if you want, try that in Texas or LA in the summer.

I'm glad this has worked for you, but you are confirming my comment. Electronics do not like heat, in any way shape or form. Furthermore, the fuel temperature sensor is in fact in the return line, at least on my LB7 so that 150+ degrees you speak of is what you would be sending through the " cooling" port of the FICM, after it has been heated by the fuel lift pump, CP3, injectors ect. not ideal in my opinion. I believe that relocation away from soaking up heat from the engine and running dry is an option, however not an ideal one as the internal electronics are going to create heat on their own. I also believe that seperate liquid cooling is also an option, but this will need to be a large enough system to remove the heat created inside the box, as well as the heat soaked up from the engine. Ideally a guy would combine these two, relocate and liquid cool the unit, after all the cooler electronics run, the more efficiently they run, and this just might contribute to longer LB7 injector life...

 

[ChevyTruckGuy78]

ok so instead of that tube cooler run a larger trans cooler and put infront of the ic??

 

[FullSpec]

i was thinking about putting a small frame rail cooler in front of the stack and taking the stock one out and seeing if the ports behind the fittings need to be drilled out, as well as take the 'protectors' off of the cooler and put some screen around it

 

[MMLMM]

It's not my first rodeo sunshine....................many of my tuned trucks running all over the USA and Canada have been running this way for years.

It works, if you would like, log your fuel temp sometime, it can get as high as 150+ degrees. The factory has a fuel heater in the stock filter head for a reason, to heat the fuel.

Underhood temps routinely reach 220+ degrees, you do realize that transfer of heat from the source to a liquid is more efficient than air cooling. If the liquid is cooler than the source of heat it will absorb the heat.

You guys can run it dry if you want, try that in Texas or LA in the summer.

Returning fuel is somewhere around +210°F easily and up from cp3. Especially if you are running pretty hard. Incoming fuel would be around 100°F-140°F on a normal day (yes it can be hotter with conditions).

I'm sure it works fine, but I agree using returning fuel is not a good method of cooling the FICM. I dont like the dry approach either, I think it needs to be cooled with incoming fuel, or a separate system (hence the start of this thread)