Electrical Faults!?

[giosoft]

Hi all,

I've recently picked up a 2014 Custom Transit (2.2L) and am having a nightmare pinpointing some electrical issues. I'm trying to work out if it's worth trying to resolve, or just worth 'sacking off!'

First issue was with the van stalling when idle on anything less than a full tank. I've been gratefully pointed toward the in-tank fuel pump by this forum (thank you!) so that's being sorted shortly. I'm now facing a really weird issue where the engine light has come on, and periodically - randomly - I'm getting a message that hillstart has been disabled (didn't know I had it anyway!) and then the ABS light is coming on. I'm also today finding the temperature is reading down to -2c (it's around 10c) and then it's going back to normal. The onboard messages say 'all systems working' despite engine light on. The only consistent issue is the engine light - the other lights come and go randomly! Today for the first time I felt a slight loss of power for 10 seconds or so (couldn't get past 2,000rpm) but it then seemed to recover.

Appreciate this is an absolute 'finger in the air' issue, but the garage doesn't seem keen to try and diagnose so I was wondering if this is something anyone here might be able to hazard a guess on?

Thanks in advance!

(PS: Some 'genius' has done this under the bonnet. Any ideas / insight on why would be much appreciated!)

[metalworker0]

well the whole of the traction control , ABS , hill start assist are all linked together ..any fault on any part of it .....and you get the warning light

most likely,its an ABS sensor at fault. note : can also be tyre pressure ...as circumference of wheel is your speed on the ABS system ..so low pressure makes different reading.


all the best.mark

[giosoft]

Thanks Mark,

That's super helpful and very much appreciated. I'll fill the tyres tomorrow and will report back! Have to be honest, I've had the van 2 months (only covered 500 miles) but haven't checked this. Visually okay, but they're low profile sport tyres. If that is enough to fix the engine light, ABS and HillStart warnings, I will owe you a beer (or 2,000) and I'll also need to have a word with Ford as to why they wouldn't just have a low-tyre pressure sensor warning rather than the terrifying prospect of the ABS not working

I'll report back!

[sherwoodcycles]

Have a good read about bcm water ingress problems and check your not a victim of that.

[sherwoodcycles]

That bodge might be the relay for the intank fuel pump

[knobby1]

Hi all,

I've recently picked up a 2014 Custom Transit (2.2L) and am having a nightmare pinpointing some electrical issues. I'm trying to work out if it's worth trying to resolve, or just worth 'sacking off!'

First issue was with the van stalling when idle on anything less than a full tank. I've been gratefully pointed toward the in-tank fuel pump by this forum (thank you!) so that's being sorted shortly. I'm now facing a really weird issue where the engine light has come on, and periodically - randomly - I'm getting a message that hillstart has been disabled (didn't know I had it anyway!) and then the ABS light is coming on. I'm also today finding the temperature is reading down to -2c (it's around 10c) and then it's going back to normal. The onboard messages say 'all systems working' despite engine light on. The only consistent issue is the engine light - the other lights come and go randomly! Today for the first time I felt a slight loss of power for 10 seconds or so (couldn't get past 2,000rpm) but it then seemed to recover.

Appreciate this is an absolute 'finger in the air' issue, but the garage doesn't seem keen to try and diagnose so I was wondering if this is something anyone here might be able to hazard a guess on?

Thanks in advance!

(PS: Some 'genius' has done this under the bonnet. Any ideas / insight on why would be much appreciated!)

You need to get Forscan onto it to find out what fault codes you're getting....guessing is time consuming, costly and pointless. Forscan is free to download and the cable costs much less than going to a garage to get plugged in.

Lord Knobrot

[giosoft]

Thanks so much everyone for the insights. Hopefully it is linked to the in tank fuel pump (re. the electrics) as the dealer has agreed to have that fixed on warranty. If I had purchased as an individual, I would have returned the van by now but as a business purchase, I'm both a little up the creek without a vehicle for however long it might take to get it back to the dealer, refunded, and something new sorted etc, and also the van itself is the perfect spec, so sort of hoping (perhaps foolishly!) that it can be resolved.

I'll update the thread when the work is done so any future readers having similar issues know the end result!

[sherwoodcycles]

If it's the van you wanted and the price was one your happy with, I'd say not worry too much. They're great vans. I ended up buying another van when I had problems and thought I'd not be able to sort it. I ended up constantly doing bits on my new van and I wished I was back in my custom.

[sherwoodcycles]

Like knobrot suggested - get forscan and a dongle. That way you remove the guess work and also learn.

[giosoft]

Thanks everyone.

I'm doing as suggested and getting Forescan so will report back. Ironically, faffing about with tyre pressure seems to have removed the engine light. But that makes no sense - it was especially high or low, so a bit bonkers!

I'll keep the thread updated with Forescan on the off chance any other poor soul is trying to get to the bottom of a whack-a-mole transit issue!

[sherwoodcycles]

It will always seem 'whack a mole' unless you have an idea from something like forscan.
It's common for the bcm to suffer corrosion, weird random stuff starts to happen as things connect and duscinnect etc. The bcm will end up with pages of faults and I guess, run out of memory. Eventually it won't prime the fuel pump (low pressure fault).
A common bodge is to jump the wires on the low pressure relay. Either supply 12v or run an independent earth. It then primes and you can start the engine.

I'm bet my bottom dollar the garage are having low pressure sensor faults.
If it's the van you want, just put the time in and your get there.
Check with the garage. If they are not familiar with these vans - do some research on here and give them some pointers. Or ask for a few grand back and do it yourself.

[giosoft]

Just an update on this. I did have the in-tank fuel pump sorted, and whilst at it I had the fuel pump relay replaced along with MAF sensor replacement and engine carbon cleaning. This is in addition to the a full service a month before this fix.

Despite this, whilst the in-tank fuel pump replacement has stopped the van stalling when idling or on less than a full tank, I've had a couple more complete engine failures. I've done as suggested and got the diagnostic tool and it reports;


> Control Module Communication Bus 'A' Off
> Fuel Pump Primary Circuit Failure
> Invalid Data Received from ECM/PCM 'A'
> Low Pressure Fuel System Sensor Circuit
> Injector Control Pressure - TOO LOW - Engine Cranking

Items in Italic are classed as critical issues. The rest are advisories.

Whilst I wrestle with the dealer on warranty etc the van needs to remain on the road for work, so my mechanic is suggesting some sort of fuel pump bypass.

Just wondered if anybody has dealt with similar, or has any ideas now it's not quite such a guessing game?

Thank you!

[sherwoodcycles]

What we're the bcm plugs like when you checked them ?

[giosoft]

This was the s*!# show before the fuel pump was done, but when that was sorted they corrected this and it now looks much more neat and 'proper' without any of the leads sticking out like this!

[giosoft]

An update for those that may stumble upon this in a Google archive desperate for a very particular issue and fix!

After replacing the in tank fuel pump, which removed the issue of stalling when idle on anything less than a full tank, but with the periodic stalling still continuing we tried a few more changes of fuses, fuel filters and so on with no luck. In the end the mechanic was able to wire the fuel pump to be always on. My very limited understanding is that usually there is a valve and control that relays how much is needed electrically to control fuel inflow to the engine and with this not working properly, the engine would sometimes stall as if out of fuel, and would seemingly need a while to cool off or for fuel to in flow sufficiently or whatever before the van would come back to life as if nothing had happened.

The moment we wired the fuel pump to be always on its never stalled again and that's been a good few months and a few thousand miles later.

Hopefully this helps!