Cranks but no start. P008A apparently low fuel pressure.

[naru]

Hi everyone,

my Transit cranks but won't start, maybe someone can help.

What happened:
Bought the vehicle in April of 2020 and drove it home with no problems at all. Refueled the car on my way home. I live in Germany where there are two kinds of diesel depending on the season.
Since I refueled in April I most likely got summer grade diesel which crystalizes more easily in lower temperature (we currently have around 0ºC give or take).
Whether that has to do with the problem I don't know.

Since then the vehicle wasn't moved. Some time later in 2020 I installed a 5kW diesel heater (Webasto Thermo Top Evo) which works great (the car is supposed to be camper).
For installation of said heater the fuel tank had to be removed. For that I drained the tank using the inbuilt pump by removing the fuel line.
After installation of the heater I remounted the tank and wanted to start up the vehicle but forgot to refuel again (to my defence, a few days had passed - but I am obviously still an idiot). I heard some bubbling from the tank and immediately stopped and added 20l of (winter grade) diesel. Since I couldn't find a separate bleeding valve I disconnected the fuel lines to the right of the engine to make sure that there is no air in the low pressure system. Both the feed and return lines (see IMG_0919). After a short while pure diesel without air bubbles was flowing out of the return line (from the engine side of course).

The problem:
The car won't start. It cranks well, the battery is connected to a charger and the starter has no trouble turning the engine (rotating at 200rpm, recorded with FORScan). I engine doesn't fire a single time though.

I got a view trouble codes, most of which are not present at the time of request (but still worrying, especially "code B1310 - Run/Start Control Circuit Short To Ground Or Open". I also noticed that water drains into the engine bay on the right side onto some electronics).
I saved all of the trouble codes, cleared them, tried to start the car and read them again.
Only one came up again (the only one that was marked as "DTC Present at Time of Request" previously) which is:
===PCM DTC P008A:21-27===
Code: P008A - Low Pressure Fuel System Pressure - Too Low

Additional Fault Symptom:
- Please refer to the Professional Technician Society (PTS) website for this description.

Status:
- DTC Present at Time of Request
- Malfunction Indicator Lamp is Off for this DTC

Module: Powertrain Control Module

Freeze Frame :
-REALTIME: 130331323 s - Total time ECU has been active
-DIST_TOT_VEH: 53036.0 km - Total Vehicle Distance
-MAINECUV: 11.75 V - Main ECU voltage supply
-OUTTMP: 0 °C - External Temperature From Sensor
===END PCM DTC P008A:21-27===
(see also DTCs_after_clear.txt)

I then recorded some live data (fuel pressure, desired fuel pressure, pressure in the common rail etc.).
The data looks good to me, the pressure is even a bit higher than desired (see the screenshot LowAndRailPressure.jpg of FORScan). Is there a second sensor that causes the trouble code maybe?
I also recorded the amount of fuel injected, maybe you can tell me if that is a normal value.

Thank you all in advance.

[Morris12391]

Hi there.
Did you ever get to the bottom of this fault? I have a van with a very similar issue.
Thanks
Morris

[naru]

Hi,

I eventually towed it to a Ford mechanic who got it running again.
Apparently there was still air in the low pressure system somewhere even though my test suggested otherwise.
He tricked a sensor into believing that everything was fine and cranked a lot until it started up. Sadly I don't now which sensor exactly or how he tricked it.
Hope this helps.

[Morris12391]

Okay thank you for your reply.
Mines slightly different in that case,
it will start if you’re persistent enough but the next day it’s the same again.
Thanks again for the quick reply.
Morris