I recently bought a 2008 mini cooper s with the n14 engine with 67000 miles it was a crank so start when I bought it. Previous owner said they replaced hpfp, lpfp, fuel filter, and the timing chain.
the hpfp was a cheap knockoff
i got a used hpfp oem to try but same results
ista shows actual fuel rail pressure as 0.38-0.40 this never really changes.
i have checked that fuel is getting to the hpfp and that the camshaft is spinning.
i have tested the plug and get proper power and signal
I smoke tested the gas tank and didn’t find any leaks
any advice on what to do from here it will start on starting fluid

 

What pressure units does ISTA use for rail pressure? Is it MPa?
Are you sure you are reading rail pressure rather than the low pressure system with ISTA?

 

Yes mpa, i haven’t found a way to measure the low pressure system with ista. I know fuel is coming into the high pressure pump but isn’t coming out of it to the fuel rail

 

When you crank the engine, does the tachometer register the engine rpms?

 

I’ll have to check that’s a good suggestion I didn’t look at that

 

You may be able to diagnose the fuel issue using ISTA.

In ISTA “Diagnosis request/measured values”, compare the four items below with "Key ON, Engine OFF-not cranking" versus "Cranking for 8–12 seconds":

 

1) 0.38mpa
2) 5.00mpa
3) checks out
4) showing rpm’s around 1-200

 

The cranking rpms are a bit low, but your results indicate that:

1) The camshaft is NOT driving the HPFP to generate high pressure. Potential causes: HPFP not seated correctly in its mounting position, pump drive tang (B) not properly seated into cam groove (see image below), or internal failure of HPFP.
or
2) The camshaft is driving the HPFP to generate high pressure but the pressure is being lost. Potential causes: rail relief/limiter stuck open, injector leaking, or internal HPFP failure.

 

You also may want to check whether the high fuel pressure sensor is working. For example, unplug it and see whether the ISTA pressure reading changes. If so, try starting engine with pressure sensor unplugged.

 

Just in case anyone runs across this, after installing a mechanical fuel pressure gauge it showed 0 psi, pulled the low pressure fuel pump and the fuel filter as well to find the o-ring for the filter lid had come off. No clue why ista showed rail pressure but don’t trust it and use a mechanical gauge.
starts fine now