Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor??????????

well i took her home last night and checked her out and the connection on the pump was good and solid. now one thing i did notice is that the car purges every 10-20 seconds and when it does that, it sounds like the pump cuts off for a second and then comes back on. now im not sure why it doesnt run constantly. anyways im stumped again and im not sure why the pressure sensor wouldve just gone bad.

Could be an injector is intermittenly sticking. Pull the upper intake manifold and see if one of the holes is a LOT cleaner than the others.

The fuel pressure sensor is a little black plastic device on the end of the fuel rail as it exits the fuel rail. There is a vacuum line & electrical plug on it. This went bad on my car this year. It cost about $20.00 at the Ford part counter. This is not covered in the Haynes manual either. There is a diaphragm that checks pressure and sends an electrical signal back to the plc (main computer) and tells the computer that the fuel pressure is ok. This has nothing to do with the fuel pressure regulator or the fuel pump. Remove the throttle body, the little buger is under there. This will cause the car not to run due to the diaphragm breaking and fuel being sucked into the intake causing a rich condition, at least in my case. Hope this helps!!!

I just posted a reply on this subject.

i'll have to check that out. sounds like whats wrong. i think its getting way too much fuel and making it bog out. yesterday it was so bad after i filled up w/some gas that i had to leave her at a movie theater and get a ride to work b/c she wouldnt go. went back last night, about 4-5 hours later, and she ran just fine and made it to my boys house across the street. i may try that this weekend and if not im gonna have to put her in the shop. i cant take this not knowing and cant afford to have her just sitting in parking lots waiting to get looted.

I have seen that my OBDII laptop computer interface would be ideal for monitoring any fuel system pressure problems when the car is running under load, good for diagnosing the fault code.

well i wish i had the laptop capability to diagnose problems but i dont. i called the FURD dealership and they've never heard of a fuel rail pressure sensor. they said the closest thing they know of based on what ford nut told me was the TPS which is only $5 so may as well replace it for that cheap, but is this the fix? one of those never ending non-fixable problems. they sent me a pic of the TPS and it attaches right to the side of the TB. any help here is much appreciated from my CEG family!!

now to add to this post some hours later......i went to FURD and of course the girl told me the wrong part and price. turns out part she quoted me attached to the TB and was $67. she then pulled up the fuel rail pressure control assembly (maybe known as the regulator) and that was also $67. my cost was only $32/ea but still, dont want to waste the money on the wrong part. i know someone out there has got to know whats up. any tips or hints before this weekend would be nice. if i cant figure it out, i'll have to drop her off at the shop friday and figure it out that way. if so i'll definitely give you all an update but until then........HELP!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! please. i dont want to be rude so i always try to follow a request w/please and answers given a thank you. completely irrelevant.

just an update to let you all know.......i put my car in the shop and as of today they have no clue whats up. they told me the computers reading the fuel pressure regulator having issues but also the knock sensor is acting up. the mechanic said its almost like this pump is putting out a lot of gas and the fuel line cant handle it. its actually flooding itself. we're gonna replace the fuel pressure reg tomorrow and go from there. he's completely baffled as to why the knock sensor is acting up. im lost here too since all i did was replace the fuel pump w/a bat issued OEM pump and now this. who knows.......