Alright, so there's a short version and a long version. Let's go:

Short version:

My Ducato randomly died on hitting a speed bump (it was fine on the 15 previous ones and the 10 subsequent ones) - reading 'engine oil pressure'. I restarted it, drove it home with no issues, then when I went to start it again it would start and turn over (itself, post-starter motor), then die within a second or two and refuse to start again until ~30 seconds later. Oil level looks fine, no longer reading engine oil pressure etc.

I can make it start by revving the engine the second I turn off the starter motor - if I hold revs at around 3000rpm for about two minutes, it is fine to drive, and will even switch off and on again without the need for extra revs. If I stop revving any sooner than that, it will die again.

Anyone have any suggestions?

*Some extra, possibly irrelevant, detail*

This has happened twice. When it first refused to start, I gave it a day to stand (as I'd had really low fuel previously and thought I might have sloshed it about in the tank too much), then had the AA come out to take a look. The OBD was reading a Diesel Particulate Filter issue. They suggested the 'high rev' start, running to the garage to get more fuel, then taking it out for a drive 'like I stole it.'

I did this, but unfortunately before I made it to the garage the Check Engine light was back on (probably, but not definitely the DPF still). I got it to temperature then drove it for a full 20 minutes in 1st/2nd gear with a constant red line. The next day it seemed fine. Drove it 20 miles to pick up a fridge (as you do), no issues. Drove it back, no issues. Hit that same speed bump 2 minutes from home, engine dies, 'engine oil pressure' warning, starts fine after a second, but when I go to cold start it later, we're back to requiring super high revs.

I would be super grateful to anyone who can shed some light on this...

The first step would be to check for current fault codes.

Is there by any chance lot of gunge in the fuel tank that is clogging the pump strainer. I did one Monday on a 2002 that had similar symptoms and it was a whole lot of dirt in the "sump" of the lift pump in the tank. Throwing up injector light. It would start now and again but only run for a few minutes, presumably till the gunge blocked the strainer then when the suction was gone, the sediment settled and it would be able to suck enough for another while. I presume the tank pump is the same set up as the older one where the pump is in a plastic "sump" in the tank! BTW my lad was told his pump was gone and needed a new one at €350! It took an hour to sort, a very happer camper now I may add!

RS3100 said:

The first step would be to check for current fault codes.

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Using my little Bluetooth OBD2 thing, it's still just reading DPF, though mine won't let me clear it to see if it reoccurs.

digger58 said:

Is there by any chance lot of gunge in the fuel tank that is clogging the pump strainer. I did one Monday on a 2002 that had similar symptoms and it was a whole lot of dirt in the "sump" of the lift pump in the tank. Throwing up injector light. It would start now and again but only run for a few minutes, presumably till the gunge blocked the strainer then when the suction was gone, the sediment settled and it would be able to suck enough for another while. I presume the tank pump is the same set up as the older one where the pump is in a plastic "sump" in the tank! BTW my lad was told his pump was gone and needed a new one at €350! It took an hour to sort, a very happer camper now I may add!

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See that sounds very plausible for what's happening. I'm not getting any injector lights/codes, however. How did you fix it?

Took the pump out of the tank, disassembled it and cleaned it, back together and off she went. I presume the light was coming on due to fuel starvation. This is the very basic OBD on the 2.8JTD. No error codes were stored either!

Should be 2.5 to 3.5 bar when lift pump is priming. Make sure to change the filter too.

digger58 said:

Took the pump out of the tank, disassembled it and cleaned it, back together and off she went. I presume the light was coming on due to fuel starvation. This is the very basic OBD on the 2.8JTD. No error codes were stored either!

Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for the response! Sorry for the slow one back; some absolute animal broke in (driver's side window no less! ****.) and set us back a bit. Window regulator thread to follow haha!

I do detest working on this van without a workshop manual, but given the response I've got from local garages without even checking the vehicle being 4 figure quotes and absurd suggestions about needing to replace the whole ECU, I think I'm going to take this one on myself.

So, apologies for the incoming questions but... is this likely to be plausible on what I'm assuming is the common rail system found in the 2015 model I have? If so, as I understand it the fuel sender is accessed via the floor space in the cab. Is anything marked? Do I need to remove the whole unit to access the pump, or is there any other access point? And finally, anything I should know/be aware of in getting stuck into this? Valves that definitely need closing, circuits that must be unplugged etc?

Thanks again!