I posted this in the van forum but I think it might get more hits here. 2004 E250 4.6 247K miles. When cold it starts up fine with seemingly to me normal crank time. When it is warm it takes some cranking to start. It seems as though the shorter the off time the longer the crank time. Last night I shut it off and restarted it after about three minutes and it took 6 seconds or so to start and it sputtered a second or two before running smooth. Today I hooked up my laptop with FORScan and got these codes:
C1284
U1262
B1318
U1027
B1352
P1000
C1155 (ABS light is not on anymore after I replaced the LF wheel speed sensor)

I checked live data on a few sensors and found the cam position sensor level is showing LOW and has some spikes on the oscilloscope page. Someone suggested in my van thread that it could be a faulty or incorrect idle air control valve. It shows 44% on the live data but I'm not sure what that means. Also I monitored the head coolant temperature sensor and it seems inline with coolant temperatures. (fluctuates between mid 80s to low 90s Celsius) Does it sound like the cam position sensor is bad based on the LOW reading?

If you are bored take a look at my journey to get this van running after sitting for some years:
My 2004 E250 project

 

Maybe the baud rate is too slow to read the cam sensor correctly?

 

I might be barking up the wrong tree on the cam sensor. After pulling it out and visually inspecting it there are no cracks or anything like that. When hooked up to the 200mv ac setting on my meter it was putting out some voltage (50-sih?) when getting it near steel. Where is the fuel pressure port on these motors? I don't see one on either side of the fuel rail. Is it in the rear which means I have to pull the doghouse cover?

 

With the mileage stated your intake valves are most likely carboned up.
IMHO that is what is causing the long crank time to start when hot
You might want to test / check the fuel pressure ( pid in scan tool ) . The schrader valve was deleted in 2004 and an FPT was added (fuel pressure transducer)
By all means replace your cmp sensor any time any code
Don't mess with testing it they test fine and strand you anyway
To me the he P1000 means you should clear the codes (again) and retest after a few long drives
Drive it with the scan tool hooked up so you can do a few things like monitor the fuel pressure and the cmp
Also you can see when it passes its I/M readiness monitors
Have the top end cleaned by a pro or the dealer (you can also do it yourself)
Use a bore scope to recheck the valve deposits when you are done cleaning the injectors, throttle plate, upper intake and valves (top end or upper end cleaned)
Your mileage has me concerned about timing chain and guides wear
If after replacing the cmp and any code for the cam timing comes back
You will want to replace all the timing chain components and for sure use Ford parts

 

I'm back on this issue. I have replaced all spark plugs, coils (Motorcraft) and exhaust manifold gaskets/studs. (I did not think it would help but needed done anyway) After removing the IAC valve I thought it looked pretty good and was not all carboned up. I cleaned what little was in there with carb cleaner and blew it out with air. The resistance is about 10.5 ohms. One thing I thought was odd was that the plunger was in the middle position and is spring loaded both ways. What I'm saying is that in its relaxed position it does not close the air passage off and looks as if it is designed to be in the middle position when no power is applied. The plunger easily moves both directions and springs right back to the middle. Is this normal? Hooking up the laptop and using Forscan I monitored fuel rail pressure and the last few trips it was in the upper 30 ish PSI to just over 40. When starting cold it is about 50 but I'll look at it when starting hot. The thing about not hooking up a mechanical gauge is that you can't see what the pressure bleed down is. I may look for an in line adapter to hook it up. Also if I cycle the key three times before starting it starts right up when hot. Would this eliminate the carboned up intake valves? Again when cold or warm it starts up with very few cranks and seems normal to me. There is only one code now: B1352 Ignition key in circuit fault. What else should I check or monitor on live data? I still have not replaced the cam position sensor. Should I replace the crank sensor too just because of age and mileage?

 

Today I checked fuel pressure when hot after sitting about 15 minutes and it was about 1.5 psi. Crazy. I cranked and after about 5 seconds the pressure got up to about 18 psi and it then started. Then it immediately went to around 40 psi. Why is the pressure bleeding off? Do I have a bad check valve in the pump assembly? Do I have leaky injectors? If so how do I tell which one or should I replace all of them? ($500-$1,200 depending on brand and retailer) Why does it start perfect when cold?

 

Yes, a drizzling injector or two
Try cleaning them through the rail with the pressurized cleaner and the special hose.

 

More info:

With the engine cold I hooked up a mechanical fuel pressure gauge on the line from the pump. (dead headed) When I cycled the key on it jumped to 100 PSI, then quickly down to about 30 and bled down to about 5 after an hour or so. Then I hooked it up between that fuel line and the fuel rail inlet. With engine still cold I cycled the key once and this time the pressure shot up to about 75, then to about 40 after a few seconds and then slowly started to bleed off. Then I started it up and drove a 15 minute trip. Accelerating down the road the mechanical gauge showed about 40 PSI and at idle is 30-32. The Blue Driver showed between 38-41 which I thought was strange. When I shut it off the pressure dropped immediately to zero. WTH? When I turned the key back on the pressure came up and it started right away. When I turned the key off it held pressure this time. I let it set for about 20 minutes and the pressure had dropped to about 10 PSI. It then started right up with normal pressure. I drove it back the 15 minutes home. When I shut it off again the pressure went to zero immediately. I let it set for 20 minutes and tried to restart. It had no pressure when cranking for about 5 or more seconds and then it came up to maybe 15 or so and started. There was not any black smoke out of the tailpipe, it did not smell like raw gas and the engine did not stumble when starting from this long crank condition. So to summarize it only has the long crank one time after driving it a while and then it sits 10-20 minutes. After that one try even when warm it starts fine and of course when cold is fine. Why would the pressure immediately drop to zero only after driving a while but start right back up but not after sitting 10-20 minutes? And not do it again 20 minutes later. Why does the pressure not come up during this condition until it starts? With this info do you still think it is leaking injectors? What is this special hose and cleaner you are talking about?

 

In your case I'd replace the pesky fuel pressure regulator and retry those tests

 

I don't think this has a regulator as it looks like it has only two lines from the tank. One is fuel and one is evap but no return fuel line. On the fuel rail there is a pressure sensor. Are you saying I should replace that?

 

If there is not an external fuel leak then after shutting off the engine the only two things that hold the pressure are the injectors and the fuel pump check valve.

 

Well, on the one line systems with only a fuel pressure transducer..
I'd like to test the pid and see what it said before replacing it
But yes, there is only that FPT and the fuel pump itself to fail in that system
So if your fuel pressure is going nuts and loosing pressure at times, I would consider replacing that FPT followed by the pump

 

It only loses fuel pressure in that very specific condition. The PID reads zero PSI as well as the mechanical gauge at that time. I'm going to listen for the pump during the hot start condition. Also I might put some ball valves on the pressure testing tee to verify it is indeed in the pump side or the injector side.

 

I had my wife cycle the key when I knew it was going to have the issue so I could listen near the tank for pump noise. It does indeed make noise but the first two key cycles it makes a splashing or gurgling sound. On the third key cycle it starts to sound a little more like the high pitch fuel pump sound and the gauge climbed to about 20 PSI. On the fourth key cycle it sounds normal, the fuel pressure is up there and of course it starts right away. I'm really leaning towards fuel pump assembly having issues.

 

I noticed some fuel pumps are sold with or without auxiliary ports. Does this have to do with whether or not there are two tanks or one tank?