Method for operating a fuel injection system for supplying a combustion engine with fuel, and electronic control unit

An electronic control device configured to operate a fuel injection system (1) for supplying a combustion engine of a vehicle with fuel, where the fuel is conveyed at high pressure with the aid of a high-pressure pump (2), fed to a high-pressure accumulator (3), and injected into a cylinder of the combustion engine with the aid of at least one injector (4) connected to the high-pressure accumulator (3), by

• measuring the pressure (P) in the high-pressure accumulator (3),
• determining, based on the measured pressure values, a pressure drop (ΔP) in the high-pressure accumulator (3) caused by an injection into a cylinder,
• determining a maximum pressure gradient during a pressure build-up phase following the injection,
• proportioning the determined pressure drop (ΔP) and the determined maximum pressure gradient, and
• damage to a drive of the high-pressure pump (2) is detected during an injection cycle when the determined maximum pressure gradient changes and the determined pressure drop (ΔP) remains unchanged.

A non-transitory, computer readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to operate a fuel injection system (1) for supplying a combustion engine of a vehicle with fuel, in which fuel is conveyed at high pressure with the aid of a high-pressure pump (2), fed to a high-pressure accumulator (3), and injected into a cylinder of the combustion engine with the aid of at least one injector (4) connected to the high-pressure accumulator (3), where, to detect damage to the drive of the high-pressure pump (2),

• a) the pressure (P) in the high-pressure accumulator (3) is measured and, based on the measured values, a pressure drop (ΔP) in the high-pressure accumulator (3) caused by an injection into a cylinder is determined,
• b) a maximum pressure gradient is determined during a pressure build-up phase following the injection,
• c) the determined pressure drop (ΔP) and the determined maximum pressure gradient are put into proportion, and
• damage to the drive of the high-pressure pump (2) is detected during an injection cycle when the determined maximum pressure gradient changes and the determined pressure drop (ΔP) remains unchanged.