The question here is whether the definite article the should appear before the second faults. The 1830 edition has the the, but the printer’s manuscript does not. In accord with the reading in 𝓟, the editors for the 1908 RLDS edition removed the the before faults.
When we compare this passage with the similar passage on the title page of the Book of Mormon, we get the the in the corresponding place, in both the original text and the edited one:
This passage suggests that in Mormon 8:17 the original text had the the (“and if there be faults / they be the faults of a man”), even if the noun on the title page is mistake(s) rather than faults. There is also evidence that scribe 2 of 𝓟 sometimes omitted the definite article; see the discussion under 3 Nephi 24:13 and Mormon 8:37.
Summary: Maintain in Mormon 8:17 the definite article the before faults, the 1830 reading; the corresponding statement on the title page also has the the in the same place (in this case, before mistake).