OBD-II Code · Fuel & Air
P0202
Injector Circuit Malfunction — Cylinder 2
Severity
high
Left alone, this one tends to take other parts with it.
Can you drive it
Not for long
Driving on this one risks further damage. Get it to a shop rather than carrying on with it.
Indicative cost (USD)
$100–$500
Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
Cylinder 2 injector circuit fault.
How a shop works this
Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed.
Note every code that is set, not just this one.
Codes that appear together usually narrow the cause faster than any one of them read alone.
Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under.
Cold or warm, idle or load, road speed and engine speed. A fault that only appears cold is a different fault from one that only appears under load, even with the same code on the scanner.
Confirm the fault is current rather than history.
Clear the code and see whether it returns under those same conditions. A code that does not come back may have been logged during a repair, a flat battery, or a bad connection that has since been disturbed.
Then work the likely-causes list in the order shown.
That order is what a shop checks first for this code — wiring and connections before the component they run to, because a connector costs nothing to inspect and is a common answer.
If the code comes back after a repair, the underlying fault is still there. That is the point to bring in a scanner with live data and freeze-frame, or a shop that has one.
Common symptoms
- Cyl 2 misfire
- Check engine light
- Rough idle
Likely causes
- Failed injector 2Most common
- Wiring
- Connector corrosion
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0202 flags the cylinder 2 injector circuit specifically, indicating the PCM driver for that one injector sees an electrical fault while the rest of…
P0202 flags the cylinder 2 injector circuit specifically, indicating the PCM driver for that one injector sees an electrical fault while the rest of the bank reports clean.
The diagnostic logic is identical to P0201
confirm the fault is on the injector side and not the harness side before spending money. Cheapest-first ladder: pull the cylinder 2 injector connector and measure resistance at the injector terminals (11 to 17 ohms for port-fuel, 1 to 3 ohms for GDI direct injection, and the value should track within 0.5 ohm of its neighbors at the same temperature); back-probe the connector with the engine running and scope the ground-side pulse, looking for a clean square wave with a pulse-width of 2.5 to 3.2 ms at warm idle ballooning to 18 to 22 ms at WOT, with the driver pulling the line within 0.5V of ground during the on-time. If the scope shows no pulse but the injector tests good, the PCM driver is suspect. Swap injectors 2 and 5 (or any other cylinder) and watch which cylinder the code follows. The expensive misdiagnosis is replacing an entire injector set on a GDI engine for $1,400 when only one injector has dropped resistance or one connector terminal is corroded.
Vehicle-specific patterns2005-2010 Chrysler/Dodge 5.7L Hemi Ram and Charger throws P0202 from injector connector corrosion where the harness drapes near the valve cover, ofte…
- 2005-2010Chrysler/Dodge 5.7L Hemi Ram and Charger throws P0202 from injector connector corrosion where the harness drapes near the valve cover, often after a valve-cover gasket leak wicks oil into the connector;
- 2007-2013GM 5.3L LS Silverado and Tahoe trips P0202 when a Multec injector's coil opens (a known durability issue, GM TSB PIP4568 documents the failure pattern and recommends full bank replacement if two have failed);
- 2008-2013BMW N54 throws P0202 alongside P0087 (fuel rail pressure) when the HPFP is dying and the DME mis-attributes pressure-driven misfire to cylinder 2;
- 2010-2014Ford 2.0L EcoBoost Edge and Fusion fouls the cylinder 2 GDI injector tip with carbon because of the cross-flow geometry.
Estimated repair$90 to $1,400.
Look up another code
P0202 — frequently asked
What does a P0202 code mean?
Cylinder 2 injector circuit fault.
What causes a P0202 code?
Common causes: Failed injector 2; Wiring; Connector corrosion.
What are the symptoms of a P0202 code?
Typical symptoms: Cyl 2 misfire; Check engine light; Rough idle.
Is it safe to drive with a P0202 code?
Not for long. Driving on this one risks further damage. Get it to a shop rather than carrying on with it. Estimated repair: $100-$500.
How do I diagnose a P0202 code?
Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed. 1. Note every code that is set, not just this one. 2. Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under. 3. Confirm the fault is current rather than history. 4. Then work the likely-causes list in the order shown.
More free tools