OBD-II Code · Fuel & Air
P0205
Injector Circuit Malfunction — Cylinder 5
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 5 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 5 misfire
- Check engine light
Likely causes
- Failed injector 5Most common
- Wiring
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0205 isolates the cylinder 5 injector circuit, so it only appears on inline-5, inline-6, V6, V8, V10, or V12 engines.
P0205 isolates the cylinder 5 injector circuit, so it only appears on inline-5, inline-6, V6, V8, V10, or V12 engines. On V6 engines this is typically the middle cylinder of the rear bank (bank 2 cylinder 2 on most transverse layouts), and on V8s it sits on the passenger bank.
Cheapest-first ladder
- noid light at the cylinder 5 connector to confirm PCM driver is firing, resistance check at the injector terminals (port-fuel: 11 to 17 ohms, GDI: 1 to 3 ohms, all cylinders should track within 0.5 ohm at the same temperature), scope the driver waveform for clean ground-side pull-down within 0.5V of ground and pulse-width of 2.5 to 3.2 ms warm-idle.
- Pay special attention to the constant 12V feed at the injector connector key-on, which should read battery voltage within 0.3V; a drooping voltage points to a corroded splice or fuel-injector relay rather than a bad injector.
- The expensive misdiagnosis is condemning the injector ($250 to $500 on most V6/V8 GDI applications) when a $30 cleaning of the connector or repair of the harness ground would have resolved the fault.
Vehicle-specific patterns2007-2013 BMW N54/N55 335i and 535i throws P0205 with the same piezo-stack failure pattern as the other cylinders, with cylinder 5 being closest to t…
- 2007-2013BMW N54/N55 335i and 535i throws P0205 with the same piezo-stack failure pattern as the other cylinders, with cylinder 5 being closest to the high-pressure fuel pump on the rear of the head (HPFP failure under SI B13 02 09 commonly triggers P0205 alongside rail-pressure codes);
- 2004-2008Ford F-150 5.4L 3V Triton sees P0205 from corroded injector connectors where coolant leaks from the intake manifold (a TSB-documented failure on the plastic intake);
- 2003-2007GM 4.2L Atlas inline-6 Trailblazer trips P0205 from melted injector connectors near the exhaust manifold;
- 2007-2012Toyota Camry 2GR-FE V6 sees P0205 from clogged port injector on cylinder 5 (rear bank middle) after long ethanol-blend service.
Estimated repair$90 to $1,200.
Look up another code
P0205 — frequently asked
What does a P0205 code mean?
Cylinder 5 injector circuit fault.
What causes a P0205 code?
Common causes: Failed injector 5; Wiring.
What are the symptoms of a P0205 code?
Typical symptoms: Cyl 5 misfire; Check engine light.
Is it safe to drive with a P0205 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 P0205 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.
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