OBD-II Code · Fuel & Air
P0208
Injector Circuit Malfunction — Cylinder 8
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 8 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 8 misfire
- Check engine light
Likely causes
- Failed injector 8Most common
- Wiring
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0208 flags the cylinder 8 injector circuit, the rearmost cylinder on the passenger bank of most domestic V8 layouts (firing order 1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3 on…
P0208 flags the cylinder 8 injector circuit, the rearmost cylinder on the passenger bank of most domestic V8 layouts (firing order 1-8-7-2-6-5-4-3 on LS engines puts cylinder 8 at the end of the rear bank). This is the hottest, hardest-to-reach injector position on most V8s and the most common location for heat-related failures.
Cheapest-first ladder
- noid light at the cylinder 8 connector key-on cranking to confirm PCM is firing the driver, resistance check at the injector (port-fuel: 11-17 ohms, GDI: 1-3 ohms, all eight cylinders within 0.5 ohm of each other at the same temperature), scope the driver pulse-width for clean ground pull-down within 0.5V of ground and pulse-width 2.5 to 3.2 ms warm-idle, and inspect the cylinder 8 pigtail visually for the telltale melted-plastic signature from exhaust heat.
- The expensive misdiagnosis is replacing cylinder 8 injector and connector ($350 to $600 with labor) when the actual fault is upstream at the bank-2 ground splice behind the cylinder head, which throws cylinder 8 first because it is electrically furthest from the splice.
Vehicle-specific patterns2007-2014 GM 5.3L and 6.2L LS Silverado, Tahoe, Yukon, and Escalade throws P0208 as one of the most-reported codes in GM service history, with melted…
- 2007-2014GM 5.3L and 6.2L LS Silverado, Tahoe, Yukon, and Escalade throws P0208 as one of the most-reported codes in GM service history, with melted Multec connectors at cylinder 8 from exhaust-manifold heat soak (GM PIP4568 and TSB 11-06-04-007 cover the repair);
- 2005-2010Chrysler/Dodge 5.7L Hemi sees P0208 from cracked injector connectors aft of the firewall edge;
- 2004-2010Ford 5.4L 3V F-150 and Lincoln Navigator trips P0208 from coolant-corroded connectors under the intake;
- 2008-2013BMW N63 V8 550i and X5 4.8 sees P0208 from solenoid failure on the rear passenger cylinder (BMW SI B12 03 11 covers extended warranty on N63 injectors).
Estimated repair$90 to $2,200.
Look up another code
P0208 — frequently asked
What does a P0208 code mean?
Cylinder 8 injector circuit fault.
What causes a P0208 code?
Common causes: Failed injector 8; Wiring.
What are the symptoms of a P0208 code?
Typical symptoms: Cyl 8 misfire; Check engine light.
Is it safe to drive with a P0208 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 P0208 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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