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OBD-II Code

P0272

Severity

Not yet reviewed

Nobody on our side has assessed this code yet, so we are not going to guess at how serious it is.

Can you drive it

We cannot say

Treat it as unknown until a shop reads it with live data. If the check-engine light is FLASHING, stop driving as soon as it is safe to — that means an active misfire, whatever the code.

Indicative cost (USD)

$400–$7,500

From this code's diagnostic notes. Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.

P0272 means the ECM detected cylinder 4 contribution/balance fault — same diagnostic framework as the rest of the P0263/P0266/P0269/P0272 cylinder-balance family.

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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Then follow the diagnostic notes further down this page, in the order they are written.

    They are written in the order a shop works this code, cheapest checks first. Where they name a component, inspect its wiring and connector before replacing it.

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

  • Check engine light
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0272 means the ECM detected cylinder 4 contribution/balance fault — same diagnostic framework as the rest of the P0263/P0266/P0269/P0272 cylinder-ba…

P0272 means the ECM detected cylinder 4 contribution/balance fault — same diagnostic framework as the rest of the P0263/P0266/P0269/P0272 cylinder-balance family. The ECM monitors per-cylinder crankshaft acceleration and injector balance rate (mm^3/stroke deviation) and sets P0272 when cylinder 4 falls outside the calibration window — typically +/-8 to 15% contribution deviation or 2-5 mm^3/stroke balance error.

Cheapest-first ladder

  1. scan-tool live-data the per-cylinder injector balance rate at warm idle — positive deviation greater than 4 mm^3/stroke means cylinder 4's injector is over-fueling (stuck/leaking), negative means under-fueling (clogged/worn nozzle).
  2. Swap the cylinder 4 injector electrical connector with an adjacent cylinder, clear codes, and see if the fault follows the connector — this nails down electrical/wiring vs. mechanical/hydraulic in 10 minutes.
  3. Return-flow test with calibrated bottles (look for less than 50-100mL/min per injector at idle; outliers point at stuck-open).
  4. Relative compression test via scan-tool starter-current monitoring; greater than 15% variation indicates mechanical compression loss.
  5. Verify injector trim/IQA codes match etched codes on the physical injector — a frequent overlooked source of balance faults. Cylinder 4 location matters: on a 4-cylinder diesel (VW TDI, Sprinter OM651 4-cyl) cylinder 4 is at the rear of the engine and runs hottest; on an inline-6 Cummins cylinder 4 is mid-aft and a common balance-code cylinder; on a V8 cylinder 4 is the rear-most cylinder on the right (passenger) bank in most North American configurations. Pull the FSM cylinder map before chasing. Expensive-misdiagnosis caveat: cylinder-balance codes paired with a hard miss can look like a bad injector when the real fault is a wiped cam lobe, a bent pushrod, or a hairline head-gasket leak between cylinders — confirm compression and return flow before quoting injector parts that may not fix the symptom.
Vehicle-specific patterns2001-2004 GM Duramax LB7 throws P0272 as part of the well-documented full-set injector failure under the valve covers — GM's extended warranty covere…
  • 2001-2004GM Duramax LB7 throws P0272 as part of the well-documented full-set injector failure under the valve covers — GM's extended warranty covered many through 200k miles.
  • 2003-2007Ford 6.0L Powerstroke throws P0272 from HEUI stiction or low HPOP; verify branch-tube integrity and ICP signal before condemning.
  • 2008-2010Ford 6.4L Powerstroke throws P0272 from piezo injector wear or CP3.3 starvation.
  • 2011-2016Ford 6.7L Powerstroke throws P0272 from CP4 contamination metal embedded in the cylinder 4 injector nozzle.
  • 2003-2018RAM Cummins 5.9L/6.7L throws P0272 from Bosch CR injector wear — at the inline-6's rear-mid position cylinder 4 is one of the hotter cylinders.
  • 2007-2018Mercedes Sprinter OM642 V6 and OM651 4-cyl throws P0272 from piezo injector wear; the OM651 four-cylinder puts cylinder 4 at the rear adjacent to the firewall where it gets the worst heat soak.
  • 2009-2014Audi/VW TDI 2.0L CR throws P0272 from injector nozzle wear, often as one of the first cylinders to show balance drift after a CP4 contamination event.

Estimated repair$400 to $7,500.

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