OBD-II Code · Fuel & Air
P0276
Cylinder 6 Injector Circuit Low
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)
$45–$720
Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
Cyl 6 injector circuit shorted to ground.
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
- Misfire cyl 6
- Check engine light
Likely causes
- Shorted injectorMost common
- Harness short to ground
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0276 sets when the PCM sees the cylinder 6 injector control circuit pulled low or shorted to ground when it should be at rest voltage, often because…
P0276 sets when the PCM sees the cylinder 6 injector control circuit pulled low or shorted to ground when it should be at rest voltage, often because the injector winding is shorted internally or the harness is grounded against a bracket or head.
Cheapest diagnostic first
- swap injector 6 with another cylinder and clear; if the code migrates you have an internally shorted solenoid.
- With the connector unplugged, measure winding resistance, which should be 11 to 17 ohms for PFI saturated injectors and 1.5 to 4 ohms for GDI high-pressure solenoids; anything under 10 ohms PFI or under 1 ohm GDI is a shorted coil.
- Key-on engine-off, both pins of the disconnected injector connector should read battery voltage on the feed and high impedance (open) on the driver until a pulse command; a driver wire that reads 0V key-on with injector disconnected indicates a short to ground in the harness.
- Caveat: many GDI systems use a separate injector driver module (Ford EcoBoost, GM Gen V, BMW N20/N55) that can fail and mimic a wiring short, so confirm the IDM output before chasing wires.
Vehicle-specific patterns2011 to 2014 Ford F-150 3.5L EcoBoost is known for IDM (injector driver module) internal shorts producing cylinder-specific low codes per Ford TSB 14…
- 2011to 2014 Ford F-150 3.5L EcoBoost is known for IDM (injector driver module) internal shorts producing cylinder-specific low codes per Ford TSB 14-0180;
- 2007to 2013 GM 5.3L/6.0L trucks with active fuel management have harness rub-through at the intake manifold bolt boss on the passenger side;
- 2005to 2011 Mercedes M272/M273 V6/V8 with Bosch HDEV-1 GDI injectors suffer cracked solenoid windings around 80k miles.
Estimated repair$45 to $720.
Look up another code
P0276 — frequently asked
What does a P0276 code mean?
Cyl 6 injector circuit shorted to ground.
What causes a P0276 code?
Common causes: Shorted injector; Harness short to ground.
What are the symptoms of a P0276 code?
Typical symptoms: Misfire cyl 6; Check engine light.
Is it safe to drive with a P0276 code?
Not for long. Driving on this one risks further damage. Get it to a shop rather than carrying on with it. Estimated repair: $45-$720.
How do I diagnose a P0276 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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