P0208 means Injector Circuit/Open – Cylinder 8. The computer has detected an open or fault in the electrical circuit for the cylinder 8 fuel injector. It is a generic OBD-II code, so the definition is the same on any make, but the most likely cause varies by engine; confirm with a scan tool and the service information for your vehicle before buying parts.
What P0208 means
Each fuel injector is a small solenoid that the engine computer switches on and off many times a second. The computer monitors every injector circuit for opens and shorts, and an injector circuit fault usually comes with a misfire on the same cylinder because that cylinder gets no fuel.
P0208 symptoms
- Misfire on cylinder 8
- Rough idle and shaking
- Check engine light, possibly flashing
Common causes of P0208
- Unplugged or damaged injector connector
- Open injector coil
- Broken wire in the injector harness
- Fault in the computer’s injector driver (less common)
How to diagnose P0208
- Check the injector connector and harness
- Measure injector resistance and compare with the others
- Use a noid light or scope to confirm the driver signal
- Listen to the injector with a stethoscope for clicking
- After the repair, clear the code and confirm misfire counts for that cylinder stay at zero on a test drive
Can you drive with P0208?
Only briefly; a dead cylinder can overheat the catalytic converter, and a stuck-open injector can wash fuel into the oil.
P0208 tips
A noid light plugged into the injector harness flashes during cranking if the computer is driving the injector; no flash points to wiring or the driver.
Will P0208 clear itself?
If the fault stops, the computer turns off the check engine light by itself after several drive cycles without seeing it again, and the code stays in memory as history for a while. Clearing P0208 with a scan tool after a repair is fine, but if the cause is still there the code returns, sometimes within one drive. Disconnecting the battery also clears codes on most vehicles, but it erases learned fuel trims and idle settings as well.
Related codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| P0308 | Cylinder 8 Misfire Detected |
| P0201 | Injector Circuit/Open – Cylinder 1 |
| P0300 | Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected |
Guides that help
When it is more than a sensor
If an injector and its wiring test good but the cylinder still misfires, a compression test separates a fuel problem from a mechanical one; see engine replacement cost and our engines page if the engine is worn.
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