P0262 code: Cylinder 1 Injector Circuit High
P0262 means cylinder 1 Injector Circuit High. The code says where to look, not what failed — the fix depends on which cause your car actually has.
What P0262 means
P0262 is the high-side counterpart to P0261: the engine computer detected voltage on the cylinder 1 injector circuit that was higher than it expected. The usual suspects are a wire shorted to battery voltage, or excessive resistance from a corroded connector, a broken strand of wire, or an injector winding that has drifted out of spec or failed open. Either way this is a fault in the electrical path, not a mechanically clogged nozzle — fuel quality and injector cleaners will not fix it. The code is cylinder-specific, so a side-by-side comparison with a known-good cylinder narrows things down quickly. It commonly appears with P0201 (cylinder 1 injector circuit) and P0301 (cylinder 1 misfire). Keep in mind that cylinder numbering varies between manufacturers, so confirm where cylinder 1 sits on your particular engine.
P0262 symptoms
- Cylinder 1 misfire, stumble, or dead cylinder
- Rough idle, sometimes worse when the engine is hot or cold
- Noticeable power loss under acceleration
- Check-engine light; a flashing light means an active misfire
- Intermittent faults may store the code with no felt symptoms
What it costs to fix P0262
Typical range: $60–$450 · about ~0.5–2 hrs of labor
| If the cause is… | Part | Labor |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel injector (single) | $50–$300 | ~0.5–2 hrs |
| Wiring/connector repair | $5–$50 | ~0.5–2 hrs |
Connector cleaning or a pin repair is inexpensive; a replacement injector costs more. V-engines that require intake manifold removal to reach the injectors, and direct-injection setups with pricier injectors, land at the top of the range.
The price swings on which cause it turns out to be — so confirm the cause before paying. Diagnose P0262 for my exact vehicle →
How to fix P0262
Moderate — doable at home with common tools and patience
- Look at the cylinder 1 connector before anything else
Unclip injector 1 and inspect the terminals for green corrosion, a spread or backed-out pin, or a broken locking tab that lets the plug vibrate loose. At the timing end of many engines, seepage from a valve cover or cam seal can soak this connector. A matching male terminal should drag slightly as it slides in; if it drops in loose, re-tension or repin it.
- Check the control pin for stray voltage
Key on, injector unplugged: the feed pin should show battery voltage, while the control pin should show nothing more than the small bias some modules apply. If the control pin also reads near battery voltage, it's touching a powered wire somewhere — a classic circuit-high cause — so look for melted spots where the injector harness is bundled with other feed circuits.
- Measure the injector 1 winding
Read resistance across the injector terminals and compare with the other cylinders. An open reading (OL) or a value well above the rest — high-impedance units commonly sit around 11–18 ohms — means the winding has failed or drifted high, and no fuel additive will change that.
- Confirm the wire end to end
With the battery disconnected and the ECM connector off, measure from the injector 1 control pin to its ECM pin using the wiring diagram. It should be close to zero ohms; flex the harness as you watch, because a wire hanging on by a few strands can read fine at rest and jump when moved.
- Swap injectors if it is still unclear
On a port-injected engine, trade injector 1 with cylinder 2, clear codes and drive. If the fault becomes P0265, the injector is bad; if P0262 stays put, the problem lives in the wiring or the module's driver, and that's the point to get a scope on the circuit.
DIY or shop? A home mechanic can handle the connector inspection, the key-on voltage check and the resistance tests in under an hour, and those usually find the fault. Moving or replacing a port injector is reasonable DIY once fuel pressure is relieved. Hand it to a shop if the engine is direct-injected — those injectors run on high-voltage drivers and very high fuel pressure, and the service manual dictates how to test and seal them — or if wiring and injector both pass and the module is in question.
Tools for the DIY steps: Digital multimeter · Back-probe pins · Terminal test probe kit · Service information with wiring diagrams · Socket set
Not sure which step applies to your car? Get the likely cause for your exact vehicle before buying anything for P0262.
Start a case with P0262 and your car. Redline weighs these causes against what your car shows, and names the check that would settle it before you buy parts.
Can I drive with P0262?
Redline can’t determine from a symptom or code alone whether your car is safe to drive.
P0262: common questions
What's the difference between P0262 and P0261?
They watch the same cylinder 1 injector circuit but in opposite directions. P0261 (low) usually means a short to ground or a shorted injector coil; P0262 (high) usually means an open circuit, corrosion-added resistance, or a short to battery voltage. The direction of the fault is a diagnostic clue.
Will an injector cleaner additive fix P0262?
No. This is an electrical fault in the injector's circuit, not a fuel-flow restriction. Cleaners address deposits inside the nozzle; they do nothing for a corroded connector, a broken wire, or a failed injector winding.
Why does P0262 come and go?
Corroded pins and chafed wires often make contact intermittently — the fault appears when heat, vibration, or moisture changes the connection, then disappears. That on-again, off-again behavior is itself a strong hint that the harness or connector, not the injector body, is the problem.
Is it safe to drive with P0262?
That's not a call a trouble code can make on its own. An erratic or dead cylinder risks catalytic converter damage, so don't treat it as a someday repair — and if the light flashes, stop driving and get it seen quickly.
Related trouble codes
Don’t have a scanner yet? A ~$25 Bluetooth adapter reads codes like P0262 from your phone. See our guide to the best OBD2 Bluetooth adapters. Run a repair shop? See Redline for shops.
Generic OBD-II reference. Manufacturer-specific behavior varies. Confirm with a scan tool and, for safety-related codes, a professional inspection. Cost ranges are reference ranges, not quotes.
Seeing P0262 on your car?
Every problem becomes a Case. Tell Redline what the car is doing: it shows what the evidence supports, what’s still missing, and what to check next, before you approve a repair.
“Inner pad ~1 mm. Outer pad 3 mm.”
Next: check the slide pins move freely before buying parts.