Cause
Burnt or leaking valve
A valve no longer sealing its seat, so the cylinder loses compression. A misfire that survives new plugs, coils and injectors is where compression should be measured, and a burnt exhaust valve typically shows as one cylinder that is low and does not improve with oil added to the bore.
Typically specialist work. Needs equipment or training most home workshops do not have.
Some of these codes mean you should stop driving
17 of the 19 codes this can cause indicate a fault where continuing to drive risks damage or is unsafe. Which one you have matters more than the cause does — read the code's own page before deciding.
Codes this can cause (19)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
- P0263 Cylinder 1 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0266 Cylinder 2 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0269 Cylinder 3 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0272 Cylinder 4 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0275 Cylinder 5 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0278 Cylinder 6 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0281 Cylinder 7 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0284 Cylinder 8 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0287 Cylinder 9 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0290 Cylinder 10 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0293 Cylinder 11 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0296 Cylinder 12 Contribution/Balance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P0363 Misfire Detected — Fuelling Disabled Stop driving Critical
- P2357 Cylinder 10 Pressure Too Low Moderate
- P2361 Cylinder 11 Pressure Too Low Moderate
- P0301 Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected Stop driving High
- P0302 Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected Stop driving High
- P0303 Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected Stop driving High
- P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire Detected Stop driving High
Information, not instruction
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Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
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