P0230: Fuel Pump Primary Circuit
Do not keep driving
Expect a no-start or a stall. Turn the key to the on position without cranking and listen for a brief hum from the rear of the car — silence supports this code.
What this code means
A fault in the primary fuel pump control circuit — the relay and its command line rather than the pump itself. Because the module normally energises the pump for a couple of seconds at key-on and then only while it sees engine rotation, a fault here presents as a no-start with no fuel pressure at all. Listening for the pump prime at key-on is the fastest first test there is, and needs no tools.
Likely causes
Start here
- Failed fuel pump relay · easy
- Open circuit in pump wiring · moderate
- Blown fuse supplying the fuel pump · easy
- Corroded or loose connector · easy
Less common
- Failed fuel pump · moderate
Rare
- Control module driver failure · specialist
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
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.
Community experience
Be the first to write this up
Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
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.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
Sign in or create an account to add what you found about P0230.