P0274: Cylinder 5 Injector A Circuit High

P0274 means the control wire of the cylinder 5 injector is shorted to voltage. GM detects this with the driver on: on direct injection by 25 A or more through the driver, on port injection and Duramax diesels by 0.5 Ω or less to the supply. On Ford's 6.7 diesel it means the injector's high side is shorted to its low side, reported within 0.3 s. Most systems switch the warning light on in the first trip (some GM port-injection engines and Saab's 2.0 turbo after two) and shut the affected injector off, so the cylinder misfires. Ford petrol engines report all injector circuit faults as P0201 ff instead.

Medium severity. Can I keep driving?Drive as little as possible and go to a repair shop. If you smell fuel or the engine is shaking badly, do not keep driving.

Cylinder 5 is numbered according to the manufacturer: check your engine's manual before working on it.

Symptoms

Check engine light on
Misfire and rough running, misfire code P0305
Loss of power, rough idle
Injector shut off, limp mode possible on diesels

Most likely causes

Control wire of the cylinder 5 injector touching battery voltage or another supply wire
Injector coil shorted internally (too low resistance, overcurrent)
Short between supply and control wire in harness or connector
Driver stage in the engine module faulty

What to check, in order

Start with the simplest. You can tick off each step.

Check the connector and wiring of the injector indicated
Check the sensor's ground and make sure the signal wire is not receiving voltage from another circuit.
Measure the resistance and compare it with the manufacturer's specification
Check the control signal with an oscilloscope; on direct injection or diesel engines, leave this to a repair shop because of the high voltages
On diesels, check the per-cylinder injection corrections

Good to know

Repair difficulty: medium
It can trigger limp mode.
It affects emissions.

What each character of P0274 means

P: Powertrain: engine and transmission
0: Generic code: same on every make
2: Fuel injection
74: Specific fault in that system

Frequently asked questions

Can I keep driving with code P0274?

Drive as little as possible and go to a repair shop. If you smell fuel or the engine is shaking badly, do not keep driving.

What causes code P0274?

The most common causes are: control wire of the cylinder 5 injector touching battery voltage or another supply wire; injector coil shorted internally (too low resistance, overcurrent); short between supply and control wire in harness or connector.

Related codes

Sources

Values and procedures vary by manufacturer. If it affects brakes, steering, fuel or high voltage, see a professional. Updated: 2026-11-04. How we build these pages.