2000 Dakota Fuel injector circuit problem
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From: Cleveland, Ohio
2000 Dakota Fuel injector circuit problem
I want to start off and let you guys know I fairly new to the operational mechanics of automobiles so some things I state should be taken with a grain of salt.
That being said, I own a 2000 Dodge Dakota Sport 4.7L V8, and recently I've ran into 2 error codes I want to get to the bottom of:
Background:
I was driving about 80mph on the freeway on cruise control, when I hit some traffic I switched it off and started manually controlling speed. After about a mile or two, I noticed the engine light on and was about 20 miles from home. In the remaining time on the freeway, I noticed that when going uphill or pressing gas to increase speed, the RPM's were were very unsteady and jumping from 2,500 to 3,000 and then suddenly dropping about 200-500. Once I got home, I got the error code P0205 and did some research on it.
While its a fuel injector circuit malfunction, I noticed quickly that several forums were discussing the error codes p0201-p0208 as problems beyond the actual fuel injectors.
Took it into family mechanic (because I couldn't tell my own a** from a fuel injector), and knew it had to be something other than this... well they ended up replacing the fuel injector for a decent sum anyway and I drove back to school (Cleveland to Columbus). Once I got back in Columbus and hit some traffic, I took it off of cruise and again, engine light comes on and was throwing P0204 this time and I'm just about as pissed off as a Browns 1st round draft pick.
Conclusion
I wanted to see if anyone a tad more mechanically proficient could help me address this. Based info I've gathered from threads like:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...-and-p208.htmlI'm led to believe this is more of a computer problem. My RPM's aren't steady idling at street lights and are especially unstable when increasing the RPM's and speeding up.
Based on this information, I want to see opinions on whether this is a TPS problem, or something of that nature. Reading problems on various threads around the internet I continuously see TPS, IAC, or general computer system malfunctions thrown into the mix of possible problems. Also, to add one more bit of information, I have had trouble with a P0700 error code as well and wanted to see if this could be the cause. That was effectively dealt with by my mechanic changing a computer out that was a bit faulty, but I'm also led to believe its possible that this is contributing to my current issue.
Thanks for your time, and I appreciate any suggestions!
P.S. I only have about a year until graduation and employment, which will translate to me being able to finance a new or certified used full-size truck, so if you have any cheaper ideas that can get me through for another 3-9k miles I'm all ears
That being said, I own a 2000 Dodge Dakota Sport 4.7L V8, and recently I've ran into 2 error codes I want to get to the bottom of:
- P0205 - fuel injector circuit malfunction - Cylinder 5
- P0204 - fuel injector circuit malfunction - Cylinder 4
Background:
I was driving about 80mph on the freeway on cruise control, when I hit some traffic I switched it off and started manually controlling speed. After about a mile or two, I noticed the engine light on and was about 20 miles from home. In the remaining time on the freeway, I noticed that when going uphill or pressing gas to increase speed, the RPM's were were very unsteady and jumping from 2,500 to 3,000 and then suddenly dropping about 200-500. Once I got home, I got the error code P0205 and did some research on it.
While its a fuel injector circuit malfunction, I noticed quickly that several forums were discussing the error codes p0201-p0208 as problems beyond the actual fuel injectors.
Took it into family mechanic (because I couldn't tell my own a** from a fuel injector), and knew it had to be something other than this... well they ended up replacing the fuel injector for a decent sum anyway and I drove back to school (Cleveland to Columbus). Once I got back in Columbus and hit some traffic, I took it off of cruise and again, engine light comes on and was throwing P0204 this time and I'm just about as pissed off as a Browns 1st round draft pick.
Conclusion
I wanted to see if anyone a tad more mechanically proficient could help me address this. Based info I've gathered from threads like:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...-and-p208.htmlI'm led to believe this is more of a computer problem. My RPM's aren't steady idling at street lights and are especially unstable when increasing the RPM's and speeding up.
Based on this information, I want to see opinions on whether this is a TPS problem, or something of that nature. Reading problems on various threads around the internet I continuously see TPS, IAC, or general computer system malfunctions thrown into the mix of possible problems. Also, to add one more bit of information, I have had trouble with a P0700 error code as well and wanted to see if this could be the cause. That was effectively dealt with by my mechanic changing a computer out that was a bit faulty, but I'm also led to believe its possible that this is contributing to my current issue.
Thanks for your time, and I appreciate any suggestions!
P.S. I only have about a year until graduation and employment, which will translate to me being able to finance a new or certified used full-size truck, so if you have any cheaper ideas that can get me through for another 3-9k miles I'm all ears
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Joined: Dec 2010
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From: MA
Welcome to the forum.
P0204 is "injector #4 control circuit."
P0205 is "injector #5 control circuit."
The fault description is: "injector #x output driver stage does not respond properly to the control signal.
It seems odd that is happening to two cylinders at the same time. It is possible that there is a fault in the PCM common to the two drivers.
Check the entire wiring harness for the injectors for starters. Make sure all connectors are clean and tight. There are some splices too.
P0204 is "injector #4 control circuit."
P0205 is "injector #5 control circuit."
The fault description is: "injector #x output driver stage does not respond properly to the control signal.
It seems odd that is happening to two cylinders at the same time. It is possible that there is a fault in the PCM common to the two drivers.
Check the entire wiring harness for the injectors for starters. Make sure all connectors are clean and tight. There are some splices too.
Thread Starter
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Registered User
Joined: Apr 2017
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From: Cleveland, Ohio
Sounds great I'll get to it and see if anything seems wrong there. Also as an update I replaced the TPS anyway b/c I've had problems with rough Idle and stalling, and now she's running way better, with the RPM's steady in idle and in shifting up. Problem is, I'm now getting P0123 for high voltage so I'm assuming I installed it wrong as a rookie.
Thread Starter
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Registered User
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 3
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From: Cleveland, Ohio
I wanted to follow up on this post incase anyone stumbles on this thread in the future.
So I changed the TPS out after getting these codes, and then I took her for a test drive and noticed that the P0204 and P0123 codes were on. This confused the hell out of me, and I had final exams that week in school so I let it sit for about a week and a half. Got in it when moving day came and bang.... started her up and no engine light!
TPS change was definitely in order and I believe that I should've done this more than a year ago. I definitely recommend looking into this if your car is stalling at lights or this injector circuit problem presents itself. I spent $200 at a mechanic that changed my fuel injector out originally and that was a total waste of cash when the problem was just a $34 part and 2 screws.
So I changed the TPS out after getting these codes, and then I took her for a test drive and noticed that the P0204 and P0123 codes were on. This confused the hell out of me, and I had final exams that week in school so I let it sit for about a week and a half. Got in it when moving day came and bang.... started her up and no engine light!
TPS change was definitely in order and I believe that I should've done this more than a year ago. I definitely recommend looking into this if your car is stalling at lights or this injector circuit problem presents itself. I spent $200 at a mechanic that changed my fuel injector out originally and that was a total waste of cash when the problem was just a $34 part and 2 screws.
Professional
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 244
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Good Job...
I wanted to follow up on this post incase anyone stumbles on this thread in the future.
So I changed the TPS out after getting these codes, and then I took her for a test drive and noticed that the P0204 and P0123 codes were on. This confused the hell out of me, and I had final exams that week in school so I let it sit for about a week and a half. Got in it when moving day came and bang.... started her up and no engine light!
TPS change was definitely in order and I believe that I should've done this more than a year ago. I definitely recommend looking into this if your car is stalling at lights or this injector circuit problem presents itself. I spent $200 at a mechanic that changed my fuel injector out originally and that was a total waste of cash when the problem was just a $34 part and 2 screws.
So I changed the TPS out after getting these codes, and then I took her for a test drive and noticed that the P0204 and P0123 codes were on. This confused the hell out of me, and I had final exams that week in school so I let it sit for about a week and a half. Got in it when moving day came and bang.... started her up and no engine light!
TPS change was definitely in order and I believe that I should've done this more than a year ago. I definitely recommend looking into this if your car is stalling at lights or this injector circuit problem presents itself. I spent $200 at a mechanic that changed my fuel injector out originally and that was a total waste of cash when the problem was just a $34 part and 2 screws.
