OBD-II trouble code
P0290: Cylinder 10 Contribution/Balance
SAE J2012 APR2002: cylinder 10 contribution/balance. The quantity-deviation list skips this code, and the GM bulletins stop at P0284. The printed pair is diagnosis.
Quick facts
- System
- Powertrain
- Category
- Fuel Injectors
- Severity
- Medium severity
- Drivable
- Usually safe to drive short-term
- Repair cost range
- $125 – $183 (check-engine diagnosis and testing, labor only, RepairPal national average updated 3 September 2026; injector replacement was found and is outside this pair)
- DIY difficulty
- Shop recommended
Browse every code in P0200–P0299, or start from the full code library.
What does P0290 mean?
SAE J2012 APR2002 names P0290 Cylinder 10 Contribution/Balance. P0288 is cylinder 10 injector circuit low. P0289 is circuit high. Those are electrical monitors. This one is not.
In the VAG-group list, 16672 is P0288 and 16673 is P0289. The next printed injector line is 16675 P0291. Code 16674 is not on the list. A cylinder 10 quantity-deviation sentence is not there to quote, and none is supplied.
19-NA-232 lists additional DTCs through P0284 on the 2017–2020 L5D and L5P trucks it covers. P0290 is later than that list, so the no-fuel relative-compression crank is not authorized by that bulletin for this code. 17-NA-194's induction-leak test is tied to a list that also ends at P0284, on the 2016–2020 LWN vehicles. SB-10030789 reads balance rates for cylinders 1 through 4 and says not to replace parts on the rate alone. LBT-149's Duramax windows, +4 mm³ to −4 mm³ in Park or Neutral and +6 mm³ to −6 mm³ in Drive, are recorded for cylinders 1–8. Cylinder 10 is outside each of those counts. The 2009 M5 document 2770 is the electrical ground fault for P0288, with a 3500 rpm limit. It does not measure contribution.
Searches of those documents found no cylinder 10 balance limit and no instruction to replace an injector, a filter, or a plug for P0290. The test to run is the one published for the engine being worked on.
Common causes
- A cylinder 10 contribution or balance fault, which is the SAE name, with no limit printed by 19-NA-232, 17-NA-194, SB-10030789, or LBT-149
Symptoms
- P0290 stored
- No millimetre window and no rpm limit are stated for this code
- P0288 stored, which has its own electrical page
Diagnostic steps
- 1.Move P0288 or P0289 to the circuit pages when they are stored.
- 2.Do not cite 19-NA-232, 17-NA-194, SB-10030789, or LBT-149 as the procedure for P0290. Each one stops at or before cylinder 8.
- 3.Do not invent the missing 16674 line from the pattern of the lines around it.
- 4.Perform the contribution test published for this engine and use the limit that publication prints.
- 5.The printed pair is diagnosis. Injector replacement at $768–$953 was found at RepairPal and is not used as the pair, because no source read connects that job to P0290.
Repair cost
$125 – $183 (check-engine diagnosis and testing, labor only, RepairPal national average updated 3 September 2026; injector replacement was found and is outside this pair)
RepairPal's check-engine diagnosis, updated 3 September 2026, is $125–$183 and is entirely labor. That is the printed pair. A search for a cylinder 10 contribution parts-and-labor total did not find a procedure. The injector national total of $768–$953 and the filter national total of $258–$322 were both on RepairPal and are not this code's repair in the documents read. Ranger and Civic diagnosis lines at $122–$179 are outside the national diagnosis pair.
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DIY vs shop
Leave this one to a qualified shop. The barrier here is high-pressure fuel components, where residual pressure remains after shutdown and escaping fuel can penetrate skin. DIY attempts often produce a more expensive problem than the original code.