P0149
Fuel Timing Error
- Severity
- High
- Driving
- Drive only to a garage
Injection is not happening when the module intended. On a diesel, when fuel is injected relative to piston position determines how it burns - too early and combustion is harsh and noisy, too late and it is smoky and inefficient. The module compares what it commanded against what it observes and sets this when they diverge.
Possible causes
- CommonLow fuel pressure making injection slower than the module allowed for
- CommonFault in the timing control or metering valve
- CommonWorn injectors responding sluggishly to their commands
- PossibleCrankshaft and camshaft position signals out of correlation
- PossibleTiming belt or chain that has jumped a tooth
- PossibleInjection pump timing incorrect after previous work
What you might notice
- Harsh diesel knock, or unusually noisy running
- Loss of power and limp mode
- White, black or blue smoke
- Hard starting
- Poor fuel economy
What to check, in order
- Read all codes first. Crankshaft or camshaft position codes stored alongside change the answer completely - fix those before looking at anything in the fuel system.
- Check fuel pressure against the commanded value. Timing errors are frequently pressure problems in disguise, because injection duration depends on pressure.
- Check the cam and crank correlation. A timing belt or chain that has jumped will produce this and is worth ruling out early, because continuing to run the engine makes it worse.
- Confirm injection pump timing if the pump or belt has recently been disturbed. This code appearing shortly after belt work usually points straight back at it.
Read this code from your own car
Plug an ELM327 adapter into the OBD-II port under the dashboard. Pin16 reads every stored, pending and permanent code, explains each one like this page does — offline, with no account — and shows what the car recorded when the fault was set.
Where this code sits
P00xxP01xxP02xxP03xxP04xxP05xxP06xxP07xxP08xxP09xxP0AxxP0BxxP0CxxP0DxxP0ExxP0FxxP10xxP11xxP12xxP13xxP14xxP15xxP16xxP17xxP18xxP19xxP1AxxP1BxxP1CxxP1DxxP1ExxP1FxxP20xxP21xxP22xxP23xxP24xxP25xxP26xxP27xxP28xxP29xxP2AxxP2BxxP2CxxP2DxxP2ExxP2FxxP30xxP31xxP32xxP33xxP34xxP35xxP36xxP37xxP38xxP39xxP3AxxP3BxxP3CxxP3DxxP3ExxP3Fxx
Fuel and air metering
P0100P0101P0102P0103P0104P0105P0106P0107P0108P0109P0110P0111P0112P0113P0114P0115P0116P0117P0118P0119P0120P0121P0122P0123P0124P0125P0126P0127P0128P0129P0130P0131P0132P0133P0134P0135P0136P0137P0138P0139P0140P0141P0142P0143P0144P0145P0146P0147P0148P0149P0150P0151P0152P0153P0154P0155P0156P0157P0158P0159P0160P0161P0162P0163P0164P0165P0166P0167P0168P0169P0170P0171P0172P0173P0174P0175P0176P0177P0178P0179P0180P0181P0182P0183P0184P0185P0186P0187P0188P0189P0190P0191P0192P0193P0194P0195P0196P0197P0198P0199