P0381

Glow Plug/Heater Indicator Circuit

Severity: Low
Driving: No driving restriction

A fault in the glow plug indicator circuit - the lamp that tells the driver the glow plugs are heating and it is time to start. The glow plugs themselves may be working perfectly; what has failed is the indication.

Possible causes

CommonBlown indicator bulb
CommonWiring or connector fault to the instrument cluster
PossibleFailed instrument cluster lamp driver
PossibleFailed glow plug control module output

What you might notice

Glow plug lamp not lighting
Glow plug lamp permanently on
Check engine light on
Engine starting normally

What to check, in order

Check whether the lamp lights during the ignition-on bulb check.
Confirm the engine still starts normally from cold, which tells you the glow plugs themselves are working.
Check the wiring between the glow plug module and the cluster.
Treat this as an indication fault - but do not ignore it, because it means a genuine glow plug failure would go unannounced.

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.

Get Pin16 on Google Play

Where this code sits

B · Body C · Chassis P · Powertrain U · Network and communication

Ignition system or misfire