P2269
Water in Fuel Condition
- Severity
- High
- Driving
- Short journeys only
Water has been detected in the fuel. This is not a sensor complaint - the module is reporting that the water trap has collected enough water to matter. In a modern diesel that needs dealing with now rather than at the next service, because the fuel is what lubricates the high-pressure pump and the injectors.
Possible causes
- CommonWater genuinely collected in the fuel filter or water trap
- CommonWater trap never drained at service
- CommonFailed water in fuel sensor
- CommonCorroded connector - the sensor sits in or near the fuel filter housing
- PossibleContaminated fuel from a poor-quality supply
- PossibleCondensation from repeatedly running the tank very low
What you might notice
- Water in fuel warning
- Rough running or misfire
- Hard starting
- Loss of power
- Check engine light on
- Often no symptom at first
What to check, in order
- Drain the water trap. On most diesels this is a drain plug or tap at the bottom of the fuel filter housing, and it is a five-minute job described in the handbook.
- If the vehicle has been misfuelled, or a large amount of water is suspected, do not start the engine at all. Running the pump is what spreads contamination through the whole system.
- Change the fuel filter after draining - the element will have collected contamination as well as water.
- Ask where the vehicle was last fuelled. A single bad tank explains this, and returning to the same supplier repeats it.
- Keep the tank reasonably full in cold weather. Condensation forms in the air space above the fuel, so a habitually near-empty tank collects more water.
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 - injector circuits
P2200P2201P2202P2203P2204P2205P2206P2207P2208P2209P2210P2211P2212P2213P2214P2215P2216P2217P2218P2219P2220P2221P2222P2223P2224P2225P2226P2227P2228P2229P2230P2231P2232P2233P2234P2235P2236P2237P2238P2239P2240P2241P2242P2243P2244P2245P2246P2247P2248P2249P2250P2251P2252P2253P2254P2255P2256P2257P2258P2259P2260P2261P2262P2263P2264P2265P2266P2267P2268P2269P2270P2271P2272P2273P2274P2275P2276P2277P2278P2279P2280P2281P2282P2283P2284P2285P2286P2287P2288P2289P2290P2291P2292P2293P2294P2295P2296P2297P2298P2299