P01DA: Cylinder 8 Injection Timing Performance - Over Advanced

What does P01DA mean?

Diesel engines must detect when fuel can no longer be injected at the correct crank angle – CARB requires this for every injector individually, hence one code per cylinder. The start of injection is not measured directly: during overrun with fuel cut-off the control module fires a tiny test injection into one cylinder (GM: about 1.5 mm³) and evaluates the resulting speed change at the crankshaft sensor. From this it learns how much extra energizing time the injector needs (Bosch calls this zero fuel calibration). This code means injector 8 needs clearly less energizing time than intended, i.e. it opens too early or delivers too much – GM sets it below −90 µs, after two trips. The documented user for this cylinder is GM's 6.6 litre Duramax V8 (LML, L5P); Ford reports the same function under P2B11ff. GM fixed false settings on 2020–2021 L5P trucks with new software and warns that vibration, for example from off-road tyres, disturbs the evaluation, so injectors should not be replaced before that is ruled out.

The code tells you which monitor failed, not which part is broken. Test before replacing parts.

Symptoms

• Check engine light on (after two drive cycles)
• Louder combustion noise or knocking
• Rough idle
• Possibly smoke

Common causes

• High Injector worn or leaking (delivers too much in small quantities)
• Medium False setting from software or vehicle vibration (e.g. off-road tyres)
• Medium Wrong injector correction code stored after an injector replacement
• Low Boost leak or loose injector clamp
• Low Contaminated fuel

Likelihood is a general estimate across vehicles; your make and model may differ.