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P26A0

Exhaust Aftertreatment Glow Plug Performance

The aftertreatment glow plug heats but exhaust temperature does not rise as expected. Combustion of injected HC may not start.

  • Check engine light: Yes
  • Emissions related: Yes
  • Repair difficulty: hard

Symptoms

  • Glow plug warning light on (often orange coil symbol)
  • Hard cold start or no start in cold weather
  • White smoke from exhaust during warm-up

Common causes

Ordered by how often each turns out to be the cause.

  • Aged glow plug heats slowly or unevenlyCommon
  • HC supply from 7th injector below requiredPossible

Parts involved

  • Aftertreatment Glow Plug
  • Exhaust Temperature Sensor

P26A0 is a generic OBD-II code defined by SAE J2012. Exact wording and diagnostic procedure vary by manufacturer and model. Code definitions are drawn from the public-domain OBDex dataset; the workshop notes are our own.