Trouble Code: P2187 System Too Lean at Idle (Bank 1) DTC

What Does Trouble Code P2187 Mean?

Your powertrain control module has a series of sensors to determine the air/fuel ratio. These include the mass airflow sensor, manifold absolute pressure sensor and oxygen sensors. So, what does the code P2187 mean?

If your engine has six or eight cylinders, code P2187 refers to bank one, which is on the number one cylinder side. A P2189 error code is a signal that bank two has also registered too much air in the air/fuel mixture.

Your fuel injection and airflow manifold systems are highly complex, so there are a number of mechanical and electrical issues that could cause this trouble code. Check your symptoms to help navigate the various possible faults and find the right solution.

Check for Symptoms

While you may experience a miss while your vehicle is idling, other symptoms will help you pinpoint the particular problem. Find a safe area to test drive your vehicle and watch for other symptoms. Otherwise, you’ll need to visually inspect your engine, ignition, fuel injection and air intake systems to spot the fault. Here are a few possible symptoms to watch for:

• Fuel smell
• Whistling noises
• Decreased turbo boost numbers
• Unusual idle
• Difficulty starting your engine, particularly on hot days

Common Causes

Once you’ve searched for these additional symptoms, it’s time to start narrowing down your causes. There are many sensors, hoses, wires and components that could be damaged, clogged or defective that would result in error code P2187.

First, the issue could be a damaged component. Check your fuel filter, fuel pump, EVAP purge valve, fuel injector regulator fuel injector gas cap and fuel cap. Any of these components could increase the air intake or decrease the fuel injection.

Next, inspect your electrical system. Faulty O2 sensors, manifold air pressure sensor, mass airflow sensor or any damaged wiring could cause this error code. Finally, there are a few areas that may be causes an air leak or lack of airflow. Broken seals in the air intake manifold, a loose gas cap, clogged fuel filter or clogged air filter can all upset the balance of air and fuel.

Find a Solution

While it’s important to be thorough and inspect every possible source of damage for many error codes, code P2187 is best fixed by looking at the most likely sources first. Once you find an issue, check your system with an OBD-II scanner to determine whether you’ve found the right solution.

Look at any symptoms for a sign of the type of damage. If you haven’t experienced any performance issues, the source is likely electrical. Check your oxygen sensors and mass airflow sensor. Test them to see if they’re working correctly.

Rough idling or misses are signs that there is indeed an issue with your air/fuel mixture. Inspect the other common causes to find the right solution. Start with simple sources, like a loose gas cap, before checking more involved repairs, like a damaged EVAP purge valve.
Before you dive into repairing OBD-II scanner error code P2187 problem, see if there are other error codes present. A secondary error code will help you narrow down the long list of possible repair solutions so you can quickly identify the issue and restore your vehicle. You may need to clear the code and attempt to start your engine again to ensure that there aren’t multiple causes of this trouble code.