P0473
Exhaust Pressure Sensor High
- Severity
- Medium
- Driving
- Drive only to a garage
The exhaust pressure signal is reading high - typically shorted to voltage or with a lost earth, though a genuinely blocked particulate filter also reads high.
Possible causes
- CommonSensing hoses blocked with soot - the most common fault on a diesel
- CommonSplit, perished or disconnected sensing hose
- CommonFailed exhaust pressure sensor
- CommonCorroded connector or wiring damaged by exhaust heat
- CommonBlocked particulate filter, so the pressure genuinely is high
- PossibleLoss of reference voltage or earth
What you might notice
- Reduced power or limp mode
- Particulate filter warning
- Regeneration running too often or not at all
- Excessive smoke
- Worse fuel economy
- Check engine light on
What to check, in order
- Check the sensing hoses first. On a diesel these run from the exhaust to the sensor and block solid with soot, which is by far the most common cause and costs nothing but time to clear.
- Compare the reported pressure with atmospheric on a stationary engine - they should be close. A reading well away from that with the engine off proves the sensor or its hoses wrong.
- Inspect the connector for corrosion and the wiring for heat damage.
- Read all codes. Particulate filter codes alongside this one mean the pressure may be genuinely high and the filter is the problem.
- Check the reference voltage and earth at the sensor.
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
Auxiliary emission controls
P0400P0401P0402P0403P0404P0405P0406P0407P0408P0409P0410P0411P0412P0413P0414P0415P0416P0417P0418P0419P0420P0421P0422P0423P0424P0425P0426P0427P0428P0429P0430P0431P0432P0433P0434P0435P0436P0437P0438P0439P0440P0441P0442P0443P0444P0445P0446P0447P0448P0449P0450P0451P0452P0453P0454P0455P0456P0457P0458P0459P0460P0461P0462P0463P0464P0465P0466P0467P0468P0469P0470P0471P0472P0473P0474P0475P0476P0477P0478P0479P0480P0481P0482P0483P0484P0485P0486P0487P0488P0489P0490P0491P0492P0493P0494P0495P0496P0497P0498P0499