P0560
System Voltage
- Severity
- High
- Driving
- Drivable — book it in
There is a problem with the system voltage the control module sees at its own supply, without the module committing to whether it is too high or too low. Every electronic system on the vehicle depends on a stable supply, so a fault here tends to produce a scatter of unrelated codes elsewhere - modules misbehaving because of their power, not because anything is wrong with them.
Possible causes
- CommonWeak or failing battery
- CommonFailing alternator or voltage regulator
- CommonCorroded or loose battery terminals
- CommonCorroded earth strap between engine, body and battery
- PossibleSlipping or worn drive belt
- PossibleDamaged charging cable between alternator and battery
- PossibleHeavy aftermarket electrical load
What you might notice
- Battery or charging warning light
- Lights dimming, flickering or unusually bright
- Several unrelated warning lights and codes at once
- Slow cranking
- Electrical items behaving oddly
What to check, in order
- Measure battery voltage with the engine off and again with it running. Roughly 12.4 to 12.7 volts at rest and a steady charging voltage running is what you are looking for; anything well outside that has found the fault.
- Fix this before diagnosing anything else the car is doing. A supply problem sets codes across unrelated systems, and chasing those individually wastes a great deal of time.
- Clean and tighten the battery terminals and every earth strap you can reach. Corroded earths cause voltage problems that look exactly like failed components.
- Perform a voltage drop test on the main charging cable and the earth path.
- Check the drive belt tension and condition.
- Have the battery load tested rather than judging it on voltage alone.
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
Vehicle speed control, idle control and auxiliary inputs
P0500P0501P0502P0503P0504P0505P0506P0507P0508P0509P0510P0511P0512P0513P0514P0515P0516P0517P0518P0519P0520P0521P0522P0523P0524P0525P0526P0527P0528P0529P0530P0531P0532P0533P0534P0535P0536P0537P0538P0539P0540P0541P0542P0543P0544P0545P0546P0547P0548P0549P0550P0551P0552P0553P0554P0555P0556P0557P0558P0559P0560P0561P0562P0563P0564P0565P0566P0567P0568P0569P0570P0571P0572P0573P0574P0575P0576P0577P0578P0579P0580P0581P0582P0583P0584P0585P0586P0587P0588P0589P0590P0591P0592P0593P0594P0595P0596P0597P0598P0599