P0820
Gear Lever X-Y Position Sensor Circuit
- Severity
- Medium
- Driving
- Drivable — book it in
A fault in the gear lever X-Y position sensor circuit. On a shift-by-wire or automated manual selector there is no cable to the gearbox - the lever's position is measured on two axes and sent electrically. If the module cannot read that position it does not know what gear you are asking for, so it will refuse to select one.
Possible causes
- CommonFailed gear lever position sensor assembly
- CommonDrink or dirt spilled into the selector assembly
- CommonWiring or connector fault under the console
- PossibleLoss of reference voltage or earth
- PossibleSelector assembly worn or damaged
- PossibleSensor not calibrated after replacement
What you might notice
- Cannot select a gear
- Gear position display blank or wrong
- Transmission staying in neutral or park
- Warning message about the selector
- Check engine light on
What to check, in order
- Watch both position axes on the live data screen while moving the lever through its gate. An axis that does not change identifies the fault.
- Look inside the selector assembly for spilled drink. Centre console selectors sit directly beneath cup holders and this is the most common cause of their failure.
- Check the reference voltage and earth at the sensor.
- Inspect the connector under the console.
- Check whether the assembly needs calibrating after replacement - many do.
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
Transmission
P0800P0801P0802P0803P0804P0805P0806P0807P0808P0809P0810P0811P0812P0813P0814P0815P0816P0817P0818P0819P0820P0821P0822P0823P0824P0825P0826P0827P0828P0829P0830P0831P0832P0833P0834P0835P0836P0837P0838P0839P0840P0841P0842P0843P0844P0845P0846P0847P0848P0849P0850P0851P0852P0853P0854P0855P0856P0857P0858P0859P0860P0861P0862P0863P0864P0865P0866P0867P0868P0869P0870P0871P0872P0873P0874P0875P0876P0877P0878P0879P0880P0881P0882P0883P0884P0885P0886P0887P0888P0889P0890P0891P0892P0893P0894P0895P0896P0897P0898P0899