P0218: Transmission Fluid Temperature Sensor A Over Temperature Condition
Do not keep driving
Stop and let the transmission cool before continuing. If towing, reduce load. Repeated overheating causes permanent damage even when the vehicle still drives normally afterwards, so this is worth investigating rather than waiting out.
What this code means
Transmission fluid has exceeded its safe temperature. Automatic transmission fluid degrades rapidly once too hot, and the damage is cumulative — every overheating episode shortens the transmission's life whether or not it fails immediately. Towing, sustained climbing and stop-start traffic in high ambient temperatures are the usual triggers; a blocked cooler or low fluid level makes them arrive far sooner.
Likely causes
Start here
- Low or degraded transmission fluid · moderate
- Blocked or restricted transmission fluid cooler · moderate
- Excessive load or towing · easy
Less common
- Worn torque converter clutch · specialist
- Cooling fans running constantly · moderate
- Faulty transmission fluid temperature sensor · moderate
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Community experience
Be the first to write this up
Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
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