P0546: Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit High — Bank 1 Sensor 1
What to do
If there is a burning smell, visible smoke from under the car, or the vehicle has been repeatedly attempting regeneration, stop and have it looked at rather than continuing — an exhaust genuinely running that hot is a fire risk. With no such signs it is more likely to be the sensor or its wiring.
What this code means
The bank 1 exhaust gas temperature signal is above its plausible range. Usually an open circuit, but a genuinely excessive exhaust temperature must be excluded first, because it is a real and destructive condition: a regeneration that has run away, a badly over-fuelling injector, or a blocked filter forcing repeated regeneration can all take exhaust temperature past what the turbocharger and filter will survive.
A burning smell, glowing exhaust components or a strong fuel odour alongside this code should be taken seriously rather than assumed to be a sensor fault.
Likely causes
Start here
- Open circuit in sensor wiring · moderate
- Faulty exhaust gas temperature sensor · moderate
- Damaged wiring harness near exhaust heat · moderate
Less common
- Genuine exhaust over-temperature during regeneration · specialist
- Leaking fuel injector · 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
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