P0705: Transmission Range Sensor A Circuit (PRNDL Input)
What to do
Expect harsh shifting and possibly no reverse lights. If the engine will only crank in neutral, that is a symptom of the same fault rather than a separate problem. Ask for the sensor's adjustment to be checked before it is replaced — a slipped sensor and a failed one produce the same code.
What this code means
The sensor that reports which position the gear selector is in — park, reverse, neutral, drive — is not sending a signal the module can use. Nothing else in the transmission can be scheduled sensibly without it, so the module falls back to a safe default rather than guessing.
A range sensor fault announces itself through a distinctive cluster of unrelated-looking symptoms, because so many systems read the same switch: the engine cranks in neutral but not in park, the reverse lights do not come on, the selector display shows the wrong gear or none at all, and the transmission shifts harshly because it is no longer confident which range it has been asked for. Anyone reporting that combination has described this sensor without naming it.
On many vehicles the sensor is mounted on the outside of the gearbox and is deliberately adjustable, so that its electrical centre can be aligned with the mechanical detents. That means a sensor which has slipped, or a gear linkage that has stretched, produces this code with no component fault at all — and checking alignment before ordering the part is worth the ten minutes.
Likely causes
Start here
- Faulty transmission range sensor · moderate
- Misadjusted transmission range sensor · moderate
Less common
- Worn gear selector linkage · moderate
- Corroded transmission connector · moderate
- Damaged transmission wiring harness · 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.
Sign in or create an account to add what you found about P0705.