P0733: Gear 3 Incorrect Ratio
What to do
If the transmission is also stuck in one gear, this code may simply be a side effect of that. Ask for the other stored codes to be dealt with first and this one re-checked afterwards rather than diagnosed on its own.
What this code means
The measured ratio in third gear does not match expectation. Third is often the gear a transmission defaults to when it drops into its protective fixed-gear mode, which produces an easily misread situation: the transmission is held in third by a different fault, and the ratio monitor then complains about third because that is the only gear it can observe.
So a P0733 stored alongside a code that would cause limp mode is usually a consequence rather than a cause. Clear the codes, repair the primary fault, and see whether this one returns before treating it as a finding in its own right.
Likely causes
Start here
- Low or degraded transmission fluid · easy
- Failed shift solenoid · moderate
- Fault causing limp mode elsewhere in the transmission · moderate
Less common
- Worn valve body · specialist
- Worn clutch packs · specialist
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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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.
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