P0735: Gear 5 Incorrect Ratio
What to do
Likely only noticeable at sustained higher speeds. If a workshop reports it drove fine, ask whether the test drive included a stretch long enough to reach and hold top gear.
What this code means
The measured ratio in fifth gear does not match expectation. Like sixth, fifth is a cruising ratio carrying relatively little torque, so a clutch that slips only here is slipping under light load — which points at insufficient pressure rather than exhausted friction material, and makes fluid, filter, pump and valve body the productive places to look first.
The fault will often be invisible around town and appear only on a long run, which is worth knowing before a test drive is called clear.
Likely causes
Start here
- Low or degraded transmission fluid · easy
- Low transmission line pressure · specialist
- Failed shift solenoid · 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
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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