P0987: Transmission Fluid Pressure Sensor/Switch E Circuit
What to do
Symptoms will be confined to particular gears rather than affecting the whole gearbox. Ask whether all the pressure readings were compared with one another — on a transmission with this many sensors, they can usually name the affected clutch circuit before anything is dismantled.
What this code means
A fault in a fifth pressure monitoring circuit. Five or six monitoring points is the mark of a transmission with many ratios and fully independent clutch control, and it takes the localisation argument begun at P0845 to its endpoint: with a sensor on essentially every clutch circuit, the code no longer merely indicates that pressure is wrong somewhere — it names which circuit lost it.
That is worth insisting on. On a gearbox whose internals cannot be seen without splitting it, having the vehicle identify the affected clutch circuit before anything is opened turns an exploratory strip-down into a targeted repair.
Likely causes
Start here
- Faulty transmission fluid pressure sensor · moderate
- Low or degraded transmission fluid · easy
- Worn valve body · specialist
Less common
- Damaged transmission wiring harness · moderate
- Faulty pressure control solenoid · moderate
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
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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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