P0A20: Motor Torque Sensor Circuit High
What to do
Reduced power is the module declining to act on a torque figure it cannot trust — have the wiring inspected first, and treat any "torque sensor" quote with the scepticism P0A17 explains.
What this code means
The motor torque circuit reads at the top of its range — a short to a supply, or an open in a circuit that rests high.
As with the Low variant, a value pinned at an electrical extreme describes the wire rather than the motor: the measuring chain has failed in a way the module can at least recognise as electrical. Power is reduced while the reading is untrusted. The family's context — why torque is cross-checked at all, and why the "sensor" is usually a computed value rather than a part — is at P0A17.
Note the numbering: this family is split across the map, with P0A17–P0A19 opening it and P0A20–P0A21 finishing it after the module codes in between. That is a real feature of the standard's numbering, not a filing error.
Likely causes
Start here
- Wiring shorted to voltage · moderate
- Open circuit in sensor wiring · moderate
- Corroded or loose connector · easy
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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