P287D: Electric/Auxiliary Transmission Fluid Pump Motor Torque Out Of Range
What to do
The car will drive normally — the usual sign is stop-start no longer switching the engine off. That is deliberate: the module will not stop the engine when it cannot hold hydraulic pressure through the stop. Have it repaired rather than living with it; a pump working against contaminated fluid is also a message about the fluid.
What this code means
The electric auxiliary transmission fluid pump's motor torque is out of range.
Torque is the honest measure of how hard the pump is working, and it is wrong in one of two directions. Too high means the pump is fighting something — thickened, degraded fluid, debris part-jamming the rotor, a bearing tightening. Too low means it is doing too little work for its speed: an internal leak or worn elements letting fluid slip back instead of being pushed forward.
This pump exists for the moments the engine is off — it holds hydraulic pressure through stop-start and hybrid engine stops so the clutches are already applied at the restart. The commonest symptom of any fault in it is stop-start quietly giving up, because the module will not stop an engine it cannot cover for.
Which is why the commonest symptom is no symptom at all — except stop-start no longer switching the engine off. A car that used to stop at the lights and no longer does, with this code stored, has already told you what is wrong. Where stops do still happen, the tell is a pause or a shunt as the car pulls away afterwards.
Likely causes
Start here
- Faulty auxiliary transmission fluid pump · specialist
- Debris in the transmission fluid · specialist
- Low or degraded transmission fluid · moderate
Less common
- Corroded or loose connector · specialist
Rare
- Faulty transmission control module · 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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