OBD-II Code
P0162
Severity
Not yet reviewed
Nobody on our side has assessed this code yet, so we are not going to guess at how serious it is.
Can you drive it
We cannot say
Treat it as unknown until a shop reads it with live data. If the check-engine light is FLASHING, stop driving as soon as it is safe to — that means an active misfire, whatever the code.
Indicative cost (USD)
$80–$450
From this code's diagnostic notes. Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
P0162 means the ECM is seeing an out-of-range electrical condition on the bank 2 sensor 3 O2 sensor circuit — typically open-circuit, shorted, or stuck-at-bias-voltage.
How a shop works this
Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed.
Note every code that is set, not just this one.
Codes that appear together usually narrow the cause faster than any one of them read alone.
Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under.
Cold or warm, idle or load, road speed and engine speed. A fault that only appears cold is a different fault from one that only appears under load, even with the same code on the scanner.
Confirm the fault is current rather than history.
Clear the code and see whether it returns under those same conditions. A code that does not come back may have been logged during a repair, a flat battery, or a bad connection that has since been disturbed.
Then follow the diagnostic notes further down this page, in the order they are written.
They are written in the order a shop works this code, cheapest checks first. Where they name a component, inspect its wiring and connector before replacing it.
If the code comes back after a repair, the underlying fault is still there. That is the point to bring in a scanner with live data and freeze-frame, or a shop that has one.
Common symptoms
- Check engine light
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0162 means the ECM is seeing an out-of-range electrical condition on the bank 2 sensor 3 O2 sensor circuit — typically open-circuit, shorted, or stu…
P0162 means the ECM is seeing an out-of-range electrical condition on the bank 2 sensor 3 O2 sensor circuit — typically open-circuit, shorted, or stuck-at-bias-voltage. Bank 2 sensor 3 is the third O2 sensor in the bank 2 exhaust stream, which on most V6/V8/V10 platforms is a second post-cat sensor (sometimes called the tailpipe sensor) used for in-use catalyst monitor verification on OBD-II compliant platforms with dual cats per bank.
Cheapest-first ladder
- confirm the connector is fully seated and the locking tab is intact (heat soak from the exhaust crumbles locking tabs first); back-probe the signal wire with the engine at warm closed-loop idle and look for the narrow-band sensor to sit relatively flat between 0.4-0.7V (a post-cat sensor on a healthy cat should NOT oscillate the full 0.1-0.9V range like an upstream sensor), or for a wideband, lambda steady around 1.0 (0.7-1.3 acceptable swing under load); check the heater current draw at cold start, which should pull 0.5-2A on most narrow-band heaters; ohm the heater element (typical 6-15 ohms cold) and confirm the heater B+ feed is hitting 12V+ with key on.
- If the signal voltage is pegged at 0V or stuck at the bias voltage (typically 0.45V on Ford/GM) regardless of fuel trim changes, the sensor or its harness is open-circuit.
- Expensive-misdiagnosis caveat: a chafed harness against the exhaust pipe or transfer case crossmember mimics a dead sensor identically — never condemn a $180 sensor before ohmming the harness end-to-end.
Vehicle-specific patterns2003-2010 Dodge Ram 1500/2500 with the 5.7L Hemi runs dual post-cat sensors per bank on emissions-strict-state VINs and throws P0162 frequently from…
- 2003-2010Dodge Ram 1500/2500 with the 5.7L Hemi runs dual post-cat sensors per bank on emissions-strict-state VINs and throws P0162 frequently from harness chafe where the bank 2 (passenger) sensor 3 wire routes over the transfer case crossmember — the chafe-through is faster than the sensor wears out.
- 2004-2014Ford F-150 with the 5.4L 3V and 6.2L Boss V8 throws P0162 on California-emissions trucks from connector heat-soak melt where the bank 2 sensor 3 connector sits too close to the rear exhaust collector; Ford rerouted the pigtail on later builds.
- 2007-2014Toyota Tundra/Sequoia with the 5.7L 3UR-FE commonly throws P0162 from the post-cat sensor pigtail rubbing the frame rail crossmember.
- 2008-2013BMW E70 X5 4.8i / 5.0i (N62/N63) throws P0162 from the well-known coolant intrusion into the post-cat sensor connector after a valley pan leak.
Estimated repair$80 to $450.
Look up another code
More free tools