OBD-II Code
P0168
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)
$150–$550
From this code's diagnostic notes. Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
P0168 means the fuel temperature sensor is reading above the upper threshold — typically more than 200F sustained, which on a gasoline FFV (flex-fuel vehicle) or diesel system signals that the fuel is dangerously hot and the ECM may de-rate fuel pressure or injector pulse-width to prevent vapor lock or injector damage.
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 procedureP0168 means the fuel temperature sensor is reading above the upper threshold — typically more than 200F sustained, which on a gasoline FFV (flex-fuel…
P0168 means the fuel temperature sensor is reading above the upper threshold — typically more than 200F sustained, which on a gasoline FFV (flex-fuel vehicle) or diesel system signals that the fuel is dangerously hot and the ECM may de-rate fuel pressure or injector pulse-width to prevent vapor lock or injector damage. Fuel temperature matters most on returnless systems (where hot fuel cycles back through a heat-soaked tank), on diesels (where injector timing compensates for fuel density which varies with temperature), and on FFVs (where ethanol-gasoline blends have different vapor-pressure curves). Normal operating fuel temp is roughly 60-150F at the tank, climbing to 150-200F at the rail under hot-soak idle in summer; sustained readings above 200F mean either the sensor is failed-high, the fuel return path is restricted, the tank is sitting on hot exhaust components, or there's an actual heat problem.
Cheapest-first ladder
- scan live fuel temp data, then verify with an infrared thermometer on the fuel rail and return line — if the scan tool reads 220F and the IR reads 90F, the sensor or its wiring is failed-high; if the scan tool and IR agree, the heat is real.
- Backprobe the sensor signal wire (typical 2-wire NTC thermistor in the tank or on the rail) — at 100F it should read roughly 2.5-3.0V, at 200F roughly 0.8-1.2V; a flat low reading means the sensor is shorted internally.
- Expensive-misdiagnosis caveat: a clogged return line or kinked tank-to-pump hose can produce a genuine 200F+ reading and the sensor is correctly reporting it — don't blame the sensor before checking return-line flow rate.
Vehicle-specific patterns2002-2010 Ford F-150 FFV and Explorer FFV with the 4.6L/5.4L flex-fuel system commonly throws P0168 from the in-tank fuel temp sensor reading drift a…
- 2002-2010Ford F-150 FFV and Explorer FFV with the 4.6L/5.4L flex-fuel system commonly throws P0168 from the in-tank fuel temp sensor reading drift after E85 corrosion of the sender housing — Ford redesigned the sender assembly mid-cycle.
- 2005-2011GM Impala/Monte Carlo FFV with the 3.5L/3.9L flex-fuel V6 throws P0168 from the fuel temp element inside the in-tank fuel pump module degrading; the fix is a full pump module swap.
- 2003-2008Chrysler Sebring/Stratus FFV with the 2.7L V6 throws P0168 from harness chafe at the fuel-tank-to-frame transition.
- 2008-2014RAM 2500/3500 6.7L Cummins throws P0168 from the fuel-rail-mounted temp sensor failing internally after long-haul hot-soak duty cycles.
Estimated repair$150 to $550.
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