OBD-II Code

P0815

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)

$180–$650

From this code's diagnostic notes. Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.

P0815 sets when the TCM sees the manual upshift switch (the +/- paddle, console toggle, or steering-column tap-up input on Tiptronic/AutoStick/SelectShift gearboxes) report an electrical state it cannot reconcile with the current gear command.

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 procedureP0815 sets when the TCM sees the manual upshift switch (the +/- paddle, console toggle, or steering-column tap-up input on Tiptronic/AutoStick/Select…+

Start cheapest

clear the code, run the lever or paddle through every up-tap and confirm scan-tool data shows the switch toggling cleanly between Open and Closed (most platforms expect a clean 0V/5V or 0V/12V transition with no glitch above 0.5V on the still state). Next, back-probe the switch connector and check resistance through the contact: most manual-mode switches spec under 2 ohms closed and above 10 kilohms open, and any reading that drifts during a slow press is a failed switch. Inspect the harness pigtail at the console (drink spills are the #1 contaminant) and the TCM C2 connector for green corrosion before condemning the module. Caveat: on shared-bus shifters a CAN fault on the shift module can mimic P0815 even when the switch is good, so verify no U-code is present before replacing parts.

Vehicle-specific patterns2011-2014 Ford F-150 with SelectShift thumb toggle on the column lever has a known internal switch failure where the rocker loses one contact, usuall…+

2011-2014Ford F-150 with SelectShift thumb toggle on the column lever has a known internal switch failure where the rocker loses one contact, usually setting P0815 with no other DTC and resolved by lever replacement.
2008-2013Chrysler 300 and Charger with AutoStick console plate get coffee or soda into the console boot, shorting the up-tap contact intermittently.
2010-2016Audi A4/A5 with Tiptronic paddles see the steering-wheel clockspring lose continuity on the up-paddle wire long before the down-paddle.
2007-2013BMW E92/E90 with Steptronic console occasionally throw P0815 from a cracked solder joint on the shifter board rather than the switch itself.

Estimated repair$180 to $650.

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