OBD-II Code
P0973
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)
$300–$2,200
From this code's diagnostic notes. Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
P0973 means the TCM has commanded shift solenoid A on, expected to ground its control circuit through the solenoid coil, and instead seen the circuit voltage stay low when it shouldn't be — typically a short to ground on the control wire or a coil shorted internally so it draws excessive current.
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 procedureP0973 means the TCM has commanded shift solenoid A on, expected to ground its control circuit through the solenoid coil, and instead seen the circuit…
P0973 means the TCM has commanded shift solenoid A on, expected to ground its control circuit through the solenoid coil, and instead seen the circuit voltage stay low when it shouldn't be — typically a short to ground on the control wire or a coil shorted internally so it draws excessive current. P0973 is an electrical-only fault: the TCM detected the problem on the wire/coil side without needing to see a gear-ratio mismatch.
Cheapest-first ladder
- Pan-drop and ohm shift solenoid A across the coil — expected resistance is 8-30 ohms at room temperature on most domestic shift solenoids; a reading under 5 ohms means the coil is shorted internally.
- Disconnect the case connector and check whether P0973 returns with the solenoid out of circuit — if the code persists, the short is upstream in the harness or the TCM driver.
- Inspect the internal harness lead frame and the case connector pins for chafing, melted insulation, or fluid intrusion — automatic transmission fluid wicking into a damaged harness shorts the control wires to ground exactly like a shorted coil.
- Use a scope on the control wire to capture the commanded pulse — a healthy driver pulls the line cleanly to ground when commanded and releases it cleanly when not; a stuck-low pulse confirms a TCM driver fault rather than a solenoid fault. Expensive-misdiagnosis caveat: a single shorted solenoid can damage the TCM driver that controls it, so replacing only the solenoid on a P0973 that has been running for thousands of miles sometimes leaves a wounded TCM that fails 5,000 miles later — verify driver health before signing off on the repair.
Vehicle-specific patternsGM 4L60E is the textbook P0973 platform — shift solenoid A controls the 1-2 shift (descendant of the 700R4 1-2/3-4 architecture) and the solenoid is…
GM 4L60E is the textbook P0973 platform — shift solenoid A controls the 1-2 shift (descendant of the 700R4 1-2/3-4 architecture) and the solenoid is a known wear item; coil shorts are the most common cause and the solenoid is a sub-$50 part with the pan already off. Ford 4R70W / 4R75W sees P0973 from SS-A coil failure and from harness chafe at the case pass-through grommet. Chrysler 545RFE / 45RFE sets P0973 as part of the solenoid pack — the pack is replaced as a unit rather than individual solenoids, which raises parts cost but reduces labor risk on internal harness damage. 2007-up GM 6L80 throws P0973 from harness chafe at the valve body bolt locations where the lead frame routes past sharp casting edges.
Estimated repair$300 to $2,200.
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