P00AE–P0114 Intake Air Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit Intermittent Bank 2
The fault comes and goes, which points at a connection that only breaks under vibration, heat or load.
Can you drive it? The engine light will stay on and the car may run in a reduced-power mode. Read the freeze-frame data to see the conditions the fault was logged under.
Which code is which
Same fault, different cylinder or bank — diagnosed the same way. Several set together usually means one shared cause.
| Code | Definition | Severity |
|---|---|---|
P00AE | Intake Air Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit Intermittent Bank 2 | Investigate soon |
P0114 | Intake Air Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit Intermittent Bank 1 | Investigate soon |
The definition
P00AE: Intake Air Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit Intermittent Bank 2.
P00AE is a powertrain code (the engine or gearbox), defined by the SAE standard - it means the same thing on any make of car, and any generic OBD-II reader will decode it.
What to check first
Cheapest and fastest checks first:
- Read the freeze-frame data stored with the fault - engine speed, load and temperature at the moment it logged tell you whether this happens cold, hot or under load.
- Check the connector at the part for corrosion, and that it is fully seated.
- Clear the code and see whether it returns, and under what conditions.
What actually causes this on a VAG
Your engine measures the temperature of the air it is drawing in and uses it to trim fuelling and, on a turbo engine, to protect against knock. Two words in the official definition decide where you look. "Sensor 1" is the main intake air temperature sensor in the intake tract ahead of the turbo - on most VAG engines that is a temperature element built into the mass airflow meter, or a small separate sensor screwed into the intake pipe. The sensor after the intercooler is a different component with its own codes (Intake Air Temperature Sensor 2, P0096 to P0099), so do not go looking at the charge pipe for this one. "Bank 2" is the side of the engine that does not contain cylinder 1, which means this code only exists on engines with two separate intake tracts - the V6s, V8s, W12s and twin-turbo engines. A four-cylinder has no bank 2. And "intermittent" is the operative word: the ECU did not see a dead sensor, it saw a reading that dropped out or jumped for a moment and then came back.
Most likely causes, in order
- Loose, dirty or corroded sensor plug. The connector lives somewhere hot and vibrating, and a pin that has backed out slightly, or green corrosion on the terminals, gives exactly this come-and-go signal. Watch the bank 2 intake air temperature in live data while gently wiggling the plug and the first foot of loom - a momentary jump to a wild value is the fault happening in front of you. This costs nothing and it is where this code is most often solved.
- Water or oil that has got into the connector. After heavy rain, a jet wash, or an oil leak from above, contamination sits in the plug body and tracks between pins. Unplug it and look for damp, oily residue or a swollen seal before buying anything. Dry it out, clean the terminals, and see whether the fault returns.
- Chafed or heat-damaged section of loom. Where the harness passes close to the exhaust, turbo or a metal bracket, the insulation can wear through and touch metal only when the engine rocks or the loom expands with heat. Look for shiny or melted patches and tape repairs along the whole run, not only at the sensor end.
- The sensor element itself starting to break down. An ageing element can drop out briefly before it fails outright. Leave this until last, because where the element sits inside the mass airflow meter or is moulded into the intake pipe you are not buying a temperature sensor, you are buying the whole assembly - and that is a needless bill if the real fault was a connector.
Worth knowing: Do the free tests first, and know what each one proves. After the car has stood overnight, both banks' intake air temperature and the ambient air temperature reading should agree within a couple of degrees; if bank 2 is out at cold soak, that sensor genuinely is reading wrong. But agreeing at cold soak does not clear it, because a sensor that drops out for a fraction of a second reads perfectly the rest of the time. The test that settles this particular code is watching the bank 2 reading live while you wiggle the connector and loom - if you can make it jump, you have found it. This is not an urgent fault and it will not leave you stranded, but a wrong air temperature does skew fuelling and knock protection, so fix it rather than clearing it and forgetting.
Reading the code is the easy part
A code names the circuit that complained. What tells you why is watching the sensor behind it while the engine runs — and that is where a code reader stops and a diagnostic tool starts.
VAGPULSE reads every module in a VW, Audi, Skoda or SEAT — not just the engine — shows the live measuring blocks behind this fault, gives you the freeze-frame conditions it was logged under, and clears it once you have fixed it. It also does what a generic OBD reader cannot on a VAG: service resets, coding, adaptations, and Stage 1–3 flashing with your original file saved first.
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Common questions
What does P00AE mean?
P00AE means Intake Air Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit Intermittent Bank 2. The fault comes and goes, which points at a connection that only breaks under vibration, heat or load.
Can I drive with P00AE?
The engine light will stay on and the car may run in a reduced-power mode. Read the freeze-frame data to see the conditions the fault was logged under.