P0182–P0187 Fuel Temperature Sensor A Circuit Low
The voltage on this circuit is sitting near zero. Typically a short to earth, or a sensor that has failed to its low end.
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 |
|---|---|---|
P0182 | Fuel Temperature Sensor A Circuit Low | Investigate soon |
P0187 | Fuel Temperature Sensor B Circuit Low | Investigate soon |
The definition
P0182: Fuel Temperature Sensor A Circuit Low.
P0182 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:
- Unplug the sensor. If the reading jumps to full scale, the wiring is fine and the sensor has failed low.
- Check the sensor's 5V supply and its earth before condemning the sensor itself.
What actually causes this on a VAG
'Circuit low' refers to the voltage the ECU sees on the signal wire, not to the temperature. These senders are thermistors whose resistance falls as they get hotter, so an unusually low signal voltage is the ECU being told the fuel is impossibly hot. That normally means the wire is touching earth somewhere or the sensor has failed shorted internally. The car usually still drives; on a diesel the ECU may trim fuelling slightly and you might feel that as a soft spot.
Most likely causes, in order
- Signal wire shorted to earth. The classic is chafe where the loom crosses a bracket, a hard edge or the body, or where it moves with the engine. Look for a worn shiny patch or tape rubbed through, and pay particular attention to any section disturbed during recent work.
- Water or corrosion in the connector. Damp bridging the two pins does exactly the same thing as a short in the wiring. Unplug it and look for a wet plug, green deposits or salty crust. Dry and clean it thoroughly, clear the code and see whether it stays away.
- The sender has failed shorted. An internal short inside the sensor gives an identical picture to a harness short, which is why the unplug test below matters before you buy anything.
- Damage inside the loom or at the ECU plug. Uncommon. Only worth pursuing once the sender and the visible wiring have been ruled out.
Worth knowing: There is a free, decisive test here. Unplug the sender, clear the code and run the engine. If the fault changes to the open-circuit or 'circuit high' version, the wiring back to the ECU is healthy and the sender is the culprit. If it still reports 'low' with nothing plugged in, the sender is innocent and you have a short to earth in the harness - a new sensor will change nothing.
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 P0182 mean?
P0182 means Fuel Temperature Sensor A Circuit Low. The voltage on this circuit is sitting near zero. Typically a short to earth, or a sensor that has failed to its low end.
Can I drive with P0182?
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.