P0545–P2035 Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Low Bank 1 Sensor 1
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 |
|---|---|---|
P0545 | Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Low Bank 1 Sensor 1 | Investigate soon |
P0548 | Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Low Bank 2 Sensor 1 | Investigate soon |
P2032 | Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Low Bank 1 Sensor 2 | Investigate soon |
P2035 | Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Low Bank 2 Sensor 2 | Investigate soon |
The definition
P0545: Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Low Bank 1 Sensor 1.
P0545 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
The ECU is seeing the signal from the first exhaust gas temperature sensor on bank 1 pinned at the very bottom of its electrical range - not a cold reading, but a voltage so far out that it can only be a wiring or sensor fault. In practice that means the signal wire is touching earth somewhere, or the sensor has failed to that end of its scale. Don't be thrown if the live temperature value looks absurd rather than simply low: the ECU is reporting an electrical fault, not a real temperature. The lead for this sensor runs through the hottest part of the engine bay, which is why wiring gets the first look.
Most likely causes, in order
- Signal wire shorting to earth against hot metal. The classic cause: the lead has melted or worn through where it rests on the turbo, manifold or a heat shield, and the bare conductor is touching the exhaust or the block. Run the lead through your fingers along its whole length looking for flattened, hardened or blackened sections - the damaged spot is usually obvious once you find it. Note that on most of these sensors the lead is part of the sensor, so damage on the sensor side of the plug means a new sensor; damage on the car side is a harness repair.
- Moisture bridging the connector pins. Water sitting in the plug, especially after a wash or in a wet winter, links the signal pin to earth and produces exactly this fault. Unplug, dry it thoroughly, clean the pins, and see whether the code stays away. If it only appears in wet weather, this is very likely it.
- Sensor failed short internally. Once the lead and plug are proved sound, the sensor itself is the remaining candidate. Unplug it at the sensor: if the ECU changes its complaint to an open-circuit or high fault, the short was inside the sensor rather than in the harness.
Worth knowing: Unplugging the sensor and seeing whether the stored fault flips from low to open circuit is the single most useful test here. Clear the code first, then key-cycle or run the car briefly before re-reading, because some faults only re-set after the ECU has run the check again. If it flips, buy the sensor. If the low fault stubbornly returns with nothing plugged in, the short is in the harness and a new sensor would have changed 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 P0545 mean?
P0545 means Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit Low Bank 1 Sensor 1. 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 P0545?
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.