P0720 Output speed sensor circuit
- System
- Powertrain - engine and transmission
What P0720 means
The official name, 'Output speed sensor circuit', names the sensor that counts the speed of the transmission's output — the end that turns the driveshaft and the wheels, rather than the end the engine turns — and the word circuit puts the code on the electrical path that reading travels rather than on the number. The comparison behind it is the signal on that path against the electrical limits the module allows. Output is the opposite end of the same gearbox from the input or turbine speed code, which is why the two are counted as separate codes.
This is a standard code. It means the same thing on every make of vehicle.
What the program shows for P0720
The only road speed the program gets over this connection is Vehicle speed as the engine computer reports it, and the Trip screen's Distance, Average speed, Time moving and Time idling are all worked out from that one reading.
The program has no transmission readings over the generic connection: no fluid temperature, gear, or input and output shaft speeds. It names the code on the Trouble Codes screen, shows Engine speed and Vehicle speed side by side on the Dashboard and records both through a drive for replay, and the freeze frame tab, When it happened, lists what the engine computer stored at the moment the code was set. Compare between two recordings shows whether the code is Gone, New or Still there.
See how the program shows a code →