P081C
Park Input Circuit
General electrical fault on the Park input circuit — used by ECM/PCM to know that the gear lever is in Park (allows engine start, raises idle for accessory loads). With the input invalid Park-conditional logic falls back to a safe default.
- Check engine light: Yes
- Emissions related: No
- Repair difficulty: medium
Symptoms
- Check engine or transmission warning light on
- Harsh, delayed, or missing shifts
- Possible limp mode (locked in one gear)
- Slipping or shuddering during gear changes
Common causes
Ordered by how often each turns out to be the cause.
- Open or shorted park input wireCommon
Parts involved
- Park Input Circuit
- Wiring Harness
P081C is a generic OBD-II code defined by SAE J2012. Exact wording and diagnostic procedure vary by manufacturer and model. Code definitions are drawn from the public-domain OBDex dataset; the workshop notes are our own.