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P254F

Engine Hood Switch Circuit

General electrical fault on the engine hood (bonnet) switch circuit. The hood switch tells the body controller and (on hybrids) the high-voltage system that the hood is open — used for security, alarm and HV-safety interlock. With the input invalid, alarm logic and HV interlock fall back to a safe state.

  • Check engine light: Not always
  • Emissions related: No
  • Repair difficulty: easy

Common causes

Ordered by how often each turns out to be the cause.

  • Open or shorted hood-switch wireCommon
  • Aged switch with corroded contactsPossible

Parts involved

  • Hood Switch
  • Wiring Harness

P254F 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.