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P257B

Vacuum Reservoir Control Circuit Low

The vacuum reservoir control circuit reads stuck low — short to ground or low-side driver stuck on. The actuator may be energised continuously when it should be off.

  • Check engine light: Yes
  • Emissions related: No
  • Repair difficulty: medium

Common causes

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

  • Control wire shorted to groundCommon
  • Connector pins corroded - high contact resistanceLess likely
  • Harness chafing through insulationLess likely

Parts involved

  • Vacuum Reservoir Control Valve

P257B 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.