P0700 Code: The One That Points at Another Code

The module that runs your automatic transmission has its own memory and its own codes, and when it finds a fault it can't light a lamp itself, so it asks the engine computer to do it. P0700 is that request, written down.

What does a P0700 code mean?

The transmission module asked for the light, and stored the reason separately. An automatic transmission is run by its own computer, the transmission control module or TCM, which watches fluid pressure, gear ratios, speed sensors and the solenoids and valve body that do the shifting.

It can't turn on the check engine light itself, so when it logs a fault it sets a flag the engine computer reads. The engine computer then stores P0700 and turns on the check engine light.

The code's own name says so: transmission control system, MIL request. MIL is the malfunction indicator lamp, the orange engine outline on your dashboard.

Some scan tools add a two-digit suffix, such as P0700-00 or P0700-02, and it's the same code either way. The Land Rover section explains what the suffix means there.

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Can you drive with a P0700 code?

Sometimes, and the second code and how the car drives decide, not the P0700 alone. Stop and tow it if the car is in limp mode at highway speed, has no forward or reverse, or shows a flashing check engine or transmission warning.

Limp mode is what owners describe most here: the transmission usually locks itself into one gear and caps your speed rather than keep shifting through whatever the second code names. Some owners say the car wouldn't move or engage a gear at all. Nothing in P0700 itself says which of these your car has. So have the second code read before a long drive.

What are the symptoms of a P0700 code?

P0700 itself only asks for one thing, the check engine light, which the engine computer turns on at the transmission module's request. Everything else you feel or see comes from the fault behind the second code.

Some makers add a transmission warning of their own, such as a flashing D and a Gearbox Fault message on some Land Rovers. In the complaints the rest means limp mode, a capped speed or a gear that won't engage, the cases covered in driving with P0700.

Revs that rise while the speed doesn't point to slipping instead. The transmission slipping page covers that case.

How do you fix a P0700 code?

You fix the part the second code names, so P0700 itself is rarely the repair. The transmission module's own codes come first, because they name that part.

To fix a P0700 code, work through the 4 steps below, and the first one costs nothing:

1. Write down every code on the scan, not just this one. P0700 beside P0747 is a pressure control solenoid, beside U0100 a communication fault and beside P0717 a speed sensor.
2. Check the fluid before anything is ordered. Level and condition are the cheapest thing that changes how a transmission behaves, and on many vehicles there's no dipstick to check them with, so checking a sealed transmission is a job of its own.
3. Ask whether a bulletin covers your vehicle. A few carmakers fix this code with software, as the bulletins below show. Before a transmission is quoted, our free VIN decoder also lists the recalls for your model year, and NHTSA's VIN search shows which are still open on yours.
4. Ask what the shop read, not what it suspects. A shop that has pulled the transmission module's own codes can name the component. A quote for a rebuild that names no second code has skipped the step that tells you what the job is.

Why does P0700 almost never arrive alone?

Because it is a pointer, and in at least 149 of the 172 complaints the thing it points at is named in the same scan. That second code is the one that points at a part or circuit.

Here's what the second code beside P0700 says, across the whole record:

• A pressure control solenoid, 61 times. P0747, P0776, P0796 and P2714 are four codes for the same kind of part, an electrically operated valve that sets the fluid pressure the transmission shifts with, and together they're the single most common thing behind a P0700 in this record. Have the fluid checked first, then the pressure and the solenoid measured, because a solenoid is a part, not a transmission.
• A transmission sensor (speed, fluid temperature or range), 20 times. P0717, P0711 and P0705 cover the input speed sensor, the fluid temperature sensor and the gear range sensor. Have the module's own codes read and the fluid checked before a sensor is replaced.
• No conversation at all, 10 times. U0100 and U0073 are communication codes: a module lost contact with the engine computer, or the network itself dropped. That's a wiring or a module question rather than a mechanical one, so the wiring and the module get checked, not the gears.

On some GM trucks and SUVs, P0700 beside P0747 can mean a worn transmission control valve, which can briefly lock the rear wheels. Recalls 24V-797 (2020–2022 diesel Silverado and Sierra, 2021–2022 diesel SUVs) and 26V-085 (2022 gas Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon and Escalade) add software that catches the wear early.

On those diesels, special coverage N242454441 also replaces the valve body free for 15 years or 150,000 miles. So have a GM dealer run the VIN before you pay for the repair.

P0700 alone confirms none of these, because it only reports that the transmission module stored a fault. With no second code on the scan at all, the next section picks it up.

For a second code outside those three groups, our check engine light codes guide shows how to read it one character at a time. Read it as written, with a zero as the second character rather than a letter O.

What if the scan shows only P0700?

Ask for a scan of the transmission module's own memory. In the record, 23 of the 172 filings name no second code, though the owner may not have written it down, and a GMC Sierra owner puts it plainly: I ran my scanner on my truck and code P0700 TCM was the only code showing.

When P0700 is the only code on the scan, two things are worth knowing:

• The second code may be in a module your scanner didn't ask. The transmission module stores its own codes, and not every tool requests them. So ask which modules the tool actually queried.
• An intermittent fault can set the pointer and clear the detail. One filing describes the engine light going out after 25 to 35 miles, with P0700 and U0100 among its codes.

A few carmaker bulletins are exceptions, where P0700 itself gets a fix. Honda's A25-017 says ice under the exhaust valve on a 2023–2024 Accord Hybrid or CR-V Hybrid sets P0700 on a freezing start, fixed with an engine-computer software update.

Subaru's 06-93-25 reprograms the engine computer of 2024 Impreza and Crosstrek models storing P0700 with P0890 after a starter relay froze. Both fixes are software, not a transmission part.

P0700 complaints by what else the owner filed

What was filed beside P0700	Codes	Complaints
Pressure control solenoid	P0747, P0776, P0796, P2714	61
Transmission sensor	P0717, P0711, P0705	20
No communication	U0100, U0073	10
No second code filed	P0700 alone	23

These are the 172 US complaints naming the code, model years 2010–2025, from NHTSA consumer complaints received through September 30, 2026. A filing can name more than one group.

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What does it cost to fix a P0700 code?

Nothing for P0700 itself, outside two carmaker software fixes. The bill belongs to the second code, from a speed sensor at the small end to a rebuilt transmission at the other.

A rebuild is the expensive end, not the usual one. Our transmission slipping and transmission symptoms pages price the repairs this code leads to, and the transmission fluid leak repair cost page prices a leak that starved the system.

Before you approve a transmission repair, ask which second code the scan found and what test confirmed it. Ask for the test result, the hours and the rate on the written quote, and whether the diagnosis fee comes off if you approve the repair.

Will a P0700 code fail an emissions test?

Yes, in states that read the computer, and clearing it first makes things worse. A stored code can fail there, and so can a cleared one whose readiness monitors still read not ready.

Those monitors are the self-tests the computer works through as you drive, and New York fails a 2001 or newer car with more than one of them not ready. The erase also takes the second code, which was the one going to tell somebody what to fix.

Which cars actually report a P0700 code?

General Motors vehicles, by a wide margin, and GM's full-size trucks above all. Still, every model year in 2010–2025 files it, so this isn't one generation's defect but a code any automatic transmission can set.

Chevy badges lead the models named, and Subaru is the largest name outside GM. The counts by maker and model sit in the complaint record further down.

P0700 on a Land Rover

On a Land Rover, P0700 usually shows with a two-digit suffix. In Land Rover's own code wording, -00 means no sub type information, so the code carries no detail on the kind of failure, and -02 is a general signal failure.

The documented case is the 2017–2018 Discovery, Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, and the 2018 Velar, with the ZF 8HP45 or 8HP70 eight-speed. There P0700-02 sits beside P0715-64, with a Gearbox Fault message and a flashing D after an auto stop/start, typically at low mileage.

For some 2018 cars, by VIN, the fix is a software update for the transmission module under normal warranty, with no parts. On other 2017–2018 cars, the earlier service message clears the codes and runs an adaption drive, and names the mechatronic valve block as the other possible cause.

Both apply only when those two codes are the only ones stored. Any other code in the transmission module is diagnosed first, as a separate job.

Common questions

Asked most often

Is PO700 the same code as P0700?

Yes, it's P0700 typed with a letter O where the zero belongs, and 4 of the 172 filings write it that way. Read any code as written on the scan tool, with a zero as the second character.

Is P0700 a transmission problem or an engine problem?

Transmission, in the sense that the transmission module raised it. Some filings pair it with U0100 or U0073, communication faults that point at wiring or a module rather than anything mechanical inside the transmission.

Can a bad battery cause a P0700 code?

No source ties a battery to it: in the filings where one was replaced the code came back, and where voltage really was involved, what got found was wiring. The exception is GM's PIT5817: on some 2021 Escalade, Suburban, Tahoe and Yukon models, a body control module relay that stays on, more often after a remote start, drains the battery and sets P0700, and the fix is a new module.

Does P0700 mean I need a new transmission?

Not in most filings, since only about one in nine mention a rebuild or a replacement transmission, and a complaint record leans toward the worst outcomes. The commonest second code is a pressure control solenoid, which is a part, not a transmission.

Can dirty transmission fluid cause a P0700 code?

Not as the thing anybody found, because the filings describing burnt fluid or metal in the pan read it as evidence of wear already done. Checking it is still worth doing first, because it's cheap, and where there's no dipstick, ask a shop.

This page researched no prices of its own for the US market. The figures for the repairs this code leads to are on the transmission pages it links to, where they're sourced and dated. This article is general information, not advice about your specific vehicle. See the disclaimer.