Fault Family System: Powertrain (P-Codes) 10 SAE Codes

Ambient Air Temp Circuit

Diagnostic & Technical Explanation

Code P0070 (Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit A) sets when the ECM sees an open, shorted, or implausible resistance reading from the outside ambient air temperature sensor, usually mounted behind the front bumper or in the mirror housing. Common causes are corroded connector pins exposed to road spray, a failed thermistor element, or a chafed harness section.

These 10 diagnostic trouble codes share one detection mechanism and one repair path, which is why MechanicDB groups them into a single authored fault family rather than repeating the same explanation 10 times.

Codes in this family (10)

Code	Definition	Repair coverage
P0070	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit A	3 ranked fixes
P0071	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit A Range/Performance	3 ranked fixes
P0072	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit A Low	3 ranked fixes
P0073	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit A High	3 ranked fixes
P0074	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit A Intermittent/Erratic	3 ranked fixes
P00D9	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit B	3 ranked fixes
P00DA	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit B Range/Performance	3 ranked fixes
P00DB	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit B Low	3 ranked fixes
P00DC	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit B High	3 ranked fixes
P00DD	Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit B Intermittent/Erratic	3 ranked fixes

What this page does not show

This page publishes the fault mechanism and the code index. The licensed dataset adds, for every one of the 15,886 codes, the full authored repair set (56,729 procedures in total) with the fields deliberately withheld here:

Procedures 2..n after the first-listed procedure
Aftermarket parts cost ranges in USD (est_parts_cost_min/max_usd)
Professional labor-hour estimates (est_labor_hours)
Step-by-step diagnostic and repair instructions
Replacement-part mappings and catalog lookups
6,637 manufacturer-specific OEM codes across 32 makes ($149 tier)

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