P0500: the vehicle speed signal has a fault
The vehicle speed sensor tells the engine control unit, and several other computers in the car, how fast the wheels are turning, which feeds into idle control, fuel trim and gear changes on an automatic. This code means that signal isn't behaving the way the computer expects, whether that's an implausible reading, a missing one, or one that doesn't match the car's other speed information. It covers the sensor, its wiring and its connector together.
You might notice
- The speedometer may read incorrectly, flicker, or drop to zero
- The engine may idle unevenly when slowing to a stop, since the computer partly relies on this signal to manage idle
- vehicle speed sensor
- — a sensor that tells the car's computers how fast the wheels are turning
What the code itself says
P0500 is a powertrain (engine, gearbox and drive system) code, and the 0 after the letter means it is a generic code with a standard meaning.
Grouped here as: Brakes, steering and stability — Brakes, stability, steering assistance and road speed. That grouping is ours, to help explain the code. The code's official family is the letter at the start.
This page is generic. Your car isn't.
A code on its own only tells you what the sensor saw, not what's actually wrong — and that changes next to your other codes. Read this one together with the rest of your scan and we'll work out what's really going on.
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