Symptoms of P0573
- Unstable, high, or low idle, or stalling.
- Erratic speedometer, cruise-control, or shift behaviour.
- Check-engine light with a hesitation or surge.
Common causes of P0573
- A dirty throttle body, idle-control valve, or throttle-position sensor.
- A failing vehicle-speed or wheel-speed sensor, or its wiring.
- Vacuum leaks or a related sensor forcing the idle/speed strategy.
Useful checks before replacing parts
- Review brake switch A and B states, stop lamp operation, cruise cancel status, vehicle speed, freeze-frame data, and related brake switch codes.
- Inspect for short-to-voltage faults, open grounds, switch misadjustment, stuck pedal hardware, connector corrosion, and harness damage near the pedal.
- Verify the switch changes state correctly and is not stuck high with the pedal released.
How serious is P0573, and can you keep driving?
- Urgency
- Moderate, and a safety matter if it stalls
- Safe to drive?
- Only if the idle is stable and it has not stalled on you.
Faults in this family show up as unstable idle, stalling at junctions, or a throttle that does not respond the way you asked. A car that cuts out as you pull into traffic is a safety problem, not an inconvenience, and many vehicles will drop to a reduced-power limp mode to protect themselves. If it has stalled once in traffic, stop driving it.
Clearing P0573, and making it stay gone
Clearing P0573 with a scan tool switches the lamp off; it does not fix anything, and it throws away the freeze-frame snapshot the car saved when the fault set. That snapshot is the most useful diagnostic evidence you have, because it records the load, RPM and temperature at the moment the test failed. Read it before you erase it.
Left alone, the lamp goes out on its own once the monitor that failed runs and passes on three consecutive driving cycles. The code stays in history after that, which is how a workshop can still see it. Disconnecting the battery is not a shortcut — it clears the stored codes and every learned fuel-trim value with them, so the car relearns from scratch and the underlying fault simply sets the code again.
On vehicles from roughly 2010 onward there is also a permanent DTC, which no scan tool can erase at all. It clears only when the monitor genuinely passes. That is deliberate: it stops a code being wiped in the car park outside an emissions test.
What P0573 costs to put right
There is no honest single figure for P0573, and any page that gives you one is guessing. The code names a circuit or a failed monitor, not a part — the same code can be a chafed wire, a connector full of water, or the component itself, and those are three very different bills.
The number worth budgeting for is diagnostic time. An hour of it is almost always cheaper than the second part you buy after the first one does not fix it, and parts fitted on a guess are rarely refundable once installed. If you are getting a quote, ask what the diagnosis found rather than what is being replaced — a speed / idle fault traced to a specific cause is a repair, and a list of parts is a hopeful shopping list.
Questions people ask about P0573
What does P0573 mean?
P0573 points to a high condition in Cruise Control or Brake Switch A circuit. The controller sees brake or cruise-cancel voltage above the expected range.
Can I drive with P0573?
Only if the idle is stable and it has not stalled on you. Faults in this family show up as unstable idle, stalling at junctions, or a throttle that does not respond the way you asked. A car that cuts out as you pull into traffic is a safety problem, not an inconvenience, and many vehicles will drop to a reduced-power limp mode to protect themselves. If it has stalled once in traffic, stop driving it.
What causes P0573?
The usual candidates are a dirty throttle body, idle-control valve, or throttle-position sensor; a failing vehicle-speed or wheel-speed sensor, or its wiring; vacuum leaks or a related sensor forcing the idle/speed strategy. The code tells you which test failed, not which of those did it — that is what the checks on this page are for.
Will P0573 clear itself?
Left alone, the lamp goes out on its own once the monitor that failed runs and passes on three consecutive driving cycles. The code stays in history after that, which is how a workshop can still see it. Disconnecting the battery is not a shortcut — it clears the stored codes and every learned fuel-trim value with them, so the car relearns from scratch and the underlying fault simply sets the code again.
Does P0573 mean I need to replace a part?
Do not ignore a high brake-switch signal because it can disable cruise and affect shift or start interlocks.
How much does it cost to fix P0573?
There is no honest single figure for P0573, and any page that gives you one is guessing. The code names a circuit or a failed monitor, not a part — the same code can be a chafed wire, a connector full of water, or the component itself, and those are three very different bills.
Related OBD-II codes
These nearby speed / idle entries can help compare wording and pin down the fault area.