P26A6 — Engine Coolant Bypass Valve A Position Sensor Circuit Low

P26A6: Engine Coolant Bypass Valve A Position Sensor Circuit Low — what it means, the affected system and what to check before replacing parts.

Meaning, symptoms, causes and checks

The coolant bypass valve A position-sensor circuit reports a low electrical signal. This does not mean low coolant level or low engine temperature. Subaru and RAM document examples on specified vehicles.

Affected system: Powertrain

Symptoms

  • On some RAM 1500 vehicles the engine-fault lamp may illuminate with P26A6.
  • Related sensor codes have been reported on certain Subaru systems.

Possible causes

  • On some Subaru circuits an internal valve short can pull down a shared 5 V sensor reference.
  • On specific 2022–2023 RAM 1500 3.6 V6 builds, a cracked coolant-valve gear was documented in TSB 07-009-23.

What to check

  • Capture VIN, engine, freeze-frame and related codes.
  • Test the valve sensor supply, feedback and ground using the correct wiring diagram.
  • Confirm bulletin build applicability before applying RAM or Subaru findings.

Also written as: P26A6-00, P26A600 (some scan tools add the fault-type byte, e.g. -00).