P0979: Solenoid C circuit low is an electrical classification that needs isolation

P0979 belongs to shift solenoid C's short-to-ground category in Ford's monitor table. Its P0760_11 representation is more specific than a broad scanner description of a C-solenoid problem. It does not report low hydraulic pressure directly.

Keep the monitor types distinct

Ford evaluates electrical faults continuously using smart-driver feedback. A typical electrical fault report must persist for 1.5 seconds. Functional tests occur around solenoid transitions and use a separate counter, so their event thresholds should not be substituted for this electrical result.

The C functional failed-off code is P0761/P0760_7F. That code and P0979 can lead to different immediate questions: whether the expected response occurred and whether the circuit was classified toward ground. Neither finding should silently replace the other.

What a diagnostic record can establish

Retain the command, circuit status, complete failure suffix and any simultaneous control-supply faults. A later valid C-channel response does not tell the reader where an earlier grounding path was present. A poor ratio or shift does not independently locate an electrical defect either.

The source gives no universal C-solenoid position, resistance specification or connector terminal. It also does not prove that the solenoid itself is the faulty element. Use the applicable transmission circuit procedure to isolate the reported condition while keeping any functional evidence as a separate, time-aligned observation.

Source and applicability

Ford 2024–2025 gasoline OBD operation summary, July 16 2024 revision; only the cited monitor and transmission architectures. No individual vehicle fitment or universal calibration is inferred. Ford PDF, page 151. Ford PDF, page 152. Ford PDF, page 155.