P0660–P0663 Intake Manifold Tuning Valve Control Circuit/Open Bank 1
The circuit is broken somewhere - a cut wire, a corroded pin or an unplugged connector means the signal never arrives.
Can you drive it? The engine light will stay on and the car may run in a reduced-power mode. Read the freeze-frame data to see the conditions the fault was logged under.
Which code is which
Same fault, different cylinder or bank — diagnosed the same way. Several set together usually means one shared cause.
| Code | Definition | Severity |
|---|---|---|
P0660 | Intake Manifold Tuning Valve Control Circuit/Open Bank 1 | Investigate soon |
P0663 | Intake Manifold Tuning Valve Control Circuit/Open Bank 2 | Investigate soon |
The definition
P0660: Intake Manifold Tuning Valve Control Circuit/Open Bank 1.
P0660 is a powertrain code (the engine or gearbox), defined by the SAE standard - it means the same thing on any make of car, and any generic OBD-II reader will decode it.
What to check first
Cheapest and fastest checks first:
- Check the connector is fully seated and the locking tab is engaged. A half-seated plug is the single most common cause of an open circuit.
- Back-probe the pins and check continuity from the part back to the module connector.
- Inspect for a pushed-back or corroded terminal - the wire looks fine but the pin has backed out of the housing.
What actually causes this on a VAG
Many VAG engines have flaps inside the intake manifold that change the air's path, or the swirl it is given, depending on engine load - a changeover flap on some V6s, swirl or tumble flaps on 2.0 TDI and various petrol engines. The ECU works them through a vacuum solenoid valve or a small electric actuator. This code says that control circuit is open: the ECU switched its output and could not see a working load on the other end. VAG's own wording for it is "Intake Manifold Tuning Control Circuit - Bank 1". Symptoms are often mild - a slightly rough idle, a little down on pull, sometimes nothing you would notice at all.
Most likely causes, in order
- Unplugged, corroded or damaged connector at the valve or actuator. The first thing to look at, and free. Particularly likely if an engine cover has been off or work has been done nearby. Check the plug is fully home, the locking clip engaged, and the pins clean and not pushed back out of the housing.
- Open-circuit solenoid or actuator coil. The winding goes open with age and heat. A working solenoid usually gives an audible click when it is switched with diagnostic equipment - silence, with a good feed present at the plug, points straight at it. This is an inexpensive part on most applications.
- Broken wire between ECU and valve. The loom crosses a hot, moving engine and can chafe through, often near the manifold or a heat shield. Follow the run and flex it while the output is being switched, rather than assuming the valve is at fault.
- ECU output stage fault. Rare, and only worth entertaining once the valve and its wiring have been properly proven. On VAG an ECU replacement also brings immobiliser adaptation and component protection work with it, so it is not a cheap guess.
Worth knowing: This is an electrical code about the control wire - it is not the car telling you the flaps themselves are sooted up, sticking or broken. Mechanical flap trouble stores different codes about position or plausibility instead, most famously P2015 on 2.0 TDI engines, where the plastic lever on the manifold flap linkage snaps. Do not accept a quote for a new intake manifold on the strength of an open-circuit code until the plug and the solenoid coil have actually been checked.
Reading the code is the easy part
A code names the circuit that complained. What tells you why is watching the sensor behind it while the engine runs — and that is where a code reader stops and a diagnostic tool starts.
VAGPULSE reads every module in a VW, Audi, Skoda or SEAT — not just the engine — shows the live measuring blocks behind this fault, gives you the freeze-frame conditions it was logged under, and clears it once you have fixed it. It also does what a generic OBD reader cannot on a VAG: service resets, coding, adaptations, and Stage 1–3 flashing with your original file saved first.
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Prefer to work on your phone? The VAGPULSE Android app is a free download and its demo mode runs against a sample car with no hardware at all, so you can see exactly what it reads before spending anything. Reading your car with it needs the VAGPULSE cable, which comes with the licence.
Common questions
What does P0660 mean?
P0660 means Intake Manifold Tuning Valve Control Circuit/Open Bank 1. The circuit is broken somewhere - a cut wire, a corroded pin or an unplugged connector means the signal never arrives.
Can I drive with P0660?
The engine light will stay on and the car may run in a reduced-power mode. Read the freeze-frame data to see the conditions the fault was logged under.