OBD-II trouble code
P2260: Secondary Air Injection System Control "B" Circuit High
The module could not pull the second secondary air control line down, which on a ground-switched output nearly always means an open. The healthy A output next to it is worth more than any meter here: if A works, the supply, the ground and the module are already proven, and the fault has to be in the B branch.
Quick facts
- System
- Powertrain
- Category
- Emissions / Secondary Air
- Severity
- Low severity
- Drivable
- Usually safe to drive short-term
- Repair cost range
- $0 – $1,300
- DIY difficulty
- Advanced DIY
Browse every code in P2200–P229F, or start from the full code library.
What does P2260 mean?
Most circuit diagnosis begins with the two measurements everyone is taught to take first: is there power, and is there a good ground. On this code you can usually skip both, and the reason is sitting right next to the fault.
These outputs are switched on the ground side. The module turns an element on by pulling its control line down, so a high verdict means the line stayed up when the module tried to bring it down — which on this kind of circuit overwhelmingly means the path is open. The useful part is that this system has a second commanded output, and if that other output is behaving normally then a great deal has already been proven without a meter ever coming out of the drawer. The module has power. The module's ground is sound. The module is capable of switching. The supply feeding the system is present. Anything the two circuits share is exonerated in one observation. What is left is the branch belonging to this output alone: its own conductor, its own connector, its own load. That collapses the search space before the first measurement rather than after the fourth, and it is the single most useful thing about diagnosing an open on a two-output system.
Before chasing that branch, there is a question worth settling that no amount of wiring work can answer, and it catches people out on used vehicles and on vehicles that have had emissions hardware disturbed. Does this vehicle actually have a second element fitted? A module commands what its calibration tells it to command. A control module carrying software for a two-output variant, fitted to a car built with one, will report this circuit open forever and no repair to the harness will change that. The same thing happens after a switching valve is removed during exhaust work and never refitted, or after a used module is installed from a donor vehicle with a different configuration. So establish two things early: what the second output is supposed to command on this VIN, and whether that device is physically present and connected. Both answers come from the wiring diagram and a torch, not from a scan tool.
Once the branch is confirmed to exist, where the device sits tells you what is likely to have gone wrong with it, and this is where identifying the element pays for itself a second time. An air switching or shutoff valve lives on or immediately beside the exhaust, because that is where its air has to arrive. Its connector therefore spends its life in the hottest and most heat-cycled part of the engine bay, and heat is what kills it. An air pump, by contrast, is usually mounted higher and further forward, in cooler air, and its failures skew toward vibration, water intrusion and mounting. Same fault verdict, two very different inspection lists, and the difference is decided by which device the letter refers to on this vehicle.
One more architectural point is worth knowing because it affects what you can read in the data. On V-engine systems where the two outputs are split by bank, an open on the B branch means cold-start air is being delivered to one cylinder head and not the other. That asymmetry is visible if you look in the right place at the right time: during the first minute after a genuine cold start, the two banks' oxygen sensors behave differently from each other, and then the difference disappears entirely once the system would have shut off anyway. A freeze frame captured during that window is far more informative than anything you can measure afterwards, which is a good reason to preserve rather than clear the stored data before the vehicle is warmed up.
On consequences, this is the mild end of the family and it deserves to be said plainly. An open control circuit means the module cannot switch that element on, so the cold-start air never arrives — or arrives on one bank only. Nothing is being run beyond its duty, nothing is overheating, and the vehicle starts, drives and consumes fuel exactly as it did before. The practical cost is a failed emissions inspection and a converter that takes slightly longer to reach operating temperature in the first minute of each cold start, which is precisely the period the system existed to cover.
Common causes
- Open conductor in the branch feeding the second commanded element
- Air switching or shutoff valve disconnected, removed during earlier exhaust work and never refitted
- Control module carrying a calibration for a two-output variant on a vehicle built with one output, so the circuit reads open permanently
- Used or salvage module installed from a donor vehicle with a different secondary air configuration
- Connector at a valve mounted on or beside the exhaust, degraded by repeated heat cycling
- Failed solenoid or motor winding, open internally, so the module sees no load to switch
- Relay socket in the second circuit with a lifted or spread terminal
- Corroded or unlatched connector at a pump mounted low or forward where water reaches it
- Short to a switched or permanent supply, which produces the same verdict but is much less common on this circuit
- Failed module output stage for the second circuit, to be suspected only after the branch is proven
Symptoms
- Check engine light with no change in how the vehicle starts, drives or consumes fuel
- Failed emissions inspection
- A secondary air element that never operates during the cold-start window, where it was previously audible or observable
- On bank-split systems, the two banks' oxygen sensors behaving differently from each other during the first minute after a cold start and identically thereafter
- The A-circuit version of the fault absent, which is itself evidence that the shared supply, ground and module are healthy
- A disconnected or missing switching valve found during inspection, often after previous exhaust work
- The code returning immediately after clearing on a vehicle whose module configuration does not match its hardware
- Slightly higher tailpipe emissions during the first minute of a cold start, not perceptible to the driver
Diagnostic steps
- 1.Check whether the A circuit is healthy. If it is, the shared supply, ground, module power and module switching capability are all proven, and the fault is confined to the B branch.
- 2.Establish from the wiring diagram what the second output is supposed to command on this VIN, and then confirm with your eyes that the device is physically present and plugged in.
- 3.On a vehicle with a replaced or used control module, compare the module's configuration against the vehicle's actual hardware before touching the harness. A configuration mismatch reports an open that no repair will clear.
- 4.Preserve the freeze frame rather than clearing it, and on a bank-split system look at how the two banks' oxygen sensors behaved during the first minute after the cold start.
- 5.Inspect the connector at the second element with its location in mind: a valve beside the exhaust fails from heat, a pump mounted low fails from water.
- 6.Test the control conductor for continuity from the module pin to the device, using the pinout for the module that actually owns the output.
- 7.Measure the solenoid or motor winding against specification to rule out an open load.
- 8.Where a relay is fitted in this branch, inspect the socket terminals rather than only substituting the relay.
- 9.Command the output with a scan tool while measuring at the device end, which confirms whether the module is trying and the harness is failing to deliver.
- 10.Verify with a genuine cold start afterwards that the element operates for its normal window.
Repair cost
$0 – $1,300
The low end is genuinely zero, because a fair share of these are a connector that was never plugged back in after other work, or a module configuration that needs correcting rather than a part. Diagnostic time is $100 to $250. Reseating or replacing a connector and its terminals runs $80 to $350. Repairing an open section of harness is $120 to $450. An air switching or shutoff valve is $120 to $500 fitted. Replacing a pump whose winding has failed open is $250 to $900 and more on some European applications. Correcting a module configuration is programming time, typically $100 to $250; replacing the module outright sits at the top of the range.
Estimate your repair
Run the numbers for your vehicle
Open the Repair Cost Estimator with wiring harness / circuit repair preselected. Adjust labor rate and vehicle category to fit your situation.
DIY vs shop
This is an advanced DIY job. It typically requires specialty tools, scan-tool access, lifting equipment, or careful sequencing to avoid causing new failures. Plan for extended downtime and have a backup vehicle. Most owners are better served by a shop that has done this repair before.