The air pump is used as an "emission improving" device. They can be removed IF your vehicle is not required to pass any annual pollution inspections. About the only thing I have found them to be good for is adding weight to and robbing horsepower from your engine.
Good luck

 

I believe you will have to plug up the holes in your heads. Its been along time since I have worked on an old smog motor but if my memory serves me correctly there were lines going into the heads below the exhaust manifold. I'm sure if I am wrong, somebody here will correct me

 

Absolutely correct

hello

thanks 4 such great answers

and youre right about the pipes

they must to be plugged 1 in each exhaust and 1 in the catalyst conv.

and 2 vaccum lines also

:gr_patrio

 

I had disconnected mine, and for some reason, it seemed as though my new cat. converter plugged up real quick. Not sure if the 2 are related or not. I had put on a SS. cat, but it didn't have the inlet for the air pump, so I disconnected it. Well right now neither are on van, cat or pump. I will have to look into this soon, as my van will be back on road, in about a month...

 

As to the air path. The air pump pumps into the lower half of the exhaust manifolds which distribute the air to each exhaust port.
Lack of air pump in an engine out of tune will choke the cat con. Even in good tune it's mostly the warm-up cycle were the engine is on the rich side that the air pump helps keep the cat con clean by put the air in the exhaust ports, ahead of the cat con
--B-300--

 

Will the ECU go crazy if you remove the airpump and the EGR-system? Will there be error codes that makes the ECU wanna compensate somehow?

 

As others have said, If you remove it entirely you must block the holes in the head as coolant will rush out. Easiest thing to do is just cut off the drive belt. On mine there is a dedicated belt which drives only the airpump. The extra 10 lbs weight is not going to make a difference.

I have an '89 as well and mine pumps air into the exhaust manifolds as well as the Cat converter. When the Airpump is not providing positive pressure the exhaust will back up these lines to the check valves and make them fail in short order. Then some exhaust is coming out of your airpump.

I used to remove the belt from my airpump after passing an emissions test. By the time I'd have to re install it the check valves would have failed, and the Airpump would have frozen. After this first time I then blocked off the lines to protect the check valves. The airpump still froze.

After my last emissions test, I just left it connected and operating. The remanufactured(50$) pump is the noisiest thing on my engine, But I'm not wasting 50$ on another pump, or going through the hassle of removing it and re installing it every 2 years and blocking off the holes and making sure the brackets are still keeping the power steering belt in line. The cheap thing would still probably freeze.

I do remove the Vaccuum line to my EGR valve and block it off after the smog test. Before the new test I take the egr off and clean it and make sure the pintle moves when changing the RPM as they visually check for this in California.

Never sets any computer codes.

 

As others have said, If you remove it entirely you must block the holes in the head as coolant will rush out.

WHAT?? How? None of the air pump hardware goes anywhere near coolant passages; if it did coolant would also go out the exhaust. This is a van, correct? Pull your "doghouse" from the inside of the van. On the back side of each ex. manifold, there is a ~1/2" diameter pipe held to the manifold by a 5/16 (1/2" wrench size) bolt. I've removed these, cut the pipe flush with the flange in a vise and welded them shut then replaced just the flanges; Mopar used to sell these "block offs" seperate. I've seen them on late 70s and early 80s non Cali engines (so they would not have to make a "special" manifold for 49 state vs Cal) factory installed. Then you can unbolt the air pump entirely and not mess with any thing else. Done that many times, most recently on my old 90 Dakota. also; if the air pump gives out on my current 83 D 250, I'll again remove it entirely; there is 1 belt that turns the air pump and water pump, and another that turns the PS pump and WP; so by removing the air pump there will still be a belt to power the water pump.

Those air feed tubes that I am talking about cutting and welding shut, tend to rot out anyways giving you a HELL of an exhaust leak; if you don't have access to a vise and welder or youre afraid to break that 5/16 bolt off, cut that tube far enuf away from the flange where you can crimp it off with something with Vise Grips whill still connected to the manifolds; if you do it this way crimp enuf of it flat that you can "double it over" and crimp it again, against itself.

 

You do realize that by eliminating the EGR and especially the air pump, that your catalytic converter life expectancy is only half? Reason being, is that higher levels of unburnt fuel enter the CC, clogging it up all that much faster.

 

no problem. my cat is emty.

 

In the statement you quoted I should have typed 'block' instead of 'head'.
If I remove the ~ 8" long bolt ,which supports the bottom pivot point of the air pump as well as the brakets for the power steering pump, coolant comes rushing out. Comes out the top bolt too.
That is the reality on my '89 la 318. I don't know about magnums.

That's why I'd leave the pump in place and disconnect the rest of the hardware which indeed goes nowhere near the water jacket.

I would have to fab up some spacers as well to keep the power steering pump pulley in line if I chose to remove the Air pump entirely. Not worth the effort in my opinion.

 

yeah; I know what you mean out of the block. I don't believe you'd have to fab up anything; I've left that 2-hole aluminum spacer in place when removing the AP before (though I'm thinking of a mid 80s car 318; the truck setup may be slightly different; but its no biggie, to pull that bolt (I know the one you mean; it goes thru the timing cover) and then once the pump's gone, and the bolt is back in place to re fill the cooling system.
Might use the opportunity to do your put-off cooling sys maintenance, like a new T stat or any hoses 5+ years old while the system is drained down. kill 2 birds with 1 stone; but I've always been the type to remove any "dead weight" at the 1st opportunity; and a dead non working AP definitely qualifies there; if nothing else the eng compartment definitely looks cleaner and something less to be in your way when you do have to work on things;
as a worst case scenario, they built the LA 318s since 1967; next time you are in a junk yard, look for the bracketry from a non AP 318 or 360; though I've never had to go to that extreme, simply to remove an AP. I see (1) problem; (1a) youre in California; (smog nazis; never had to deal with them myself from where I live; though 25 miles north they do, not as bad as you guys) and (1b) you're too far for me to come by and help you do the job, as sometimes that's just easier than trying to explain; either you forget to mention something because its taken for granted, and the other guy does not know, or just on account of being human, and then the guy on the other end's left hanging. I've done this (AP removal) on mid 80s Diplomats/5th Avenues, as well as several B vans and pickups over the years.
So yeah, if looking at dead, in the way, weight does not bother you then yeah, just cut the belt; but I'd still crimp off the air feed tube somewhere behind the pump (looking at the pump as the "front") or at the manifolds themselves, even if you don't cut the remainder away.
A couple good bites with Vise Grips, each time tightening the adjuster a bit between bites til its closed off and crimped solid and you'll keep the exhaust from back feeding and a possible fire, from the excess heat doing its thing on the plastic and rubber in the diverter valve/hoses.
Closer to the connection point at the manifolds, the better; the farther away increases the chances of the tube rotting away between the manifold and the crimp.

 

volaredon,

Thanks for the offer off help if we lived close by, but as you noticed I've registered the Van in California where I have to smog it every 2 years. I used to remove the belt, and remove the check valves and block off the lines in between smog checks but the airpump would always freeze up.

If I were to remove the air pump entirely I'd have little problem in making sure the power steering pulley was inline.

After my last smog check 13 months ago, I just left the pump connected and operating so I don't have to bother replacing it when it would undoubtedly freeze up unused for 23 months.

I know it is a horsepower robber and noise maker, and my engine runs so clean according to the smog check centers, that it isn't really improving my emissions much. Leaving it in place and operating seems to be less of a hassle than removing and replacing it every 23 months.

I carry around so much dead weight 5 more pounds won't make a difference. But if I didn't have to smog it, the A/P would be long gone.

 

After reading this thread I am glad that my Magnum engine does not have the AP or the EGR.

Do the CA Magnum's have the AP and/or EGR's?

 

R.

Do the CA Magnum's have the AP and/or EGR's?

I do not know, but am surprised to hear other Magnums have no airpump. or egr.

How do they get around NO emissions?

 

I am not sure how the later series do it but do know it is related to the muti-port injection. I do have two O2 sensors, cat, MAP sensors, PCV, EVAP.

 

I can understand how 2 o2 sensors and MPFI can minimize unburnt hydrocarbons but oxides of nitrogen are formed at higher combustion temps. The EGR valve allows a little exhaust into the mix and somehow keeps the combustion chamber temps down and lowers the level of NO.

Are the Catcons bigger in magnum era engined vehicles to mitigate the extra NO? Is there some other way of lowering combustion chamber temps or NO emissions?
Just curious.

4 years ago my magnaflow catcon cost around 120$. I've heard replacement stock ones on newer vehicles are 600 to 800$, and that they have to be replaced with stock for CA emissions.

 

I do think the cats are about the same size on these engines. I am guessing that you could lower the NO by using overdrive and/or higher speed rear axles which would lower the RPM which inturn may lower the internal combustion temps.

I do not live in a county that has the smog testing, though the county just south of me does. In the counties that do the smog test, the 96 and newer vehicles, they plug into the ODB-II port and poll the PCM. If the PCM has no codes and all self emission testing has been complete such as the drive cycle then the vehicle passes inspection. All pre 96 vehicles get the "sniffer" up the tail pipe.

So on my van I am not sure how much NO is concidered acceptable.

 

In Ca my van gets the sniffer up the tailpipe as well as a visual inspection of the EGR valve to see if the pintle moves when fluctuating the RPMs.

I forget the max allowable ppm of NO in CA, but I remember my van could have produced 10 times as many and still passed. It was also lower than the average vehicle tested. Not bad for a 20 year old Van.
I have the data sheet from my last smog test in CA but I'm in FL for the holidays.

I think all vehicles 2 years old get their tailpipe sniffed in CA but I'm not sure.