Secondary Air Injector pump failing; can I just pull a fuse?

[Universe]

So, as the title says my SAI pump is starting to fail. With the weather being so bad in my area, I can't currently do a delete on the system. Would pulling the fuse/relay be safe to do for now? My state doesn't have emissions, so there isn't a problem there with it not working.

The car is a 98 2.8 v6

Thanks for the help

[BrucexL33]

you're still going to get the check engine light if that's what you're avoiding.

[Universe]

you're still going to get the check engine light if that's what you're avoiding.

My main problem is that fact that my car sounds like a Jet about to take off when I start it I get some weird looks sometimes, but its just plain annoying.

AFAIK the SAI isn't needed for anything other than heating up the cats, so I would be ok just pulling the relay? Or is there something else I should do

[catbed]

like bruce said, pulling a fuse will not help the CEL. Deleting it will leave a CEL as well without software changes.

[BrucexL33]

you can just unplug the harness from the SAI.

[Universe]

Forgive my not knowing, this is the first car I've actually worked on myself. Where is the harness at? My repair manual pretty much skips over the SAI system with one small paragraph

[BrucexL33]

there's a wire that plugs into the SAI. Looks like this it just plugs right into the pump.

edit: that's not my hands btw. holy cow someone get that man some lotion

[getslideways]

My main problem is that fact that my car sounds like a Jet about to take off when I start it I get some weird looks sometimes, but its just plain annoying.

AFAIK the SAI isn't needed for anything other than heating up the cats, so I would be ok just pulling the relay? Or is there something else I should do

Is the pump failing or is one of the lines just broken? I had the line that runs from the airbox to the SAI pump break, and it sounded like a jet engine at startup as a result. I pulled out the hose, slid on as piece of heavy duty large diameter shrink tube to repair it, connected it all back together, and it ran perfect and quiet up through the day I sold it several years later.

[Universe]

Is the pump failing or is one of the lines just broken? I had the line that runs from the airbox to the SAI pump break, and it sounded like a jet engine at startup as a result. I pulled out the hose, slid on as piece of heavy duty large diameter shrink tube to repair it, connected it all back together, and it ran perfect and quiet up through the day I sold it several years later.

I'm not sure at this point, but I don't have a garage to work in and there is currently about 3 feet of snow on the ground, blowing wind, etc.

I assume to get at the SAI I'd need to jack the car up, so pulling a hose off (if that is the problem) at the moment is kind of out of the question. But it's definitely something I'll check into when the weather starts warming up. Also, when you say airbox, what do you mean? My car has a conical oiled cotton air filter (put in before I owned the car, wasn't my choice), which has a black tube about an inch in diameter below it. The tube just sits right below the filter(not connected to anything on top) and runs down on the left hand side of the engine to where I assume is the SAI.

[getslideways]

I take some of that back, i think the hose i fixed was the SAI outlet (from the pump to the metal pipe that leads to the Combi-valve), and not the inlet (airbox to SAI) as I stated above.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/058133817D/ES6667/

So it was the same as having the pump exposed to the atmosphere, hence the loud F18 like sound. So that could still be you issue, I just referenced the wrong hose (been 2+ years since I sold it and have been SAI free since then lol) But 10+ year old plastic exposed to the heat of an engine bay is pretty prone to cracking, so I would not be surprised if thats all it was. Have you scanned your car or gotten any "SAI Insufficient Flow" codes or anything?

As for removal, yes, i believe the belly pan has to come off, and the connectors are just squeeze-clip style ends. I cannot remember if the Turbo Inlet Pipe has to come off or not, as again its been a very long time. If that is all it turns out to be, then you are in luck, an hour and some shrinktube and you are back in quiet- fighter-jet free business.

The SAI inlet is supposed to attache to the stock intake, so that the air it sucks in is filtered. Since you have a cone, thats why its just flopping around since it has nothing to attach to.

[RENOxDECEPTION]

Is the pump failing or is one of the lines just broken? I had the line that runs from the airbox to the SAI pump break, and it sounded like a jet engine at startup as a result. I pulled out the hose, slid on as piece of heavy duty large diameter shrink tube to repair it, connected it all back together, and it ran perfect and quiet up through the day I sold it several years later.

That's how I fixed mine too! hahaha

[Universe]

I have had a p0420 code (cat efficiency below 95% bank 1), if I clear the code it comes back in a couple days (usually after a few hours of driving).

Once it warms up I'll look further into the hose and see if there is a hole or leak anywhere. For now I'm just going to pull the plug on it.

Thanks for the help guys

[BrucexL33]

Did you have the code for the SAI before ? Also do you have a high flow cat or test pipe? If not then your stock OEM cat is bad that's why you are getting that p0420 code.

[RENOxDECEPTION]

Could be a misreading rear o2 also, more than likely the cat though.

[getslideways]

If the SAI outlet hose is broken then its not injecting the air into the cat, (to warm it up faster and improve its efficiency) so there is a chance that could be the reason for the p0420 code too. Perhaps not but that would seem to make sense. Especially if the loud noise and the CEL happened around the same time. The chances of the SAI and the CAT failing at the exact same time would seem pretty low, so it would seem more likely that one has caused the other.

However, if the CEL was a preexisting condition then that's another story and O2 sensors and/or your cat may be the culprit for your CEL.

Also, I am glad to hear I wasn't the only one rocking the shrink tube mod lol

[Universe]

Did you have the code for the SAI before ? Also do you have a high flow cat or test pipe? If not then your stock OEM cat is bad that's why you are getting that p0420 code.

yes the OEM cat is bad, but what else would you expect from a car that just turned over 150k miles? The cat didn't seem to be clogged, which I tested with an IR temp gun, so I left it on for the time being

Could be a misreading rear o2 also, more than likely the cat though.

It could be, but the car is over 150k miles now, so im guessing the cat is bad (and maybe the o2 sensor also)


But, like I said originally, my state has absolutely no emissions or inspections, so I'll be most likely removing the SAI when weather allows, or the next time I have to flip the radiator into service position. And depending on pricing may have a universal cat put in, or just remove the cats all together for straight piping. Check engine light is no big deal for me, I try check my codes every few weeks with vagcom to make sure new ones aren't popping up