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When you pull apart the tubes by the alternator, and you have the engine running should you feel air being sucked to the rear and should you feel air being blown from the tube going ot the front? This is from a dead cold start.
If you are talking about the secondary air system, that seems to be correct. During the first minute, the air pump is trying to blow air into the system tubes and through the check valves. When you open the system you should not feel a great deal of vacuum to the rear or the valve or valves are stuck open. You can isolate them to figure out which one. It seems that the overwelming common problem is the rear one behind the intake manifold is stuck closed. You can try to put various cleaners into the rear tubes and blow it though with compressed air. Mine was tough with just lung power. Overall, the cleaning trick worked well for me several times. Recently I had my speed shop edit out the handful of offending codes and removed the entire troublesome system, pump, valves, tubes and all. It's easy to cap off the exhaust manifold connection with simple caps. Good luck! Do a search, many have struggled with this. Then again you could remove your intake and replace the crummy valve and be good for a couple of years.
I am trying the cleaning method before I jump into the replacement of the passenger side valve. I have read all of the threads about this procedure, but I guess I am just trying to pinpoint what the problem is. I took the hose apart at the alternator and did feel quite a pulling of air into the tube going to the rear. BUT, the tube coming from the air pump, I didnt feel any air being pushed out of it, but I did hear the pump running. So my thinking is if I should feel air coming out of that tube, and since I dont but do hear the pump, either it is a vacum line or the pump is broke, but still running. Does that make sense?
Correct Lucky, but are my thoughts plausible? I didnt feel any air coming from the tube that goes to the front during that 240 second period.
Or is it that there is such a pull of air from the rear that it actually pulls the air from the air pump? Meaning, if you do what I did and pull the tubes apart and start it you wouldnt feel any air from the AIR pump side because the the air is acually being pulled from the air pump and not puched from it?
Just really trying to decide if it is a check valve problem or if it is actually an AIR pump problem.
I followed this issue for quite a while when I had the problem. Never heard of the pump going but no air coming through. However, I think there is a check valve in the pump also that could (I guess) stick close. Are you sure you are checking it soon enough while it is cold?
Check this Shut-off Valve.
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It's on the output side of the Pump, and is turned on by Vacuum suplied by the small vacuum tube. If you don't have vacuum on the small tube, you won't get any output of air at the connection you disconected.
Last edited by byronhunter; Aug 12, 2010 at 10:21 PM.