Electric Air pump

[Mark_88]

Original Poster: Mark_88

Difficulty: 1 out of 10


Time to install: About two hours if you have all the parts and tools.

Disclaimer: The Ranger Station.com, The Ranger Station.com Staff, nor the original poster are responsible for you doing this modification to your vehicle. By doing this modification and following this how-to you, the installer, take full responsibility if anything is damaged or messed up. If you have questions, feel free to PM the original poster or ask in the appropriate section of The Ranger Station.com forums.


Brief Explanation:

Any vehicle equipped with a smog pump MUST have a smog pump if stopped by the Ministry of Environment (Canada) or whatever they call themselves in your area. The original equipment for my 1988 Ford Ranger 2.0 is no longer available so I had to substitute an electric one from a 2004 Chevy Cavalier


You may not need the copper pipe if the original pipe is still connected to your catalytic converter. You can also use other materials that are suitable such as electric conduit which is actually cheaper and easy to bend to angle it. I didn't think of this till I'd invested over $30 in copper pipe and connectors.

Ideally, the pump should be mounted on the engine block and could easily go in where the OEM pump was. I was toying with this idea but ran out of time and decided to mount it on the fender for now. I will move it once I figure out a bracket for it.

Tools Needed:
- hacksaw
- Drill and screwdrivers (depending on the screws you use and the size of holes required)
- Wire cutters and strippers


Parts Needed:
-any electric air pump (new or used) with bracket and base cover preferably.
- copper pipe (3/4”)
- 2 copper 45* elbows
- 14 gauge wire and two wire trailer connector (to replace the original connector)
- toggle switch (if desired)
- ¾” hose (about 2 feet needed) heat resistant if possible
- 2 or 4 hose clamps (depending on where you attach it.)
- self tapping or self drilling metal screws (I used about 20 #10 1” screws)
- 3/8 and 1/8” drill bits.
- 4 washers for the bolts and nuts on the plastic fender.
-3” L bracket
-4 (blue) 14-16 gauge wire connectors
-4' of 14 gauge wire

The Chevy Cavalier air pump (2004 and other years)

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/...1116-00060.jpg

Steps 1:

Drill two holes in the plastic inner fender in a location suitable to put the pump. The drill bit I used was 3/8” but could have been smaller. The bracket holes were 3/8” so measure them to make sure you have the right bolts and drill bit.


Bolt the air pump bracket to the inner fender.

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/...1116-00063.jpg

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Steps 2:


If you have an existing pipe from the cat simply measure a length of 3/4” hose and allow about 6” of play in case your engine rocks a bit and clamp it on. Otherwise, you will need to make one either out of copper pipe or some other suitable material. The image below is of the one I made.


If you don't have a cat pipe, you can guestimate the length of the pipe but it should be a total of about 7” from the cat pipe connection to the first elbow.
Measure the second pipe section from the first elbow to just above the exhaust manifold (should be about 24”). the second 45* elbow will direct the pipe towards the pump so it depends on where you put the pump just how long section 2 and 3 should be. Section 3 goes from the end of the second 45* elbow to where you connect the rubber hose. I cut mine at 4" so I could use a longer rubber hose to allow for play.
Each joint on the copper pipes and elbows should be fastened or you may end up loosing the whole bunch (this happened only once).


Photo of finished pipe below:

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/...1116-00065.jpg
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Steps 3:


Install the pipe to the cat in whatever manner is suitable. Because my cat pipe had a tab welded on about 15” down from the top I was able to fasten my pipe to this using a small L bracket and a hose clamp to secure the whole pipe to the cat down pipe.


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Steps 4:


Connect the air pump to the down pipe and clamp it in place. I gave it about 6" more rubber than needed but that will allow some flex in the event that the engine rocks (likely when timing is out or not wired properly).

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/...1119-00068.jpg
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/...1119-00069.jpg


Steps 5:


If necessary, cut the Chevy wire connector from the wires and strip them, add blue wire connectors and crimp them tight. Connect the two wire trailer connection to the two wires from the pump. Then connect two more wires from the end of the connector to run the 14 gauge wire to the nearest ground and to the fuse panel inside the cab.


Be sure to use a fuse that is only powered by the key in the on position. You may want to install a toggle switch to allow you to power the air pump off in the event that you are having battery issues,


Hope this helps



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[Mark_88]

I ended up putting the toggle in after all...not too difficult and it sure helps with cold starting...just need to figure out why it is sucking all the juice from the system...put it on a 30 Amp CB...the one for the power seats that I don't have...maybe I need to play a bit with other fuses...

[Psychopete]

Hey Mark,

I pulled the pump off my '87 2.0L SOHC engine last night. Let me know if you'd have any interest in it, also have the brackets and a belt.

-Pete

[Mark_88]

Hey Pete,

I'd be interested in it...but the shipping on that unit would be a bit more than the wiring harness...my current setup is working fine though...it's just butt ugly...lol

I might be able to connect the electric pump to the bracket though...let me know what they want to ship it all and minus the pump for now...thanks!

[Mark_88]

Had to refresh the links for the photos because I moved them to another folder on Photo Bucket...

[afric]

the skinny on the air pump is that it dilutes the exhaust with clean air so that the tester thinks that the engine is meeting the smog requirement. in actuality the smog pump is making the engine less efficient and you use more gas which pollutes the air more. But the tester is happy and the gas companies are happy.

[Mark_88]

Hmmmm...that's not what the emissions guys in Canada told me...they said the extra air helps the cat to burn up excess fuel...or digest it...whatever a cat does...but I can see the air pump raising the level of oxygen coming out of the tailpipe...I always thought it was a bit of a scam if it wasn't helping to actually burn off the fuel...and the EGR is supposed to suck in excess fuel to be burned, which should, hypothetically, increase fuel economy...

I just remembered I didn't plug in my EGR...maybe that's why I'm not getting 30 miles per gallon...

[Gacknar]

Originally Posted by afric

the skinny on the air pump is that it dilutes the exhaust with clean air so that the tester thinks that the engine is meeting the smog requirement. in actuality the smog pump is making the engine less efficient and you use more gas which pollutes the air more. But the tester is happy and the gas companies are happy.

Yea, ummm....

That's 100% incorrect.

Here, do a little reading to educate yourself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_air_injection