Removing smog pump

[derrick2119]

Anyone got any recommendations on if i should do this or not. Some people say it will boost performance others say it will kill it.

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

It should boost performance slightly, since it removes some parasitic drag on the engine. I tossed this one in Tech, since it's not really a tuning question.

 

[Chythar]

Agreed with StangGT1995. The smog pump is for emissions only, if you don't have any emissions requirements in your state you can remove the smog pump and the rest of the smog equipment. However, if you remove the smog pump yet still have catalytic converters you will likely clog up your cats - the cats need air from the smog pump to work well.

 

[derrick2119]

ok next question will this mess with my computer?

 

[Chythar]

Just removing the smog pump - no. You'll probably get an error code in the computer because the smog equipment isn't working right, but performance should be unaffected.

 

[95_cobra123]

TRASH IT!

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

Removing the smog pump assembly will not produce fault codes in the engine computer, you'll reduce drag on the engine for a slight HP gain, you'll gain valuable underhood space to make plug changes a breeze, and you'll save about 10lb over the front wheels.
The only downside is that the cats could heat up because there'll be no air to cool them down but if your state allows you to run without cats, ditch them and run an offroad midpipe. You'll gain even more HP and save even more weight.

 

[94-302-vert]

iwhtout the ari injection tube 3 way cats will clog up after a long drive. trust me i know from experiece when trying to change my stock h-pipe... i cut that line before i couldn't get the rest of the bolts undone and my car ran HORRID after as little as 10 minutes (cats would start to build up)...

So if you have an O/R pipr go for it...

Not to Hijack BUT what if I wanted to swap the air pump on/off for emissions every 2 years... how hard would that be to do?

 

[Chythar]

Not to Hijack BUT what if I wanted to swap the air pump on/off for emissions every 2 years... how hard would that be to do?

Ah, you're a pirate, admit it! You can do anything you want as long as you're willing to invest the time. The air pump and hoses are easy enough to remove, you'll need a shorter belt or get a smog pump idler pulley. The metal pipe leading behind the heads (injects air into the cylinders) can be removed or capped off. The other metal line leading to the h-pipe can't be removed without mangling it or dropping the tranny crossmember (I've tried).

It all depends on what you think is worthwhile to do every two years.

 

[parrish5o]

I believe it's worth the weight loss alone to trash the smog pump.

 

[derrick2119]

ok thanks guys i plan on ditchin the smog pump along with the egr and cats.

 

[95Cobra302]

I removed mine awhile back and i'm so glad I did. It cleaned up the engine nicely. I got some thermactor plugs from the dealer and put those in the back of the heads where the steel tube bolts into. Also there will be 2 vacuum hoses you will need to plug too.

This is a pic of AC and smog removed. Look at how much more room there is!!

 

[R.A.T.M.]

Does anybody make a decent delete pulley? I have an ASP, and it is already whining like it is going bad.

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

Why bother with a delete pulley? Just buy a shorter belt and modify the routing:

 

[R.A.T.M.]

Have you been able to get the tensioner in the safety marks without using the smog delete pulley?

Why bother with a delete pulley? Just buy a shorter belt and modify the routing:

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

Yes. If you have all stock pulleys, a 90.2" belt (6PK2290) would be a perfect fit. I have an ASP crank pulley so I'm using an 87.4" Gates K060868 belt which also fits perfectly.

 

[R.A.T.M.]

In the past I had problems with the tensioner bottoming out and "clanking"

 

[19stang94]

i don't have smog or ac so does anybody know the belt size for that. i have a smog elemator pulley on there now but want to take it off. any info would be nice. also has anybody ever heard of a 94 gt coming with power everything except cruise and ac. that is how my car come from the factory and everyone i talk to says they have never heard of that. thanks again.

 

[99FiveOh]

mine clanks too right now. To remedy my last car's "clanking" I used an underdrive pulley on the alternator. It took up just enough slack to get the tensioner back into the safe zone. No adverse effects to charging either.

 

[WhiteCobra95]

The smog pump does not cool off the cats. It only pushes air into the exhaust stream during cold starts to add oxgen to the rich afterstart mixture. This creates an after-burn in the cats to get them up to their operating temp where they work. Most cases where someone's cats plug up after removing the smog equipment is due to air leaks that were not sealed up properly. If you introduce a significant amount fresh air into a lit catalyst, the cat will melt down in a matter of seconds.

The smog pump robs power because it runs all of the time, even though it's only really used during a cold start. If you trace the system, you'll notice that it has two stages: The first is to light off the pup cats, then it switches from pumping air into the ehxaust ports to pumping air directly into the underfloor cat. I don't know exactly how long this lasts, but it's not continuous. The third stage just dumps the air.