Smog Pump making noise

1FatPony

Member
Jun 5, 2005
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My smog pump is ticking pretty loudly. Kinda annoying. I am getting is smogged soon so I want to make sure it will pass. Is there any way to grease the inside of the smog pump or anyone know why it is making noise??
 
The pump gets noisy but still moves some air. It can eventually seize however.

Inside are what look like Bakelite vanes that travel in an elliptical plane. I've opened the pumps up and have not been able to permanently keep one running well. Generally the needle bearings around the mainshaft start to seize, which allows excessive run-out and the vanes scrape the wall of the casing (which is noise).
And/or the leaf bushings adjacent the vanes wear, and the vanes have a hard time retracting into the drum. The wall is often what forces the vanes back in, and you have scraping (noise) again.

I agree - I'd get a new pump instead. Just getting the backing plate off to get inside can be a nice chore.

Good luck.
 
my mistake about the price. That was for 94-95 pump I figured they would be roughly the same price. I just looked on rockauto and for a 87 GT a pump is 54.79+shipping if you do go the new route. It is remaned.
 
oh i have another idea!!! why dont you take it off throw it in the same scrap pile as your factory air box and all the other crap ford put on these cars to slow them down!! just a thought!!! but you do what you have to do! break down and buy a new one or like i said scrap it and free up some more ponies!!!
 
fastford91 said:
oh i have another idea!!! why dont you take it off throw it in the same scrap pile as your factory air box and all the other crap ford put on these cars to slow them down!! just a thought!!! but you do what you have to do! break down and buy a new one or like i said scrap it and free up some more ponies!!!
If he has the factory H-pipe, that's not too hot of an idea.
 
blkcobra50 said:
how much power would you feel by removing the smog pump?

There's nothing to be had by removing a properly functioning smog pump other than the few pounds it weighs. The pump is not like a air compressor, it's only pushing a very little air through it. The only real drag is whatever it take to turn the rotor and bearing drag. Removal probably frees up less than 1 horsepower. You can easily spin the pump pretty quickly with one finger.

I wouldn't remove any smog equipment unless there is something wrong with it and you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that emissions will never come to your area.

If I remember correctly from a couple of years ago there was a whole bunch of guys from the Philly area who were scrambling to put emissions equipment back on their cars when Pennsylvania decided to start emissions in that area.

So even if you remove the emissions equipment do not sell or dispose of it, you may need it one day.
 
Thermactor Air System or smog pump operation.

The smog pump has two vacuum operated valves. The first valve either dumps the pump output to the open air or directs it to the next valve. The smog pump dumps its output at full throttle to save horsepower. The second valve directs the air to either the passages in the heads or to the tube that runs to the cat converters. Both the tube for the head and the tube going to the cat converters have one way check valves to prevent the hot exhaust gas from backing up into the tube and the control valves. The extra air aids the catalytic converters in converting the excess HC & CO into water & CO2.

See http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/88Stang5.0Vacuum.gif for smog pump vacuum line help

Here are some of the codes generated by faulty parts in the smog pump system and their fixes...

Codes 94 & 44 - Check vacuum lines for leaks, & cracks. Disconnect the big hose from smog pump: with the engine running you should feel air output. Reconnect the smog pump hose & apply vacuum to the first vacuum controlled valve: Its purpose is to either dump the pump's output to the atmosphere or pass it to the next valve. The next vacuum controlled valve directs the air to either the cylinder heads when the engine is cold or to the catalytic converter when the engine is warm. Disconnect the big hoses from the back side of the vacuum controlled valve and start the engine. Apply vacuum to the valve and see if the airflow changes from one hose to the next.

The two electrical controlled vacuum valves mounted on the rear of the passenger side wheelwell turn the vacuum on & off under computer control. Check to see that both valves have +12 volts on the red wire. Then ground the white/red wire and the first solenoid should open and pass vacuum. Do the same thing to the light green/black wire on the second solenoid and it should open and pass vacuum.

Remember that the computer does not source power for any actuator or relay, but provides the ground necessary to complete the circuit. That means one side of the circuit will always be hot, and the other side will go to ground or below 1 volt as the computer switches on that circuit.

See the following website for some help from Tmoss (diagram designer) & Stang&2Birds (website host)

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/fuel-alt-links-ign-ac.gif

http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/images/88-91eecPinout.gif

Code 81 – Secondary Air Injection Diverter Solenoid failure AM2. The secondary air diverter solenoid valve isn’t working on the Thermactor Air System (smog pump). Look for broken or missing vacuum lines on the solenoid valve to the diverter valve. The solenoid valve is located on the back side of the passenger side wheel well. Check the solenoid valve for +12 volts at the Red wire and look for the Lt Green/Black wire to switch from +12 volts to 1 volt or less. The computer controls the valve by providing a ground path on the LT Green/Black wire for the solenoid valve.

Code 82 – Secondary Air Injection Diverter Solenoid failure AM1. The dump valve air diverter solenoid valve isn’t working on the Thermactor Air System (smog pump). Look for broken or missing vacuum lines on the solenoid valve to the diverter valve Check the solenoid valve for +12 volts at the Red wire and look for the Red/White wire to switch from +12 volts to 1 volt or less. The computer controls the valve by providing a ground path on the Red/White wire for the solenoid valve.

Putting the computer into self test mode will cause all the actuators to toggle. This can be done either with a jumper wire or code scanner.
 
Maryland Stang said:
There's nothing to be had by removing a properly functioning smog pump other than the few pounds it weighs. The pump is not like a air compressor, it's only pushing a very little air through it. The only real drag is whatever it take to turn the rotor and bearing drag. Removal probably frees up less than 1 horsepower. You can easily spin the pump pretty quickly with one finger.

I wouldn't remove any smog equipment unless there is something wrong with it and you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that emissions will never come to your area.

If I remember correctly from a couple of years ago there was a whole bunch of guys from the Philly area who were scrambling to put emissions equipment back on their cars when Pennsylvania decided to start emissions in that area.

So even if you remove the emissions equipment do not sell or dispose of it, you may need it one day.

What I was getting at with that comment is that removing the smog pump will do next to nothing for a power increase. The main reason why people ditch the smog system is that our cars can run fine without them and that way people don't have to purchase new smog stuff unless you want to stay as close to stock as possible and NEED to pass emissions...
 
blkcobra50 said:
What I was getting at with that comment is that removing the smog pump will do next to nothing for a power increase. The main reason why people ditch the smog system is that our cars can run fine without them and that way people don't have to purchase new smog stuff unless you want to stay as close to stock as possible and NEED to pass emissions...

It looked like a question to me.... I was just answering as best as I could. Now that you've explained yourself I understand.:nice: