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What affects does a non-working smog-air pump have on a vehicle?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
The smog pump - or air pump - adds air (oxygen) to the exhaust gases at the exhaust manifold, and before the catalytic converter. This continues the burning process, allowing the catalytic converter to consume (burn) unburned and partially burned fuel products. This reduces the amount of hydrocarbons emitted out the exhaust. The burning produces more oxides of carbon and nitrogen than unburned fuel, simply because it is burnt.
When they were first added to cars, this was a huge improvement over unburned fuel as a pollutant. As CO2 becomes more important, and as the general efficiency of engines increases, there is some argument that it changes the nature of pollution rather than reducing it, but it is still a net improvement.
If the smog pump (or other parts of the system - EGR valve, etc.) goes out, a lot of cars will begin running poorly due to the change in exhaust gasses, which would be lower in oxygen if the pump quit pumping in outside air. The oxygen sensor in the exhaust will then decide the engine is running rich, and will lean out the air/fuel mix causing loss of power, hesitations, or "missing". The control loop is not real-time, so the car may have these issues in fits and sputs. If the car is new enough to have elaborate electronic sensors, a broken smog pump should throw a diagnostic code, causing the "CHECK ENGINE" light to come on and stay on. The code may show up as a bad oxygen sensor. If the smog pump goes out and you replace it, you may want to change the oxygen sensor at the same time as these do wear out.
If the pump is going out because the bearings or some other friction surface is failing, the pump may make horrible noises and load the engine down noticeably. If it seizes up, you will likely burn up a belt, which, depending on the car, may or may not run other things as well. In California (perhaps in other states) disconnecting the pump is illegal tampering with the emissions system, and will likely cause the car to fail emissions testing.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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