The smog pump on my 77 FJ40 just went out. Can I wait on replacing it or does the vehicle need it to run. It’s over 25 years old and is exempt from emissions.
The secondary air pump injects air into the exhaust stream to light off the catalytic converter. Without this pump, the catalytic converter will eventually plug up to a point where the engine won’t run very well.
Tester
Tester,
Thank you. The catalytic converter was removed long before I bought it. Will it affect it in any other way do you know, like say the water pump? It appears to be driven by two belts (as a back up?).
If the catalytic converter is gone, the air pump is doing nothing and you can remove it with no problems. If nothing else is driven by the same belt, you can just remove it and you’ll be fine. If there are other things driven by the belt, you’ll probably just need to find a shorter belt.
Doe’s exempt from emissions testing mean you can remove emission equipment?
Here in GA, if no one is looking, who’s to say?
Federal Law says no, you can’t remove any emissions equipment that originally came with your car. But it’s not like the G-men are crawling around under your car inspecting stuff and if there’s no state inspections, who’s to know?
With cars of this late-70’s-early-80’s vintage where the pollution controls were so ineffective in the first place I’d argue from an environmental point of view unless you live somewhere with a major particulate emissions (i.e smog) problem, you’re probably better off with the stuff removed and your car running more efficiently.