m sprank Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 (edited) Once again I was asked to document a project I undertook with my 2008 SpecB. I have always hated the OEM air pump system. Sure it got rid of the cat in the uppipe, but at what expense? 10lbs of crap taking up valuable engine bay space? I have read of many problems associated with the delete. Mainly that the ECU goes haywire. Well, I figured that all out. It was actually the reasearch I did to make my GM 3BAR MAP sensor work that led me to stumble upon the solution to deleting the air pump system. So without further delay I give you my solution to the air pump fiasco.DIY - 2007 to 2009 LGT-OBXT Air Pump Delete with CEL codes and ECU-Sensor fix.pdf Edited February 11, 2019 by SBT Added PDF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted June 23, 2010 Author Share Posted June 23, 2010 (edited) First= the pump in all its glory. Second= the pumps two mounting points. Remove the two bolts, disconnect the electrical plug and release the hose clamp. Out it comes. Third, fourth and fifth= The plastic tube connecting the pump to the drivers side solenoid. Fifth being the bolt hole that mounts it. Remove the one bolt and the hose clamp at the drivers side solenoid. Out it comes Six and seven= the drivers side solenoid assembly. Eight and nine= driver side solenoid mount. Remove the two nuts and the hose clamp. Pull the tubing off and out it comes. Ten= the tubing from the drivers side to passenger side. Actually wraps around the back of the motor and then under the manifold. No hard mounting points. Edited June 23, 2010 by m sprank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted June 23, 2010 Author Share Posted June 23, 2010 (edited) Eleven= passenger side solenoid. Held down with two nuts just like drivers side. Twelve and thirteen= passenger side solenoid mounting studs. Fourteen= hard pipe from engine to passenger side solenoid. Release from motor then remove. Fifteen and sixteen= passenger side motor mount for hard pipe to solenoid. Remove two bolts and lift out through are in next pic. Seventeen= where hard pipe will exit from. Eighteen and nineteen= all the parts out. Twenty= drivers side solenoid and studs. I doubled up the nuts and then used them to back out the studs. Edited June 23, 2010 by m sprank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted June 23, 2010 Author Share Posted June 23, 2010 Twenty one= the hard pipe Twenty two= plastic tube from pump to drivers side solenoid. Twenty three= plastic tube from drivers side solenoid to passenger side solenoid. Twenty four= passenger side solenoid. Twenty five= top of passenger side solenoid cut off with a sawzall. Solenoid electro-magnet and sensor on the side now. Twenty six, seven, and eight= sensor cut out. Can still cut more of the metal away. All I need is the small square portion on top. I could cut it off with a heat gun and sharp blade. Twenty nine and Thirty= the two sensor connectors. Notice the drivers side is two wires. This is power and ground for the solenoid electro-magnet. Now see the passenger side is 5 wires. Two of them are power and ground for the electro-magnet. The other three are power, ground and signal for the atmospheric pressure sensor. It is important to place new gaskets and block off plates over the two openings. Then reconnect the passenger side atmospheric sensor to the OEM harness (purple plug) and find a happy home for it. Zip ties will work it is most likely still under the manifold in the end. You can simply tape off the other two connections (power/ground to pump motor and drivers side solenoid). Now the list of CEL's that need to be disabled; * P0410 * P0411 * P0413 * P0414 * P0415 * P0416 * P0417 * P0418 * P0419 * P2431 * P2432 * P2433 * P2441 * P2444 Once the CEL's are disabled you can open romraider logger with the key int he "on" position but the engine off. Check your atmospheric pressure reading. If it is good, so are you. The ECU checks atmospheric pressure against manifold pressure at start up. If the two readings are too far apart, no fuel or spark. This is a safety feature Subaru built in. If the ECU determines that one of the sensors went bad while the car is running you go into limp mode. You wont see it anymore because you turned off the CEL. But the car will not run properly and might not start again after shutdown. This is what lead everyone to think that deleting the air pump messed up the ECU. It is not a grounding issue. But a sensor issue. If you do not want to cut the sensor out of the solenoid you could simply get a second block off plate (KS Tech makes one) for just the solenoid. You would have to block it off and leave it in place. Less weight reduction. Still in the way of your turbo (STi style) ad inlet. But better than nothing. Hope this helps someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravisGT Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 Nice right up. Thank God I don't have that on my car. I had it on my Cobalt but it was extremely easy to remove from that car. All I had to was take all of it off, seal up the electrical connecter, block off the hose on the airbox, and have the dealer uninstall that feature. They didn't really uninstall it, they just went back through the ECU and there was a question for you did or didn't have the air pump. At the point you just answered no. Well, there was the part that dumped the fresh air into the exhaust but I put a header on that blocked that off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spec.B Dream Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Excellent post and great pics. Thank you. Now, do I attempt to do this Saturday when I install the RacerX FMIC or should I stick to one project at a time? Hmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted June 24, 2010 Author Share Posted June 24, 2010 One thing at a time or you will end up like me and have a car in pieces for months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spec.B Dream Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Fair enough. I do actually like driving my car too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnymack Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Nice write up Sprank! Thanks. I was thinking about doing this, you made the decision that much easier. One thing at a time or you will end up like me and have a car in pieces for months. LOL. Excellent advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addison Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I once heard that removing this would actually free up a few ponies. Is that even possible? did you notice any differences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 Ponies. No ponies. Unless you count the weight loss. System only operates at start up. It replaces the cat in the uppipe. Forces warm air into the cat to preheat it to operating temperature at start up. Reduces emissions. Big waste of space. Car warms up fine, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underground000 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Youll get like +1hp, for every -7lbs you gain 1hp Can you feel the powaa m sprank? BTW thats what someone told me, Dont know if its true 5eat downshift rev match:) Powder coated wheels: completed:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 My old race team owner used to swear that -7lbs equaled 1 HP. I threatened to cut off my head to gain 2 HP, just to get him to shut up about it, lol. If anything the loss of a few extra pounds up front is a good thing. Like cutting the battery in half. It is less unsprung weight hanging over the front end. Since the car can't tell its gone, seems like a no brainer. I am even considering getting an 05 oil filler neck now to make oil changes easier. Current fill neck is close to my fuel lines and cold side pipe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
istealfrombums Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Jesus Mike, you are all over the place with your car. What will Mike do next? Hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 You have no idea, lol. I am in the middle of several different projects at once now. Motor is still in pieces (get new ideas every other day). Interior is out, wiring stereo system now. This is taking much longer than I originally planned. But it is the first time I am not in a rush and dont need the car. So, rather than get frustrated because I have to throw it back together again I am taking the time to do it RIGHT the first time. Plus, I decided to go all out. That is itself means a massive undertaking. When I said I was going to build a show car I meant it. Notice how the engine bay is already taking on a distinct blue hue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravisGT Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 ^^ I was going to say something earlier about all the blue. That is a lot of work to add all that. Looks good though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted June 26, 2010 Author Share Posted June 26, 2010 Thanks. Pulled the entire bulkhead wiring harness out. Removed all the black loom and black tape. Replaced with blue loom and tape. Did you know there are four sizes of loom in the engine bay alone? That the harness goes through the passenger fender and all the way to the fogs? Even goes under the friggin radiator. Took days to get it all. Took a week to find all the correct sizes of loom in blue. Already went through 6 rolls of 3M blue electrical tape, lol. Having all the brackets, mounts and pipe powdercoated blue. If I can get it out and it isnt plastic it is going to the powdercoater. Trying to replace all hoses with blue silicone. Or wrap those that cant be replaced. Bling! Bling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravisGT Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 All I can say is DAMN, thats a lot of work. I guess before buying my car it sat ahwile because it had a freakin nest right under the intake manifold. Whatever lived there chewed up the wiring harness running to the throttle body. I bought the whole wiring harness off a wreck LGT and replaced that portion and I wanted to shoot myself doing it. And that isn't even CLOSE to what you did. Of course, I think the intake manifold is what burned me so bad. Felt like it took me 2 days to figure out about that stupid fuel line bolt underneath of it. You are one dedicated man my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Popinski Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 I was going to remove it, but other than aesthetics... after reading your write up on it... what possible benefits do you gain other than blocking cel's? Is there any real advantage to removing this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted July 7, 2010 Author Share Posted July 7, 2010 It is out of my friggin way now. Weighs about as much as 1/2 of a battery (unsprung weight). No more annoying noises at start up. It was interfering with my 68HTA too. So, no "performance" gains per say. But it needed to be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underground000 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 The air pump is supposed to be modified for a bang bang system:lol: (anti lag system) Modify the air pump so it pumps fresh air into the exhaust. Find someone to tune it so when you lift off the throttle it retards the ignition, and the pump pumps air into the exhaust, and there u go, Thats what its suppose to be used for:lol: pfff emissions:rolleyes: i know whats is really for:p 5eat downshift rev match:) Powder coated wheels: completed:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted July 20, 2010 Author Share Posted July 20, 2010 Flame thrower for tailgaters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underground000 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 That works too I suppose, I like my idea better because I had to think about it. You only got the flame thrower idea after my idea thats like idea cheating!! 5eat downshift rev match:) Powder coated wheels: completed:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted July 20, 2010 Author Share Posted July 20, 2010 :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostride Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Dumb question how do check atmospheric pressure with an access port? What do I do if its off? I've got the race software if that helps. How many block off plates did you use? when I tried this before it seemed like the passenger side needed two plates, the KS Tech kit only came with two plates. Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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