MVS Volvo Forums user PierogiSmash asks the (completely legitimate) question does his V70’s air pump actually do anything?
My airpump has started to sound like a vacuum grinding up a cat. Of course, the noise only lasts a minute or so, then it stops and all is well. I guess I have 2 questions:
1. What does the air pump do?
I ask this because the car runs no different before the thing kicks in and no different after it shuts off.
2. If nothing changes regardless of this thing being on or off, do I actually need it? Can is be simply unplugged and ignored?
Some people may gasp and sputter at that last statement, this is an honest question looking for a direct answer…
1998 V70 Does the Air Pump Actually Do Anything?
If your air pump isn’t doing anything, but should, here’s an air pump repair DIY. If you want to remove it from the car without triggering endless Check Engine lights, here’s an SAS Delete DIY.
Why Air Pumps Fail
MrAl » Very interesting information in this thread, both for when we have the air pump and when we might eliminate it. I had been playing around with mine for about 2 months now and so i have a vested interest in this subject area too.
First, to add a little information that i got from this forum, the vacuum valve at the back of the engine might get stuck open and destroy the expensive air pump because condensation can get into the air pump where it becomes water, and the water gets into the motor where it can oxidize the commutator and therefore raise the series resistance of the motor which then means 12v can no longer provide enough current to start the motor, and also rust the bearings and i think even deposit debris inside. With a small hole drilled in the bottom the water leaks out so can not build up over time and ruin the guts. For mine it took about 2 months and it was damaged, because the vacuum valve was faulty. I thought i had more time than that, but that was just silly. I should have replaced the valve at the same time as the pump, or at the very least checked the valve for leakage. At the time though i didnt know any better, and could not get the valve off because of the hose clamps that were the crimp on kind. Since then i’ve done more, but that was a nasty lesson to learn. I was, and still am, a little shy about fooling with the ECU since i dont know much about that yet, and i hate fooling with circuits i dont know everything about even though i’ve worked with circuits for maybe 40 or more years now. Maybe that taught me that you shouldnt modify anything unless you know all of the ramifications, both current and future, and some of the future consequences can be very very hard to analyze beforehand, knowing that engineers took years to figure some things out. On the other hand, this ECU trick seems very well tested and proved, so i guess it is an option, and i would not recommend doing it except for the fact that some of exact same cars where shipped with it and some without it, without any consequences, and that doesnt surprise me because it only comes on for a little while and so that can not possibly reduce emissions by any significant factor. I have a feeling that the whole system was due to a technicality that could not be simply ignored, even though it had very very little effect on any true emissions test (measurement of exhaust directly).
