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1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks 1987 - 1996 Ford F-150, F-250, F-350 and larger pickups - including the 1997 heavy-duty F250/F350+ trucks

Smog pump Q's

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Old Oct 27, 2009 | 12:40 AM
  #1  
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Smog pump Q's

I've searched the forum so dont flame me for this. Ive got an 88 F-150 4x4 351w but upon inspection the air pump is disconnected, and by disconnected I mean no more pulley. It was not done by me so I have no idea why. Ill check tomorrow if its seized. But my real question is, with the air pump disconnected, should I delete the catalytic converters?

Thanks
 
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Old Oct 27, 2009 | 01:33 AM
  #2  
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LCAM-01XA
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Leave the cats alone - the air pump is something Ford conjured to deal with emissions on a cold engine, it blows air straight in the cats to help them warm up faster and therefore do their job better while engine is still warming up itself. Once the engine is at operating temperature the exhaust is also quite hot, and there's no need for the extra air supplied by the smog pump, and since the pump does not have a clutch it cannot be stopped, hence why there is a diverter valve in the system to purge the air back into the atmosphere. By not having an working air pump all that happens is your truck will be making higher emissions before it warms up - go to the test station with the engine all warmed up, and you should be alright even if they got a sniffer ready for ya.
 
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Old Oct 27, 2009 | 07:49 AM
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From: Des Moines, Iowa
Originally Posted by f-150kid
I've searched the forum so dont flame me for this. Ive got an 88 F-150 4x4 351w but upon inspection the air pump is disconnected, and by disconnected I mean no more pulley. It was not done by me so I have no idea why. Ill check tomorrow if its seized. But my real question is, with the air pump disconnected, should I delete the catalytic converters?

Thanks


Leave your cats alone! I agree with MLSC... Also if you want and you have read some of the previous posts... You know you can pull the smog pump take it apart and grease it up! I did it to mine and it has been running just like new for the last 2 years! All it takes it time and finess to take it apart and put it back on.
 
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Old Oct 27, 2009 | 12:20 PM
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1 I dont need to pass emissions so thats not really a concern at this point.

2 I dont know if you caught that nstueve, but I dont have the pulley for the thing so its not running the air pump anyways.

So I think I may remove all the air pump related junk under the hood to free up some space.
 
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Old Oct 27, 2009 | 01:05 PM
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do what you want... I don't have to pass emmissions either and have little to no chance of getting caught where I am at... I still maintained the emmisions equipment in the chance that I ever move or the truck gets sold to a state that does have emmisions standards and inspections. It all up to the preference of the owner really...
 
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Old Oct 27, 2009 | 03:05 PM
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didnt mean to sound like an ***. but at this point the emissions system is not in the greatest state so I find no reason to hook it back up. Its been run without the top hose for god knows how long so I have no doubt that it looks like 20 years of rust in there.

Anywho, Im about to run a self test on the ecu to see what I can pull up. But I have another question. Theres a canister with two Vacuum? lines attached to it. What is it and what does it do, and most importantly, do I need it?
 
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Old Oct 27, 2009 | 03:13 PM
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That's your vacuum canister. It stores vacuum so your dash will blow the air where you want it. Taking the cats off won't change anything.
 
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Old Dec 8, 2025 | 10:30 PM
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Wrong thread
 

Last edited by JS430; Dec 8, 2025 at 10:57 PM.
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