i have a 1991 camaro 5.7 tpi. if i remove the smog pump and bypass it, will it give me a check engine light or mess up my car?

 

Why do you want to remove it. As far as a check engine light I don't know.

 

to take strain off the motor and free up HP.

 

Are you referring to the air pump?I eliminated mine when installing headers,really cleaned up the engine bay,no hp gain.This air pump only works to prime the cat.convertor(about 30 secs)@startup &cuts out w.o.t..A couple yrs ago my orig. one started rattling& i bought a used one for $40.00 instead of around $200.00 from GM

 

Removing it will net you about no increase in HP.

Taking the belt off the AC compressor will though.

 

i get an ses light every now and then when it hits a lean point. annoying as hell. gonna get a tune sooner or later. just adjust the timing a bit and i got it less frequently.

 

It uses up maybe 2 horsepower. Its just a freewheel, not like the a/c or power steering. You'd gain more horsepower by removing those two.

Not to mention that removing or disabling any emissions devices on a street car is totally illegal in the United States, by federal law. That means it doesnt matter if your state does emissions checks or not, its still illegal to remove it.

 

I had to remove mine, since the damn pump locked up. I just altered the drivebelt to account for this. No codes shown up related to the delete. In my case I felt more power, but that was due to a locking fog pump.

 

Yes you will gain power, but only if the A/C is on and you're in a turn. If the AC is off the A/C compressor disengages from the pully and the pully does nothing but free spin. The power steering pump only does work when you start turning the wheel, in a straight line it really doesn't do much of anything.

Smog pump removal won't do anything but clean up the engine bay.