My fuse for the air pump keeps blowing and the SES light comes on. My error code is 26, which narrows it down to the EGR solenoid, EVAP solenoid (which I changed) and air pump relay.

I know the air pump relay is good.

This doesn't happen until the car warms a little, then the light and dual fans come on.

What could this be, and what damage could be done to the car with a non-functioning air pump and/or EGR solenoid?

Also, I notice there are kits to bypass the whole EGR system? Anyone try or recommend this? I'm not worried about emissions...they don't check them in my area.

Thanks in advance for the responses...I figure all your kind replies to my questions on this board have already saved me a fortune in mechanical bills.

 

get a tune and just have them deleted from the PCM

 

like mentioned above...a shop that tunes LTX's can edit it out of the PCM for a small amount of $$$... dont know how much the solenoid are, but a quick tune for this should be less than $75... while your there you can get the rear cats deleted, lower the temp at which fans turn on, etc....

 

It sounds like you have a faulty air pump. Unplug the pump and put a new fuse in. If the fuse doesn't blow the pump is bad. There was a recall on some years.

 

Ok. will try that.

 

The AIR pump recall only applies to 95-97 LT1's.

The pump rusts up and siezes, drawing excessive amps. That's what blows the fuse. No donwside to unplugging the pump. Helps the cat warm up a bit faster on cold start.

 

Will unplugging or removing the pump and related hardware produce a DTC? I assume it would.

 

On his 93 it won't as long as the relay is working. 94-95 cars usually don't throw a code, but there are always exceptions. OBD II cars will set a code most of the time.

 

93-95 do not check anything other than the pump power supply circuit. As long as there is a good fuse in the circuit, PCM has no way of knowing that the pump or any other parts have been removed. No codes.

96-97 has diagnostics that check for air flow via the O2 sensors, in addition to the electrical circuit check.

 

I unplugged the air pump and made sure I had a good fuse and relay... no SES light, no fan coming on with the light...the code still showed with the scanner, until I unplugged the neg battery terminal, then it cleared.

I drove it about 50 miles last night with no repeat.

Anyone know of any damage that might come from no air pump?

Thank you all for your responses....these were not found in any book, and all the roundtable discussion this board provides is invaluable.

 

The AIR pump only runs for a few minutes at startup to help the cats heat up faster. Some will claim that not having the AIR pump operating will reduce the life of the cats, due to the rich mixture used at cold start. I haven't seen any evidence of that.

 

that's what I thought.

they don't check emissions in my area, so I'm not worried about that anyway. I may have to replace my cats with some "low restriction" models.