Advice on smog pump (1 Viewer)

[Atthruhiker]

I need some advice on what to do with some power steering issues. I have an 82 fj60.

About a year ago my power steering pump started leaking but at the time I was unemployed and broke so I replaced it with a cheap Oreilley one. It never steered the same afterwards and occasionally made noises. I also have to add ATF every couple of months.

So now that I have a good job and money to spend on the cruiser I would like to replace it with an OEM one.

My question is, should I go ahead and remove the smog pump and replace it with that idler pulley from TLC Performance?

The state I live in does not require emissions testing. While doing research here on PS pumps, I found a lot of horror stories of people being stranded with a locked up smog pump.

Would it be wise to remove it to prevent a disaster later on? Or just leave it as is since it's not causing any problems? Would removing it cause any other issues down the road that I'm not aware of?

Also, if I did remove it, what do you do with the hoses that attach to the back of it? Remove those too? Plug up the holes?

Sorry, I'm not a mechanic and have little experience working on cars.

Thanks in advance for reading this.

 

[John McVicker]

I would suggest 2 things.

1) Smog pump eliminator from JimC
2) Saginaw power steering conversion from Georg

 

[Cincodemustache]

Looks like you will be fine just removing the smog pump only. Remove smog pump without full desmog?

 

[NeverGiveUpYota]

Sorry, I'm not a mechanic and have little experience working on cars.

Don’t apologize. Realize tho YOU decided to buy a 30+ year old vehicle. Unless you have gobs of excess money, you WILL learn to wrench in a short period of time.

 

[OSS]

The air pump is just parasitic drag if the catalytic converter is gone. While your state may not require an emissions test in order to register the vehicle, the air pump (smog pump) is still helping the catalytic converter reduce pollution. So if you don't care about air pollution or the people who will be breathing it, remove the pump. If clean air is important to you and you want to do your part to reduce smog - leave the pump in

 

[MoaByte]

If you go "full desmog", you will see that below all of the "tentacles" there is a rather simple engine in there and you might be a mechanic after all. The emissions system is intimidating and the weak link on these beasts. After desmog, you will be much more intimate with your 60.

 

[fjc-man]

Send the “smog pump” air injection pump to b-z rebuilders in Canoga Park, California and have it rebuilt for 200 bucks. Oh, and if you still have your original P/S pump they rebuild those as well. Nothing wrong with keeping the beast running a little cleaner.

 

[cruisermatt]

Rip that smog pump out and throw it in the ocean

 

[Spike Strip]

Yes, the TLC Performance pulley (Jim C.) is your best value.

If your PS pump is leaking, there's a strong likelihood the smog pump can lock up cuz of the toasted rear bearing from PS fluid bath.

There is a cheaper good quality aftermarket copy of the stock PS pump sold by CityRacer LINK

The Sag Conversion involves some mechanical ability if you plan to do it yourself. Spendy if you have a proshop do it.

Sell me your old smog pump cuz I'm in Kalif.

 

[Seth S]

If you take the smog pump off you should get rid of the CAT too. Without the pump the CAT will not operate as it is designed and do nothing for you but restrict exhaust flow.

 

[ro11dice]

I'm pretty much in the same situation with my '85 FJ60. I heard some clicking coming from my smog pump recently. I live in Calif so I can't de-smog. I was going to ask if I can just run a pulley and put the smog pump back in prior to a smog check but @Seth S and @OSS answered that question.

Is it a difficult job to remove/replace the PS pump and smog pump? Slowly getting more mechanical experience - I've removed/reattached the alternator and ac condenser on the other side of the block when I changed out my water pump. Curious if there's any additional difficulty on this side? If I get the rebuild done to both steer and smog, and install myself, this would be the most affordable route?

 

[Atthruhiker]

Thanks for all the helpful info.
So from what I'm gathering, it's fine to run the engine without the smog pump, but it could cause problems with the exhaust?

Is this just a"temporary" fix or are there any long term issues from running without a smog pump?

I'd like to do a full desmog one day but probably won't happen anytime soon.

 

[cps432]

Don’t apologize. Realize tho YOU decided to buy a 30+ year old vehicle. Unless you have gobs of excess money, you WILL learn to wrench in a short period of time.

Yeah and in the end your badassity levels go through the roof.

 

[fjc-man]

Until you figure out what you want to do later, why don’t you go through the motions and figure out what hand tools you would need to remove all the belts and put them back on again. Put them in a box or a bag, hell whatever and add this OEM belt 99343-11265 with them. If the air pump seizes up, you’ll hear it and smell it. Pull over to a safe place as quick as you can ( that belt drives the water pump also ). Ok so because the water pump pulley has two grooves, your going to remove the alternator- p/s belt and run the “emergency “ belt on the alternator and water pump using the other v-groove on the w/pump pulley, omitting the P/S. Soo, now you’re not stranded and you can still drive it and get somewhere. Mr. Armstrong

 

[Maniac]

I have an 85 FJ60 and live in a state that does not require emission testing. I had a few minor leaks with components of the smog system, so I decided for a complete desmog instead of repairing various parts. I was not confident in my own mechanical skills, so I bought all the required parts (Man-A-Fre and/or TLC Performance) and had a mechanic in my area that specializes in vintage 4wd's do the work. I gave him the desmog guidance document from IH8MUD and he had no problems at all completing the project, not a single snag. I kept the original carb and distributor with no rebuild, and left the cat converter in place for now. Everything runs great, better than before, and it is a much simplified engine to work with now. No regrets. Do you have the desmog step-by-step instructions? I also have a replaced power steering pump for City Racer that the previous owner installed.

 

[Atthruhiker]

I have an 85 FJ60 and live in a state that does not require emission testing. I had a few minor leaks with components of the smog system, so I decided for a complete desmog instead of repairing various parts. I was not confident in my own mechanical skills, so I bought all the required parts (Man-A-Fre and/or TLC Performance) and had a mechanic in my area that specializes in vintage 4wd's do the work. I gave him the desmog guidance document from IH8MUD and he had no problems at all completing the project, not a single snag. I kept the original carb and distributor with no rebuild, and left the cat converter in place for now. Everything runs great, better than before, and it is a much simplified engine to work with now. No regrets. Do you have the desmog step-by-step instructions? I also have a replaced power steering pump for City Racer that the previous owner installed.

I'm starting to lean this way now. I'm not confident enough in my abilities to attempt a full desmog but letting my mechanic do it could be an option. Do you remember more or less how much your mechanic charged?

 

[Spike Strip]

I'm starting to lean this way now. I'm not confident enough in my abilities to attempt a full desmog but letting my mechanic do it could be an option. Do you remember more or less how much your mechanic charged?

Do you know about @3_puppies in Helena? He speaks Cruiser fluently.

 

[Maniac]

I'm starting to lean this way now. I'm not confident enough in my abilities to attempt a full desmog but letting my mechanic do it could be an option. Do you remember more or less how much your mechanic charged?

My mechanic charged me for about 16 hrs to do the entire job. He was very thorough and addressed other minor things along the way, including a headlight wiring issue. Here is link to the "How to Desmog a FJ60." TOYOTA FSM

 

[Gretsch]

Don’t apologize. Realize tho YOU decided to buy a 30+ year old vehicle. Unless you have gobs of excess money, you WILL learn to wrench in a short period of time.

Love this.

Is it a difficult job to remove/replace the PS pump and smog pump?

As jobs go I found both of these to be on the lower banana level side of things. Hardest part to me on the PS pump was getting access to where the rear mounting bolts thread into the bracket. I prolly could have done it with the bracket off the block to make things easier. Just couldn't get my hand in there to get the bolt started because of the manifold being in the way. My woodruff key was gone on my pump so my pulley came right off when I did it. Might have to get a puller to transplant the pulley? Not sure there. Adding ATF to the PS pump once installed some folks might find tricky. I did at the time. Excerpt from a thread detailing the PS removal:

It's been awhile since I've removed one without removing the head or manifold assy, but as I recall, you can back that rear bolt out, all the way, but you can't remove it 'cuz the exh manifold is in the way.

Once you have the other bolts and belt and hoses removed, the pump will lift out -- Just remember to slide the rear bolt in with the new pump.

Or, of course, you can take the bracket off. There's a stud on the front of the block that it slides over.

I replaced my smog pump with a JimC pulley but it was by far one of the easiest wrenching I have done on this beast to remove it. Mine didn't have any of the hoses attached so maybe that makes it more challenging. HTH.

 

[Nostradamus]

Don’t apologize. Realize tho YOU decided to buy a 30+ year old vehicle. Unless you have gobs of excess money, you WILL learn to wrench in a short period of time.

Exactly! We all started somewhere. And some of us started before the interwebs and YouTube. I for one started with lawn mowers and moved up to a 1973 Datsun 240Z, where I honed my straight six chops with the aid of a Hanes manual. You have this forum, which is filled with humble and helpful peeps who will see you thru whatever you're tying to get worked out.