Siezed! (1 Viewer)

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2mbb

SILVER Star
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Threads
51
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5,861
Location
WC, CA
Air pump that is. The first time my FJ60 has stranded me, so to speak. I was driving home from Berkeley and as I'm about half way through the Caldecott tunnel, I start hearing a squeal--coming from my truck. Luckily there is an exit immediately after the tunnel, so I exit from the freeway as smoke starts pouring out from under the hood. I consider using my spare AC belt to run the water pump and drive it home, but I call AAA instead--I get four tows a year, I might as well use them.

That air pump was one I purchased from a local auto parts store. It lasted about 40K miles. When I put that one in, I had my OEM pump rebuilt, so now that's installed with a new belt.
 
Glad to hear you're rolling again. Mine may be on borrowed time- I believe it's original @158,000 miles. I need to get find a spare.
 
I pulled the back off the old one. One of the veins took it a little hard.
smog pump siezed.jpg
 
AAA is great, I just got the premier and they took me 150+ miles home in dec.

I have ~1lb of coarsly ground early fj cruiser rear ring gear for sale.
ground gears.jpg
 
I had my pump rebuilt at a place in southern California call "moto-parts" back in 2002. They used to have a web site but it's not there anymore. I seem to remember that they stopped rebuilding these pumps because they couldn't get parts.

Here's another place that provides a similar service. I have not used them, though: http://www.rebuildingfactory.com/index.html
 
The carbon deposits inside that pump are caused by a de-funk check valve.........

One of the leading causes of pump death.........
 
I have 2 air pumps laying in a pile if anybody wants to make an offer. They both worked fine when they came off for desmog's. PM me if interested.

jeff
 
The carbon deposits inside that pump are caused by a de-funk check valve.........

One of the leading causes of pump death.........

I replaced both my check valves when I installed that pump. I was under the impression that the air pump is "lubricated" using powdered graphite. Besides the powdered stuff, the little bits and pieces are mangled wiper blades.
 
I was under the impression that the air pump is "lubricated" using powdered graphite.

I looked inside a new pump today and found no evidence of graphite. Totally clean in there :hmm:
 
So I went to Napa to get another pump. What was delivered was clearly a different pump with two short pipes on the back. The stock pump has one short and one long pipe. To fix this issue, they had put a six inch piece of heater hose on one of the short pipes and added a nipple at the other end, to make a long pipe. Besides this, the pipes were not the correct diameter for the OEM air hose. The parts guy just scratched his head and tried to convince me (but not very hard) that it would bolt up alright. I didn't take this pump and asked him to try again. Has any body else had this experience? It makes me suspcious of Napa's quality control.
 
I looked inside a new pump today and found no evidence of graphite. Totally clean in there :hmm:

I've been thinking about that and it doesn't make sense that powdered graphite would even stay inside the pump, once it starts blowing the air around. I remember reading something on the website of the company that rebuilt one of my pumps that they l"ubricated with graphite, just like OEM". Maybe I got that wrong...
 
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So I went to Napa to get another pump. What was delivered was clearly a different pump with two short pipes on the back. The stock pump has one short and one long pipe. To fix this issue, they had put a six inch piece of heater hose on one of the short pipes and added a nipple at the other end, to make a long pipe. Besides this, the pipes were not the correct diameter for the OEM air hose. The parts guy just scratched his head and tried to convince me (but not very hard) that it would bolt up alright. I didn't take this pump and asked him to try again. Has any body else had this experience? It makes me suspcious of Napa's quality control.


Yeah I got one of those things too.....................it fit but not very well and it failed too soon anyway...........got a 2nd alternator in there now....................not hooked up but it's a cheaper idler than the SOR one


gonna V8 it(B.A.R. certified) before December if you're wondering how I'm gonna smog it with no pump..........................


:beer:
 
i failed california smog miserably last year due to a dead smog pump; mine didn't seize but it wasn't putting out enough air to help the cat do its job.

i too tried a reman aftermarket smog pump and it was definitely not the correct pump despite all of the instructions describing how to make it work; i think the brand was Cardone...junk. i returned it right after opening the box.

rather than mess around with more remanufactured crap, i bit the bullet for a brand new OE pump. big dollars but having the right part that bolts right in was worth it. i passed smog with flying colors and since the new pump is OE, i'm hoping i won't have to worry about it for years to come. i've heard that new pumps are no longer being made but there are NOS ones out there. btw, it really is quite amazing how effective a good smog pump is in reducing your emissions...for those of us in CA, this is of great importance as many of my fellow californians will attest.

ditto on replacing the check valves if your pump disintegrates; clean out all of the plumbing too for you'll find pieces of the vanes all over the place.
 
The carbon deposits inside that pump are caused by a de-funk check valve.........

One of the leading causes of pump death.........

Thanks for the heads up. One of my check valves was leaking. I cleaned them both with brake cleaner and now it seems to be holding.
 
So I went to Napa to get another pump. What was delivered was clearly a different pump with two short pipes on the back. The stock pump has one short and one long pipe. To fix this issue, they had put a six inch piece of heater hose on one of the short pipes and added a nipple at the other end, to make a long pipe. Besides this, the pipes were not the correct diameter for the OEM air hose. The parts guy just scratched his head and tried to convince me (but not very hard) that it would bolt up alright. I didn't take this pump and asked him to try again. Has any body else had this experience? It makes me suspcious of Napa's quality control.

Continuing the saga...

So I gave Napa another couple of weeks to get a pump made with a proper core. The Napa guy told me that he talked to his distributor and the only pumps they can get are what he had--the wrong core with hoses to try and make it work. I asked for my money back.

Today I went down to a local chain that has been around for years, Monument Car Parts. They had a Cardone pump (33-768) on the shelf that was made with the proper core. They also had a carburetor rebuild kit on the shelf. Monument is a few miles farther away from my house than Napa, but I think I'll be making that longer trip more often.
 

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