smogged or Desmoged??

[LandoNick]

If my 87 is running a de-veined air pump and have ports on my air cleaner blocked off. Also the what ever that thing is the Air pump feed blocked off. Am I smogged anymore? But I'm not fully De-smogged. Living in limbo. Not having that air pump hooked up , what systems are not working properly?

 

[fjc-man]

The catalytic converter.

 

[OSS]

The main purpose of “de-smogging” a FJ60 2F is primarily clutter abatement. There’s so much crap in the engine bay that’s associated with the emissions system.

I wouldn’t get hung up on the phrase “de-smogged”. Think of it more as junk removal. If it doesn’t bother you, just leave it. If you lose sleep over it thinking about it at night- tear it all out (carefully).

Some of the quasi smog components are actually good to have (Hot air intake, Hot idle compensation, PCV) so getting rid of all of it just for the sake of de-smogging isn’t ideal.

The catalytic converter does drag the engine down but it also does good too - air pollution is horrible

 

[2mbb]

the air injection system (aka air pump) injects air into the exhaust. This provide oxygen for the catalytic converter to work properly. So no Air injections system also means you cat is not working either.

 

[LandoNick]

The main purpose of “de-smogging” a FJ60 2F is primarily clutter abatement. There’s so much crap in the engine bay that’s associated with the emissions system.

I wouldn’t get hung up on the phrase “de-smogged”. Think of it more as junk removal. If it doesn’t bother you, just leave it. If you lose sleep over it thinking about it at night- tear it all out (carefully).

Some of the quasi smog components are actually good to have (Hot air intake, Hot idle compensation, PCV) so getting rid of all of it just for the sake of de-smogging isn’t ideal.

The catalytic converter does drag the engine down but it also does good too - air pollution is horrible

I know there are so many threads on here about a de-smog. Do I need to get my carb de-smogged and the Distributor recurved? I need a super dummy guide to de-smog. I would like to do a sniper but the Desmog must happen first from what I understand?

 

[bhsdriller]

If you plan on a Sniper you can basically remove everything.

Is it running good currently, why try to change it? Unless for the reasoning mentioned above (cleaning up the engine bay).

 

[OSS]

The carburetor doesn’t get altered with a “de-smog” just some vacuum hoses that connect to it are removed and the open pipes on the carburetor plugged.

The distributor needs to get its timing recurved if the EGR system is disabled, otherwise the engine will ping at certain RPMs & loads.

The reason people disable the EGR system is because new EGR valves are no longer available and the old worn out ones don’t work properly.

 

[LandoNick]

If you plan on a Sniper you can basically remove everything.

Is it running good currently, why try to change it? Unless for the reasoning mentioned above (cleaning up the engine bay).

I just feel things are going to start failing and then the fear of the parts being discontinued.

It really is running great right now!

 

[DrRock]

I just feel things are going to start failing and then the fear of the parts being discontinued.

It really is running great right now!

If it's running well now, don't touch it but put a plan in place for when things start to go south. As you stated, many of the parts are NLA and if you are in a state that allows a desmog or a move to efi, then I would begin researching those options and decide what's best for you. This way, you are in a less reactive mode when your truck stops working correctly and you have a rough idea of what the next steps are . I am right there. My truck ran great save for some issues with failing smog components which necessitated a de-smog. Truck ran great for a year, now it has some major hesitation issues at times so I've decided on the efi retrofit. I'll be selling all of my smog stuff on Mud to help those who happen to live in smog states. I will retain my catalytic converter and will have the benefit of closed loop efi.

Cheers, James

 

[Skniper]

@LandoNick Not to hijack but the air pump/cat relation in desmog always raises a question(for me)…

I’ll desmog my 3FE eventually, the primary goal is to eliminate the air/smog pump. I don’t want it crapping out and seizing on the highway like many do, I’m already on a second hand used one.

The related decluttering under the hood is just a happy by product of the exercise.

The debate (for me, at least) is whether to run a cat conv at all after air pump removal. (My current aftermarket cat needs to be replaced anyway)
How effective are cats with out the infusion of fresh air in the stream? Did I read somewhere there are modern cats available designed to run effectively without air pumps… anyone know??
I’m all for keeping one in place for environmental reasons if it is being effective.

The other wrench in wanting to maintain, or not, a cat conv is the latest rage of theft. Any mild lift on these trucks makes them a super easy target for those sh!tbags.

 

[OSS]

For year 2021 in the USA, about 5200 catalytic converters were stolen EVERY MONTH.

A cat still does something even without an air pump. It’s just not as effective.

 

[DrRock]

For year 2021 in the USA, about 5200 catalytic converters were stolen EVERY MONTH.

A cat still does something even without an air pump. It’s just not as effective.

Yikes!!! Sorry for the hijack but that said, I have a cat that came off my old 911 racecar. Where is the best place for me to go and sell/recycle it?

 

[Skniper]

Yikes!!! Sorry for the hijack but that said, I have a cat that came off my old 911 racecar. Where is the best place for me to go and sell/recycle it?

Ask the sh!tbag with the sawzall out in the parking lot.

 

[OSS]

Where

I don’t know where the “best place” is to sell an old cat but a scrap yard is the traditional cat dumping ground of thieves.

But your 911 cat may have more intrinsic value than a cat off a Ford Fiesta

Or you could try this place (found via google). I know nothing about them.

RRcats.com - Get A Quote Today! - iScrap App Sister Company

Send Pictures. Get Quote. Ship Your Cats. Get Paid. Buying Scrap Catalytic Converters Nationwide. Get your quote today!

rrcats.com

 

[John Staton]

I dumped my cat when I desmogged my 83. Went Weber 38 carb, no cat, headers and it really felt like my engine could breath. I also upgraded to a 5 speed, but I know some of my performance came from the desmog too. I will say ditching the cat will give you a smelly ride (gas), but my goal was to simplify the whole set up.

 

[Seth S]

For year 2021 in the USA, about 5200 catalytic converters were stolen EVERY MONTH.

A cat still does something even without an air pump. It’s just not as effective.

I can expand on this a little from the Cat operation point of view:

Cat's have 2 different "beds" in them...one for oxidation and one for reduction and they effectively work to split molecules apart to create safe compounds. They convert Carbon Monoxide to Carbon Dioxide, It also works to split hydrocarbons (bits of unburnt fuel) into carbon dioxide and water, and they also work to split Nitrogen Oxides apart into Nitrogen and oxygen. ( its a pretty cool object from a science point of view). Anyhoo...from an operational point of view the Cat works best when it is fed an exhaust mixture that oscillates between rich and lean. The Air pump system on the FJ60/62 is what helps create the lean exhaust condition because a carb is pretty stubborn from a fueling point of view.

On the FJ62 there is an Oxygen sensor in the exhaust and the ECU is constantly trimming the fuel flow through the injectors to reach a target fuel mixture for the given environment. As a result EFI is constantly varying rich/lean although with some periods of richness for accel or maybe climbing a hill......If you have ever been behind someone accelerating hard away from a traffic light or maybe halfway up a long hill....and you noticed the car in front had a real strong rotten egg smell....this is because the Cat on that vehicle is getting loaded up with a rich mixture that it cannot completely process and its generating Hydrogen Sulfide and Sulfur Dioxide as a biproduct which in turns smells like rotten eggs.